By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
With the Region IV track and field meets all said and done, a few Metro-area athletes extended their seasons by qualifying to the state meet.
In the Region IV-5A meet at San Antonio’s Alamo Stadium on Friday, Brownsville Veterans Memorial senior thrower Andres Bodden qualified in both the boys discus and the shot put.
In the discus, Bodden took first place with a distance of 169 ft, 10 inches, edging out San Antonio Highlands’ Ronald Lozano, who threw a 161-04.
Rio Grande City’s Jaime Gomez placed third (156-04) and Pace’s Jose Quintero was fourth (151-01).
In the shot put, Bodden threw a 55-10.50 to finish second behind Sharyland Pioneer’s Johnny Howell, who posted a 57-09.
On the Class 6A girls side Saturday, Los Fresnos hurdler Brianna Alex punched her ticket to state in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing second in 14.97 seconds.
San Antonio Warren’s Janae Phoenix won the race with a 14.95.
Rivera distance runner Andrea de la Rosa fell short of state in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs, but had a strong showing, placing fourth in both.
In the 1600, de la Rosa clocked in with a time of 5:13.00, and in the 3200, she recorded and 11:14.18.
Over in the Region IV-3A meet at Converse Judson on Friday, IDEA Frontier’s senior distance runner Sabrina Garcia finished second in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:28.89.
Blanco’s Johanna Villarreal won the race with a time of 11:25.25.
The state meet will be on May 11th and 12 at The University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.