MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — The Harlingen South boys and girls have some early momentum in the 2016 track and field season.
Neither could have asked for a better start to the year after being crowned meet champions at the Bobby Morrow Relays on Friday night in San Benito.
The South boys took home the trophy with 112.75 points, besting crosstown rival Harlingen, which finished in second with 103.66 points. Meanwhile the Lady Hawks finished with a score of 101.50.
For South head boys coach Ralph De La Rosa, the win wasn’t as sweet as the dedication his athletes displayed just by showing up to compete.
“What stood out was the effort the guys came out with — they competed in every event,” De La Rosa said. “We had baseball, soccer and tennis guys who all came out and competed and then went back to their sports.
“The core track team did their jobs today and I think we all got better today.”
Mercedes (75.75), Brownsville Rivera (66.75) and Los Fresnos (57.50) rounded out the top five schools in the boys division.
The Lady Hawks notched the win thanks to five of their athletes racking up at least 11 points on the day. Leading the way was senior Nicole Gonzalez with 25 points.
Gonzalez took home gold in the 200- (25.97) and 400-meter (59.27) dashes and anchored the winning 4×100-meter relay team (50.58).
Being a senior, she feels it’s a solid start to a season she’s been waiting to have.
“I felt really good; it was a good start for the first meet,” Gonzalez said. “I just want to continue to get better at every single meet.
“I’ve prepared a long time for this moment and I’m very excited to see what this year has in store for me.”
Rounding out the top five for the girls was Los Fresnos (90.83), Harlingen (77), Brownsville Hanna (55) and Edcouch-Elsa (49).
Despite the South teams taking both crowns, the top point getters on the day came from the Harlingen High teams.
For the boys, Christopher Rosales led with 25 points. Rosales won the 100 and 200-meter dashes with times of 11.05 and 21.97, respectively.
For the girls, Juliana Guerrero led the girls with 31 points. Her day was highlighted by a triple jump win with a distance of 35-03.
Teammate Yazmine Martinez picked up 25 points.
THE ROAD BACK: After taking silver in the shot put at the state competition last May, Rio Hondo’s Mike Zuniga opened the 2016 season with a win.
Zuniga tossed a 57-09 to take home the gold Friday night despite some early anxiousness.
“I felt good today, but had some jitters,” Zuniga said. “After my warm-up throws, I was ready to go.”
Zuniga hopes to build on this win and return to state once again this year, saying that he feels healthier and stronger.
“This year, I won’t be wearing the brace I wore last year because of a torn ACL I sustained my sophomore season,” Zuniga explained. “I feel faster, quicker and it’s resulting in better throws.”
At state, Zuniga threw a 54-10.
BIRDS FLY: The Harlingen and Harlingen South boys had some success in the air Friday.
In the pole vault, South’s Marcus Ramirez and Samuel Alvarez finished first and second, respectively.
Ramirez cleared 13-00 and Alvarez cleared 12-06.
Harlingen’s Trenton Teinart finished third, clearing 12-00.
Over in the high jump, Harlingen’s Devin Rosas cleared 5-10 to take home gold and teammate Daniel Ramirez grabbed bronze with a height of 5-06.
LITTLE BUT EFFECTIVE: The Brownsville St. Joseph girls had just two girls score points for them Friday, but they were both winners.
Gaby Garza took home gold in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.21, while teammate Maria Fernanda Valencia won the pole vault, clearing a height of 10-6.