BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
The season is only three and a half weeks old, but McAllen High coach Louie Cantu did not need long to notice a stark difference in his group.
“Now, a lot of the girls are asking me, ‘Hey Coach, where are we at in points?’ or ‘Coach, I got three points. Where am I now?’” Cantu said. “It’s more of a ‘What do I need to do for the team?’ thing, and that’s what has really guided us in the right direction this year. We’re successful because we are looking out for each other.”
The success has been immediate for Cantu’s team, winning the 2017 Indian Nation Relays in Donna on Feb. 18. Cantu credits the good fortune in the short-distance events to the influx of soccer players who have become outstanding sprinters.
“We’re really blessed to have our sprinters from the soccer team — girls like Anna Hover, Weston Henderson and Sofia Soto — so that’s really helped us a lot,” Cantu said. “We have a young team trying to build on what we did last year. This year, they’re a little bit more mature and know what’s expected of them.”
Hover finished second in the 200-meter dash (27.58 seconds) in Donna and bested that mark by placing first in the 200 at the McAllen ISD Track & Field Invitational last Saturday. Cantu said he is amazed by the senior’s commitment to her teammates out on the track as she juggles her in-season duties on the soccer team.
“Anna’s in soccer but she’s in here at 6:30 in the morning doing eight 200s, grinding it out every single day,” Cantu said. “She’s just a go-getter. She’s going to play college soccer at the next level next year at UTRGV, and she’s still out there with her heart in track. That takes a special person to do something like that.”
In District 30-6A, the Lady Bulldogs will face some of the fiercest competition in Valley track with La Joya Palmview, McAllen Memorial and McAllen Rowe. As the coach of another talented Valley club, Cantu anticipates a lot of shared victories amongst the three programs.
“So far, Palmview has won a meet, we’ve won a meet, Memorial has won a meet and we’re all in the same district,” Cantu said. “It’s a battle because, Coach (John) Stanley (at Memorial) does a great job. Coach (Claudia) Bazan does an amazing job at Palmview and so does Coach (Maria) Soza at Rowe. It’s a tough district.”
CLOSING THE VAULT
Ryland Olguin either had a busy Friday night or “a blessed night,” according to his coach, Hernan Figueroa. The Edinburg Vela junior finished second in the 110 hurdles to Vela senior Jordan Caballero. In the 300 hurdles, Olguin fell approximately two and a half seconds short of Rio Grande City’s Erick Flores. Still, Olguin set two personal records in the process. He also competed in the pole vault.
“Ryland placed second in the 110 and 300 and he was still jumping while all of this was going on,” Figueroa said. “At the end, he closed the night with a 15-foot vault.”
The 15-foot vault was a full three feet better than PSJA Southwest’s Brian Sifuentes’ mark of 12 feet, but Olguin had a few more events to take part in.
“He was going to continue but I said, ‘Nah, you’ve had enough,’” Figueroa said. “That was his last event. I asked him if he would like to be done after that and he said, ‘Yeah, I would.’ He was happy.”