By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
With the district meets completed, track & field athletes are preparing for their next test.
The top four finishers from the District 32-6A and 31-6A meets have qualified for the area meet which will begin at 10 a.m. today at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
The top four competitors in each event will qualify for the Region IV-6A meet at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio.
On the girls side, Los Fresnos’ Alyssa Salazar is one of the top competitors for the Lady Falcons as she qualified by winning the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and also qualified in the triple jump and the high jump events with top four finishes.
Los Fresnos’ Alondra Escobar (long jump) and Valeria Granados (discus) also qualified with wins at the district meet.
Rivera’s Andrea De la Rosa was the top finisher in the 1,600 and 3,200 run at the 32-6A meet and teammates Jennifer Lopez (3,200) and Joanna Hernandez (high jump) and Ashley Hinojosa (long jump) will also compete in the area meet.
The Lady Raiders that qualified are either sophomores or freshmen this season.
“To qualify such young kids, it’s always exciting,” Rivera girls coach Jenny Schuster said. “They’re great kids. I’m so proud of them. They don’t feel that pressure. I still don’t think they realize how big this is for a freshman to qualify; I don’t think they get it.
“I pray that we can make it to regionals and they can see that their hard work has paid off. I think they’ll see that at area, but I would love for them to qualify for regionals.”
Harlingen South’s Nicole Gonzalez took three events at district in the 100, 200 and 400 races and the 400 and 800 relay teams for the Lady Hawks were also winners at 32-6A. Harlingen High had the top 1,600 relay team.
The Hanna girls had the top two qualifiers in the 800 at 32-6A with Nadia Sifuentes and Sofia Salinas. Sifuentes also qualified in the 1,600 race.
They will all be competing against Weslaco High, who was very strong by taking wins in nine of the 10 running events at the 31-6A meet, including Esperanza Pedraza in the 100 and 300 hurdles and all three relay teams.
On the boys side, Rivera had multiple winners and top two finishers at the district meet, including Anthony Garza and Jonathan Herrera (1,600 and 3,200) and Manny Guerrero and Ruben Chapa (800). Guerrero also qualified in the 300 hurdles.
Christian Perales of Los Fresnos qualified in the 100 and 200 and Harlingen High’s Christopher Rosales will compete in the 100, 200 and 400 races. Harlingen South was the top finisher of all three relay races at 32-6A.
Sergio Murillo of Weslaco High qualified in the 200 and 400 and Bony Rios of Edinburg Economedes in the 110 and 300 hurdles. Edinburg Economedes also took the top times in the 400 and 800 relay races at 31-6A.
The Raiders have experience on their side and hope that can help them succeed.
“We managed to get a good group together (to qualify for the area meet),” Rivera boy coach Omar Gonzalez said. “Anytime you compete against Harlingen South and Harlingen (High) in our district it’s tough. We felt like if we could compete against them, we can compete against any in the Valley.
“But it doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past, it’s what you do on the day of the meet.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.