By ROY HESS/Staff Writer
Saturday’s UIL cross country state meet was a learning experience for some and a chance to shine for others.
Brownsville IDEA Frontier’s Sabrina Garcia was one of those who shined.
Running a personal-best time of 12 minutes, 10.57 seconds over a two-mile course, Garcia, a junior, took 17th place in the Class 3A girls division. It was her second straight appearance at the state meet. Last season she finished well behind the top runners in her race. This time was a much better showing.
Both Garcia and Albert Alanis, her coach at IDEA Frontier, had said they would be happy if she ran a personal best and finished in or close to the Top 10. They were concerned about a quad muscle injury, which at times has hampered her.
“I’m so proud of her,” Alanis said of Garcia. “Her quad held up and she was able to give it her all. She improved (her time) from last year by 1 minute, 50 seconds.
“There’s still more great things coming from her this (school) year,” Alanis added. “Now to start training for the track season.”
Saturday was a learning experience for Rivera’s Andrea de la Rosa, a sophomore competing at state for the first time.
She placed 32nd in 18:43.65 over a 5,000-meter (3.2-mile) course. Two other Valley runners — La Joya Palmview’s Brianna Robles (seventh) and Edinburg North’s Ariana Beth Ramos (24th) — finished ahead of de la Rosa. They are competitors de la Rosa had beaten earlier this season.
As a sophomore, de la Rosa figures to have a chance to better her showing at state in the future.
Still, it was a solid day for the Valley at the state meet.
In the Class 5A boys 3.2-mile race, Mercedes teammates Jonathan Reyes and Dominic Cavazos finished ninth and 10th, respectively, while Donna North’s Daniel de la Cruz was 14th. Donna North (103 points) finished second in the 5A boys team standings behind champion Lucas Lovejoy (59 points). Donna High (212) and Mercedes (220) were eighth and ninth in the 5A boys team standings.
In the 4A girls division, La Feria teammates Tina Sierra and Dariana Vasquez placed sixth and 14th, respectively, as the Lionettes finished fifth as a team.
In the 4A boys division, Hidalgo’s Jesus Guerrero and Progreso’s Everardo Esparza placed eighth and 14, respectively, as Progreso finished sixth as a team.
Another strong showing for the Valley was made by Edinburg IDEA Quest’s Valery Tobias, who came in fourth in the 3A girls race.