BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
AUSTIN — Alexandria Cruz found herself in an unfamiliar position. While the Edinburg High senior spent much of her final track season atop the podium, the final day of the UIL State Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myes Stadium saw the decorated distance runner on the ground, exhausted and needing assistance to stand.
Cruz came to not only medal in the Class 6A girls 800-meter and 1600-meter runs. She came to improve her time and better her own school and Valley records. But there would be no celebration. Cruz would place a disappointing eighth in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 15.34 seconds, more than five seconds slower than her gold-medal run at regionals earlier this month in San Antonio. Where Cruz usually looks smooth and crisp in her runs, Saturday found her looking sluggish.
“My legs feel heavy,” she said. “It could have been the distance (traveling), but I tried to put that away and just warmed up like I usually do. I was really tired. My body was drained. Physically, it was just like somebody was just holding me back. It felt like someone was pushing on me and my legs. I didn’t’ feel the same as usual.”
While Cruz is accustomed to running near the front, she ran no higher than sixth place. After crossing the finish line, she collected a cup of water from an official, and stopped to sit down on the track before marching back to her coach — the opposite direction of the medal stand.
“I’m kind of upset that I didn’t medal or break my record,” she said. “I’m just really upset.”
With roughly two hours of downtime between her two events, Cruz tried to erase her bad run in the 800 and focus on the next race.
“I just told myself ‘You either put it together or have a bad race. Just go out there and prove people wrong,’” she said. “‘I know there were a lot of people from the Valley here, and I could hear them cheering so I didn’t want to let them down.”
Though she finished sixth in the 1600 with a time of 4:56.57, two seconds shy of her own Valley record, her second appearance on the track was decidedly better than her debut. Cruz led roughly 150 meters, and ran a steady pace from start to finish.
“I’ve put in a lot of hard work over these past four years,” she said. “This is my first state meet ever, and I tried so hard to get here. Why waste it and throw it away and not finish strong? I wanted to leave it all on the track and that’s’ what I feel like I did in the mile.”
Cruz’s high school career ends where her collegiate career will begin. Mike A. Myers Stadium is home base for the University of Texas, where she’ll run cross country and track next fall.
“It was a good experience,” she said of her time at state. “It was a learning experience. Knowing that I’ll be competing at the collegiate level next year, I’m going to have to have more confidence. I know I have confidence, but I know if I train with more of the elite girls during the summer, I’ll gain more confidence and the ability to run with more people.”
FINAL CHASE
Yariel Matute wanted something to chase all season, a competitor to push him to be his best. As the La Joya Juarez-Lincoln senior entered the Class 6A boys 400-meter dash, he had plenty to chase. His seed time of 48.94 was slowest among the nine competitors. As a means of focusing his efforts, he set his sights on something other than gold.
“I wanted to chase the Valley record,” he said. “It’s 47.29.”
Although Matute finished eighth with a new personal best of 48.05, he felt as if he left some speed on the track.
“I thought I had it in me, but I fell short,” he said. “I felt strong, but I couldn’t finish. That race was tough. I know I have a 47 in me, maybe a the college level, I’ll hit it.”
The Valley record in the boys 400 was set in 2008 by Mishak Rivas. Matute ends his high school racing career with the seventh-best time in Valley-track history.
Although Matute fell short of besting history, he did accomplish his secondary goal.
“I didn’t’ get last,” he said with a laugh. “As long as I didn’t get last, I was going to be fine.”
Matute passed Christian McStravick of Strake Jesuit during the race’s final 150 meters. Matute says he doesn’t know yet where he’ll attend college, but says UTPA would be a good program for him.
“I want to continue to represent the Valley,” he said.
VALLEY ROUNDUP
Natalie Alaniz of Edinburg North placed eighth in the Class 6A girls discus with a throw of 111 feet. The Weslaco girls 4×400-meter relay team placed eighth in Class 6A competition with a time of 3:58.03. The Lady Panthers set a new Valley record in the event at regionals earlier this month in San Antonio with a time of 3:50.07. Cierra Pena of Harlingen South won bronze in the Class 6A girls long jump with an attempt of 19-08 – setting a new Valley record. Carlos Rodriguez of La Feria won the silver medal in the Class 4A boys 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.40