By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Finishing third at the District 30-6A cross country meet a year ago was simply “OK” for Brianna Robles.
Though only a freshman, the La Joya Palmview runner had higher ambitions. She wanted to be first in every meet — even throughout the course of each event — and at times ignored pacing. She struggled between starting fast or finishing strong, generally choosing the former (sometimes to her detriment).
And it wasn’t until she had an offseason to let her experiences marinate that she realized she needed to do things differently.
“My first time going through everything, I just didn’t want to mess up,” Robles said, recounting her freshman year. “But because of the mileage I ran this summer, I feel that things are coming easier to me this year.”
Last year, Robles had aspirations of winning district and placing in the top 10 at regionals. Even top 20 would have sufficed. Yet, Robles finished in the top 30 — an outcome, she said, “I’m not proud of.” The lessons that came from those experiences, she said, centered around work ethic.
To get to the state level, she felt she had to take her offseasons more serious. She trained with her brother Tristan, who now runs at Our Lady of the Lake, along with some of the more competitive runners in the Valley. Soon enough, she realized she didn’t have to place first all the time. In fact, Robles didn’t win a meet this year until district rolled around.
But in placing among the top 3 or 4 all season, Robles worked her way to peak form.
The difference from freshman to sophomore year? Coach Claudia Bazan believes it’s Robles’ patience.
“She had a tendency to go out super fast (her freshman year) and then she wouldn’t have enough gas to finish the races,” Bazan said. “Now, she knows she can’t chase runners in the front. She knows how to get out and find her pace. Just that experience is what has her here now.”
In a short amount of time, Robles has made her mark on the team. Initially, she wanted to devote herself to soccer. But in giving cross country a chance, and enjoying early success, Robles turned her attention to that.
By the time she graduated middle school, Robles was projected to be a key figure for the Lady Lobos.
“We knew she was going to be a special kid,” Bazan said about Robles, who helped Palmview win district in the girls division, securing their ticket for regionals.
A year ago, Robles remembered being disappointed with her finish at regionals in what she described as an up-and-down year. Though she carried plenty of expectations, she struggled at times to adjust to varsity level competition.
But in gaining more experience, particularly through track and field — where she competes in the mile, two mile and 1,600-meter relay — Robles’ confidence blossomed.
Robles will need it in what will arguably be her toughest race at the Region IV-6A meet Monday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Runners are expecting a muddy course, especially competing at 12:10 p.m. with a half-dozen races already having taken place. Humidity could be a factor, too.
Robles isn’t worried, though, about outside factors that could influence her second trip to regionals.
“I’m not nervous because I did OK the first time I went up there,” she said. “It’s just a matter of toughening it out and running at your pace.”