BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — As the Weslaco High Lady Panthers track team huddled after a victory lap at Bobby Lackey Stadium to commemorate their fourth district title in as many years, the group broke by barking an apt description of the team’s recent success.
“Dynasty.”
The witness the Lady Panthers during Saturday’s District 31-6A track and field championships was to experience the Valley’s most competitive girls team flex their collective muscle as the march to next months’ state meet begins. Weslaco scored 211 points thanks to six gold medals and 10 podium finishes. The Lady Panthers swept all three relays and set a new Valley’s best in the 4×400-meter relay, the night’s final race, with a time of 3 minutes, 57.87 seconds – breaking their previous mark by more than two seconds.
“I couldn’t have been any prouder than to finish off the evening like that,” Weslaco coach Pablo Almaguer said. “We want to get to that state meet. We want to start running fast and improve our times right now. To lose 12 seniors from last year, and to have the doubters who said we weren’t going to do anything this year, I’m a firm believer that you continue to have success by just working hard.”
All top-four finishers automatically qualify for next week’s 31-6A/32-6A area meet at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
Individual awards collected by Weslaco came from Alyssa Deleon, who won both the 100-meter dash (13.00) and the 300 hurdles (46.85). Angela Villarreal, a senior, placed first in th in the 400-meter dash (58.62).
Other notable performances came from Edinburg High’s Alexandria Cruz, who swept the 800-meter run (2:14.02) and 1600-meter run (5:06.74). Weslaco East’s Caitlin Alaniz won the 200 (26.63) and PSJA North’s Bianca Garza won the 100 hurdles (17.50).
The Weslaco East Wildcats won the boys district title for the second time in three years, outscoring Weslaco High 163-120. The Wildcats entered the day facing a 25-point deficit after Thursday’s field events, but took the lead for good after winning gold in the 4×200-meter relay (1:30.29).
“Kids have been consistent all year at getting better,” Weslaco East coach Tom Owens said. “This is something we talked about, but the kids just came out here and made it happen.”
In addition to the 4×200, the Wildcats also won the 4×100 relay. Jayven Cordova placed first in the 800 run in 1:59.58. Senior JR Villarreal won gold in the 300 hurdles (40.55) and ran with an increased sense of focus after placing a disappointing third in the 110 hurdles.
“I got into (the area round), hopefully I can make up for it there,” Villarreal said. “… I believe I hit the second hurdle. I hit it with my trail leg, so that threw me off for the rest of the race.”
The 110 hurdles was won by Edinburg Economedes’ Bony Rios (15.40), who was among three Econ athletes to win gold individually. No other boys team collected more individual first-place finishes. Other Jaguars to stand atop the podium were Carlos Vela in the 100-meter dash (11.16) and Ignacio Ramirez in the 400-meter dash (52.51).