NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
SAN ANTONIO — Track fans are coming to expect the Valley to be well represented on the regional podium in distance events. Competing for state titles in the shot put and discus has also become normal for the RGV.
That trend continued as Valley runners in Class 5A and 6A won three of four 3,200-meter runs at the regional track meet Friday at Alamo Stadium and claimed four of the eight automatic state qualifying spots.
In the throwing events, local athletes took seven of the sixteen available state berths.
Mercedes’s Dominic Cavazos was the first winner on Friday and will return to state in the 3200-meter run after finishing in 9 minutes, 20.89 seconds — just a second slower than his personal best.
“The competition was really good this year — way better than we did last year. I think 13 seconds faster,” Cavazos said. “It was kind of freaking me out, because I’m not used to that many guys in the front pack.”
For most of the race, he stuck with the group as different runners alternated taking the lead. Cavazos made his move in the later stages.
He navigated the lead group to get past Austin Johnson’s Cameron Kleiman and Rio Grande City’s Brandon Gracia for a gold medal.
La Joya Palmview’s Brianna Robles ran most of her 3,200-meter race from an unusual position at a big meet — in the lead. Normally, she said she’d like to stay near the leader rather than ahead. But this race, she was the runner setting the pace and ultimately holding on for gold with her time of 10:51.99
“I usually wait on the second person, but I felt I wanted to pick up the pace a bit, because it felt too comfortable. So I knew that wasn’t good. I had to feel uncomfortable,” Robles said. “My mindset since freshman year has always been to win state. I see each race as an opportunity to prepare myself for state. If it was state, I wasn’t going to just cruise it, so I had to run every race, especially in my senior year, like it’s my last.”
In the boys 6A race, a familiar battle unfolded as PSJA Memorial’s Cruz Gomez and Edinburg North’s Tristan Peña finished first and second, respectively.
Gomez led for most of the race and put distance between himself and the competition late to finish in 9:15.12.
“Throughout the race, I felt real strong, real confident,” Gomez said. “Because my coach, my parents, everyone’s supporting me. I knew it was the last lap, 600 meters to go. The last lap, we’ve been practicing that a lot in the workouts. If I can do it in workouts, I can do it here.”
The PSJA Memorial junior has been trading first- and second-place finishes with Peña all postseason but said the regional meet was his time to shine.
“The goal was to peak here at regionals. Not at district, not at area, but regional. Because this is the important one,” Gomez said. “If you lose here, you know your season is over.”
Peña needed a late push to clinch the last qualifying spot.
“On the last lap, I didn’t think I could take off that fast. I was just thinking in my head, ‘This is the last race. I’m never going to feel this good,’” Pena said. “I prayed last night. I prayed this morning. And I just felt something, an extra energy, so I just took off.”
Even after taking off, he was caught again, but a final push was enough to earn the state berth.
NEW HEIGHTS
The Valley’s best pole vaulter, Edcouch-Elsa’s Bianca Cardenas, got even better, setting a new personal best to help her advance to state. The junior’s previous best jump was 13 feet, but when three girls were knotted at 13, she needed a new personal record to keep her season alive.
She hit a new best mark, 13-03, that also broke the meet record. She was topped by Riley Floerke of Gregory-Portland, who jumped a 13-09, and is looking forward to raising her level again at the state meet in two weeks time.
“It was really amazing, because I had really tight competition,” Cardenas said. “In order to pull through, I just had to clear my mind and jump what I can. It’s so surreal knowing that other people from the valley know you and support you. It makes me really proud to see where I’m from.”
In the boys’ vault, Marcus Ramirez of Harlingen South advanced with a silver finish (15-06).
LONG TOSS
In the shot put circle, PSJA Southwest’s Diego Treviño needed a strong throw to keep his season alive. Nothing short of his personal best would move him on to the state meet. After a pair of scratches in the last round, he delivered with a final hurl of 60 feet, 3.5 inches.
He leaped over Harlingen South’s Andrew Ott and La Joya High’s Alex Rodriguez to earn silver and qualify for his second state meet. He will be competing at state for the first time since Southwest moved to Class 6A.
“I just felt it before the throw. I knew I had it in me the whole time,” Treviño, a junior, said. “I’d been hitting sixty feet constantly in practice so I knew it was going to come.”
Also qualifying for state in 6A was McAllen Rowe’s Lorena Rios with a second-place finish of 133-01.
Brownsville Veterans’ Andres Bodden had a big day, qualifying for both discus and shot put. He earned discus gold with a throw of 169-10.
In the 5A boys shot put, Johnny Howell threw 57-09 to secure a gold medal and return to state.
“You have to be humble about it. It’s a good meet, but I’m always looking to get better,” Howell said. “My second throw was a good one. I just couldn’t recreate it. But I’m looking for the big one at the state meet.”
Moments after Howell’s victory, the girl’s discus competition featured a dramatic finish. Pioneer freshman Daizy Monie qualified on her final throw, overtaking Donna North’s Natalie Soto with a toss of 121-04. She follows in the footsteps of her older sister Nora Monie, a former state qualifier who is throwing at the University of Houston.
BACK TO THE CAPITAL
Sharyland High’s Blake Klein hit a personal record at a crucial moment in the triple jump to become the Rattlers first state track qualifier since the Sharyland ISD split that formed Sharyland Pioneer. His jump of 46-04.25 was the gold standard as he leapfrogged Richmond Foster’s Amryn Williams.
“Going in, I was in fifth place. And going into finals, I was in fifth place, and I knew I had a 45 in me, and I jumped it. But I didn’t know I had a 46 in me,” Klein said. “It was a really exciting moment.”
Eleanor Arndt of Weslaco High secured her wish in advance of her birthday next Friday and earned a return to the state meet after her long jump of 18-07.5 was good for a gold medal.