BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
HIDALGO – Karla Cantu is strong and solid as a rock.
At 5-foot-8, 150 pounds and muscular, she was the Hidalgo Lady Pirates enforcer on the basketball court. The all-district pick and four-year varsity player was the team’s top defender, rebounder and all around banger in the lane. Some teams were flat-out scared of her.
“Well, I guess they were,” Cantu says sheepishly. “I am aware that I am quite strong, so I liked using my muscle. If you’re going to have it, why not use it?”
But for Cantu, her motivation for muscle belies the crowns she wears on many weekends.
Cantu, the driven three-sport star who bikes 10 miles almost daily, was named Miss Hidalgo 2015. She was also Duchess of International Goodwill 2016 at the Texas Citrus Fiesta in Mission and was the first Miss Hidalgo to win a title in the Texas Citrus Royal Court.
And now, for good measure, the 18-year-old beauty queen is Princess of Orange Blossom 2017, representing the Citrus Fiesta with puffy dresses, royal parade waves, floats and all. Not bad for self-proclaimed muscle girl who was named District 30-4A Defensive Player of the Year.
Cantu reconciles sports’ toughness with the congeniality of pageantry. She is the living, breathing antithesis of one-sport, one-way high school athletes today, reflecting those who can put a lot on their plate and flourish. Cantu has managed to marry the opposites of a spectrum.
The Hidalgo beauty queen played volleyball, basketball and is now is in track. She would have done soccer, but there were no more jerseys. She is in the top 20 percent of her class, has a weekend job at La Plaza Mall and will have an associate’s degree by the time she graduates in May.
And, most proudly, Cantu is a multi-time pageant winner traversing the state representing the Rio Grande Valley. Although spiritual and humble, Cantu is inspired by success whether on hard court or in a royal court.
“In pageants, as well as sports, you want to win. You want to strive for greatness and be on top,” said Cantu, who is bound for Texas State University and its nursing program. “What I like about pageants is that you gain more confidence.”
And while pageants are a most unlikely route for a sporty girl to pursue, Cantu said they were a natural fit for her desire to serve as a role model for children.
Her father, Mentor, a Pharr firefighter, said Karla has always been someone kids in their neighborhood have looked up to. But even he admitted he was thrown aback when Karla, who had never been in a pageant before, came to he and his wife three years ago with the desire to compete in the Miss Hidalgo contest.
“We were very surprised when she came and told us what she wanted to do,” Mentor Cantu said. “We told her that she was in a lot of stuff and busy with sports already and asked her how she was going to do all these things. But she’s the kind of person that when she wants to do something, she’s going to do it. She’s very special.”
Though things are coming easier for her now, it wasn’t always that way for the senior. Karla Cantu and her basketball coach Saul Arjona said she often struggled as an underclassman to communicate or take direction from others.
Once she decided to compete in the pageants, that all changed. Karla Cantu said she became friendlier, more collegial and matured enough to handle criticism. The process wasn’t easy, but she learned and grew and not only became a good player for Arjona, but a trusted team leader.
“I love that girl like a daughter,” said Arjona, who has two daughters on the basketball team. “I don’t think I’ll ever get someone like her in the program again. Her spirit. Her work ethic is just incredible. No one was going to outwork her.”
Arjona said Karla Cantu did not have an athletic period, so she arrived to school early and lifted on her own. Her father, Mentor Cantu, said laughing that Karla sets her own schedule and clues in her parents. They simply follow orders.
Arjona added that a great example of what Karla Cantu can do when she focuses took place in a 52-50 double-overtime playoff loss to Crystal City in the second round of the playoffs. She scored 24 points and hauled in 16 rebounds in what Arjona said was the greatest performance of her career.
Karla Cantu said she typically listens to Christian music before games, and she took her father’s bible with her on the playoff road trips this year to keep her zoned in and peaceful. Cantu said she’s moved by different things, depending whether the setting is the classroom, court or stage.
“What motivates me before a big game is just being able to help my team get the victory,” said Cantu. “I feel like I have to do well at whatever it is that I’m doing, because I am a (pageant) title holder and you never know who’s looking at you. I think I need to show them the kind of person I can be when I perform at the best of my abilities.”
Her teammates just think of her as the beauty queen with big guns.
“It’s funny,” Cantu said of her teammates’ ribbing.
Again, strong and solid as a rock.