BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — Weslaco East’s JR Villarreal signed his national letter of intent Wednesday at the Weslaco East High School fieldhouse, officially becoming a member of the Texas A&M Corpus Christi track and field team.
The signing concludes a break-out senior season for Villarreal, who competes primarily in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. He set new personal records on multiple occasions, and qualified for the regional track meet in San Antonio for the first time.
“It was fun signing with a college,” Villarreal said. “I’m ready to go up there and make some noise. I wanted to run there. I was already accepted. I just like the atmosphere up there. It’s positive.”
Villarreal trimmed more than two seconds off his time in the 110 this year. He ran a time of 16.86 seconds during the Winter Relays in Pharr, and peaked with a personal best of 14.82 at the district meet in Weslaco. His best time of 40.38 in the 300 occurred at the area meet in Weslaco, a mark nearly three seconds faster than his time at the Winter Relays (43.12).
“What I thought was (Division I) caliber right away was his work ethic,” hurdling coach Noel Villarreal said. “His work ethic is unparalleled… I didn’t have to convince him to do the tough workouts that we were doing. He didn’t question it. With his attitude, I knew he had potential.”
Noel has coached Villarreal for two seasons and doubles as his defensive backs coach during football where Villarreal also splits time at wide out. Track coach Tom Owens says Villarreal afforded himself little downtime between the gridiron and the track.
“After football season, those kids are kind of on their own in the mornings for the athletic period,” Owens said. “My distance kids were running at that time. (Villarreal) would come out there with us and work on his hurdle drills. He would never waste his time. He even wore one of those altitude masks one time during workouts. I said, ‘It’s already 100 percent humidity outside, man. I think you’re already oxygen deprived as is.’”
Villarreal’s efforts on the hurdles helped the Wildcats win the District 31-6A championship this season. He says he plans to study mechanical engineering in college and has no plans as to what his future career path might be — although he wants “to make the big bucks.”
“He really had his heart set on Corpus,” Noel said. “They were always in the picture, but sometimes JR would get discouraged. I would say, ‘Don’t worry, these coaches are looking at a lot of people. Just keep working. Get to the big meets, shine at the big meets and people will notice.’ He’s going to run close to home. I’m just really happy to see someone work hard and be rewarded.”