BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
MORE: View video highlights from the first day of the UIL state track meet
AUSTIN — While Dominic Cavazos spent much of the 3200-meter run looking forward in hopes of staying with the leaders, the final stretch found the Mercedes sophomore looking over his shoulder.
As Cavazos neared the finish line during the first day of the UIL state meet, the distance runner turned into a sprinter to stave off Asa Rice of Mansfield Summit, who made a late charge to contest Cavazos’ fifth place finish. Cavazos ultimately held on, doing so in 9 minutes, 37.44 seconds.
Of the seven Valley athletes to compete Thursday at Mike A. Myers Stadium, none placed as well as Cavazos, who made his debut in the state meet to cap a breakout season for the Tigers. Once an athlete who played second fiddle to teammate Jonathan Reyes, Cavazos proved the ability to be his own runner.
“Honestly, I was just tired of always being behind and never making it out of the Valley,” Cavazos said. “I didn’t make state in cross (country), so after that I really just started working hard. I didn’t think I’d make it to state, but I’m happy I did.”
Cavazos’ finishing time nearly mirrors that of the one he posted at the regional meet earlier this month in San Antonio. He admits he’s disappointed with this time and hoped to break the 9:25 barrier.
First place in the Class 5A boys race went to Carter Blunt of Frisco Independence, who broke his own state meet record with a time of 8:58.86. Cavazos has grown accustomed to running upfront against Valley competition, but was still taken aback by the expected increase in speed found at the state level.
“I started off in last, and it was about a 4:30 (mile) pace, that’s crazy,” Cavazos said. “Usually I’d be in first with a 4:45 (pace). So that was crazy being in last with a 4:30. I didn’t even want to look at my watch to scare myself because I knew it was going to be fast. The last four laps just went by so fast, I didn’t have time to worry about it.”
While Cavazos was able to hold his own at a familiar pace, Fabian Garcia exhausted his energy too soon. The Mission Veterans Memorial senior finished 8th in 9:59.59, slipping towards the back of the nine-man field with every lap.
Garcia, just like Cavazos, anticipated a quickened tempo given the elevated competition, but went for broke in the early stages of the eight-lap race.
“I just didn’t want to hold back on anything, so I just went with it,” Garcia said. “It killed me at the end. I didn’t have what I needed for the end of the race. … The last three laps, I felt like I couldn’t go anymore. My hands were numbing out. But, you know, competing here at the state meet during my senior year, I’ll take that.”
Garcia competes again today in the boys 1600 run.
The boys 3200 was preceded by their female counterparts in a race that featured another pair of Valley runners. Rio Grande City’s Ana Bautista finished sixth (11:09.40) and Mercedes’ Soledad Cruz placed ninth (12:01.37). Though both runners made their state-meet debut, Bautista’s race served as a swan song for her senior year while Cruz’s effort was a sign of thing to come for a budding freshman talent.
Bautista will compete in cross country and track for UTRGV in the fall.
Other area athletes to compete Thursday included PSJA Southwest’s Diego Trevino, placing ninth in the boys 5A shot put with a throw of 50 feet, 9 1/2 inches. Donna North’s I’Dasha Sorrell also finished ninth in the girls 5A triple jump with a distance of 36-00 3/4. Mission Veterans Memorial’s Luis Trujillo dealt with a hamstring issue during the boys 5A pole vault, finishing ninth while clearing the bar at 13-06.