BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
The Easter weekend could not have arrived at a more perfect time for track coaches in the Valley. Specifically, this is a big week for Mercedes coach Pete Martinez, McAllen Memorial’s John Stanley and Weslaco High’s Pablo Almaguer, who will have multiple athletes competing in their respective area meets in Mission (Thursday), Laredo (Friday-Saturday) and Weslaco (Thursday) later this week.
Martinez enjoyed his final day off before returning to school with the memory of Thursday’s 32-5A district championship, the team’s first boys title in 35 years, still on the brain. Martinez’s group of runners is headlined by junior Dominic Cavazos and senior Jonathan Reyes. Cavazos and Reyes placed one and two in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs in the district meet last Thursday.
“They’re always trying to beat each other,” Martinez said. “What’s great about them is that they are competitors, and they strive to be the best. Having those guys being able to finish in the top five at any track meet is a good comfort to have.”
Martinez is also looking forward to see how his relay team of seniors Joel Gomez, David Lopez and junior twins Mark and Matthew Ledesma fare after winning the gold in the 400 and silver in the 800 in Mercedes.
“We’ve had some ups and downs,” Martinez said. “A little injury here, a little injury there. But they’ve always stuck together and picked each other up. We’ve made some adjustments, and they were able to perform. With David and Joel being seniors, it brings a lot of maturity to the group.”
The area meet will present a challenge Martinez says he will not take lightly.
“There are some good runners out there,” Martinez said. “We’re not going to take Sharyland or Rio Grande City or any of those guys for granted. I learned in the past that you can’t count your eggs before they hatch. We’re going to make sure that we take care of our business first and not be overconfident about competing against anybody. These guys have advanced before during the cross country season and now it’s time to do it for track.”
MUSTANGS ON THE RUN
McAllen Memorial heads into this week’s area meet in Laredo in exclusive company. The Lady Mustangs have won all six meets in which they’ve participated, including last week’s district championship in La Joya. Coach John Stanley believes a mix of talent and seniority have made the Lady Mustangs tough to beat.
“The girls won four invitationals, the area meet and lost the districts last year,” Stanley said. “It’s just one of those things that became an expectation. We have five seniors on this team, and they all performed well. Those seniors had talked about leaving a legacy earlier this year, and what they’ve done is hard to do.”
Among Stanley’s crop of talent poised to make an impact in Laredo is senior shot put and discus thrower Eloisa Martinez, who took gold in both events last week.
“Back at the Meet of Champions, Eloisa didn’t perform the way she’s capable of,” Stanley said. “She went to the Edcouch-Elsa relays a week later and got her groove back in the shot put. She had that swagger back. Her smile was back. She even told all of us there, ‘I’m back.’ Her 123 (123 feet, one inch) in the discus at district was a school record and essentially was a runaway mark for first place.”
“Everybody knew she was capable of that, and she picked the right meet to do it.”
WESLACO’S WEEK OFF
Twelve days have passed since the Weslaco girls earned the team gold at the District 32-6A meet. The schedule has allowed the Lady Panthers extra rest that other districts weren’t afforded heading into the area round. The time off puts Weslaco in an envious position.
“The rest is good, because it helps you work on the little things,” Almaguer said. “Things in these next couple of meets that could be tough for us.”
Weslaco’s Bobby Lackey Stadium will host the area meet this Thursday. Almaguer assures familiarity with the facility might not matter much in the end.
“I guess we do have an advantage being at home, but at the same time, there’s going to be great competition. And people are going to show up to run.”