STAFF REPORTS
Port Isabel’s Daniella Murchison won the shot put with a throw of 45 feet, 11 1/2 inches at the Region IV-4A meet Friday at Javelina Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Murchison advances to the UIL state track & field meet May 14 and 16 at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texasin Austin.
The senior, the two-time state champion in the event, broke the regional record previously held by Johvonne Howard, her former throwing coach and the girls track & field coach at Los Fresnos.
Murchison will compete in the discus today with another chance to advance to Austin. She was third in the event last year at the state meet.
Unfortunately for the Lady Tarpons, they had to deal with some adversity before the meet even started. Gabby Torres, who qualified in three events and on two relay teams, injured her knee in practice Wednesday while finishing her hurdles workout and was not able to compete during the regional meet. Torres was hoping for a return to the state meet this year.
“Gabby had a little accident on Wednesday and split her knee open, so she didn’t get to run or jump,” Port Isabel girls coach Julie Breedlove said. “That was kind of disappointing, but there is no structural damage in her knee, it’s just the tissue and the skin.”
Even without Torres, Port Isabel advanced to the final of the 1,600 relay today with the sixth-best time in the prelims.
Breedlove was proud of the way her team competed.
“The kids came out today and ran really hard, they dug down deep,” she said. “The times here were pretty tight here. I was really proud of the way they handled the adversity. I thought they did a good job overall.”
On the boys side, Omar Silva qualified for the final today in the 300 hurdles. He had the fourth-fastest time, a tenth of a second behind the top-seeded runner.
“We’re excited,” Port Isabel boys coach Ryan Stanage said. “There’s a bunch of guys right there together, he’s a tenth of a second from the guy with the fastest time, so we’ll see who can win.”
Also from around the Valley, Michael Zuniga of Rio Hondo took the shot put with a throw of 53-11 and advances to the state meet in two weeks.
And the boys 1,600 relay team from La Feria had the third-fastest time and advanced to today’s final.