By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
It’s been a go-to-state type of school year for the Rivera Raiders.
The Raiders’ cross country team advanced to the Class 6A state meetin November 2014 at Round Rock, and Rivera is still celebrating last month’s 6A state soccer championship won in Georgetown.
Now it’s Angel Espinoza’s turn to go to state for the first time as he captured first place in the discus at the past weekend’s Region IV-6A track & field meet in San Antonio .
Espinoza, a Rivera senior, won his event with a throw of 162 feet, 6 inches, which was not all that close to this season’s Valley-best distance of 182-5, a mark he set at the Meet of Champions in March.
“Angel threw good enough to win,” Raiders track coach Omar Gonzalez said. “He’s done better. He had four scratches (in San Antonio ), and some of those throws were in the 180s.
“The good thing is the distance is there, and we’ve got some time to work on things and correct them (before the state meet May 14 through 16 in Austin),” Gonzalez added. “We want to iron out those mistakes so he can come up with a big throw at state.
“It’s his first time to go to state after going to regionals two years in a row, so he’s pretty excited.”
The top two finishers in each event at the regional meet qualified for state.
At San Antonio, the only other Brownsville athlete coming close to making it to state was Pace’s Gertrudis Ruiz- Balli , who finished third in the Class 5A discus. Also in the Alamo City, Los Fresnos’ Christian Perales finished third in the 200, and Rivera’s Christian Machuca was fifth in the 3,200.
RECORD SETTER
Two-time state shot put champion Daniella Murchison of Port Isabel broke Region IV-4A and stadium (for high schoolers) records at a regional meet this past weekend at Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Javelina Stadium.
Murchison topped the record of her former coach at Port Isabel, Johvonne Howard, also an ex-Lady Tarpons standout athlete who is now the girls track coach at Los Fresnos .
Murchison, an SMU signee, won the shot put with a toss of 45-11 1/4, a mark not far off her Valley-best distance of 46-1 1/2 this season. She also took second in the discus (132-6) to advance to state in two events again.
“ Daniella did a real good job of staying focused and just doing what she does best,” Lady Tarpons coach Julie Breedlove said. “It was exciting to see her break those records that belonged to her former coach.
“Daniellaknows she’s got a target on her back (at state),” Breedlove added. “She’s focused (to do well again).”
One year ago, Murchison went to state along with teammate Gabby Torres, a high jumper, and it appeared both would advance again this season.
However, Breedlove said Torres, a UT-San Antonio signee, stumbled and injured her knee a couple days before the regional meet and wasn’t able to compete in Kingsville.
“Gabby should be OK,” Breedlove said. “It was a scrape (of her knee), and there was no ligament or structural damage.”
Besides Murchison, also headed to state from District 32-4A thanks to first-place finishes at the regional meet in Kingsville are Rio Hondo’s Michael Zuniga in the shot put and La Feria’s Carlos Rodriguez in the 800.
SJA ADVANCES NINE
St. Joseph Academy qualified nine athletes for the TAPPS state meet with its performances at a regional meet last Thursday and Friday at Houston Awty International.
The nine are Gaby Garza (hurdles), Desi Rae Cortinas (shot put), Megan Lopez (pole vault), Marifer Valencia(pole vault), Kai Money (long jump, relays), Cole Conner (relays), Mario Garcia (relays), Gerardo Moses (relays) and Miguel Guerra (relay). Lopez is the defending state champion in her event.
“I was very pleased with our performance at the regional meet,” SJA coach Meme Garza said. “A long trip like we had (to Houston) takes a lot of planning and cooperation from parents, athletes, coaches and administration. I felt the kids kept their focus and competed at a high level considering all the distraction that a road trip has.”
The TAPPS state meet will be May 8 and 9 at Baylor University in Waco.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.