MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
The La Feria boys track and field teams are still trying to figure a few things out heading into the fifth week of the track and field season.
With a lot of youth and midseason aches, La Feria head boy’s track coach Everardo Sanchez said it’s all a work in progress.
“We’re working hard, but we’re very young right now,” he said. “We’re getting better from week to week and we’re dealing with what everybody else deals with. We kind of caught the injury right now, so we’re just plugging in people and hoping to find the right combination.”
Fortunately for the Lions, they have the luxury of the home field right before Spring Break as they host the Jim Hudson Relays today at Lion Stadium in La Feria.
The meet will begin with the field events at 2 p.m. and the 3200-meter run at 2:30 p.m. Running events will take place at 4:30 p.m. with a trophy presentation to follow immediately following the 1600-meter relay.
The field of 16 teams from across the Rio Grande Valley will feature a mixed bag of schools as San Benito, Los Fresnos, Grulla, Port Isabel, IDEA Quest, Hidalgo, La Villa, Valley View, San Isidro, Lasara, Santa Rosa, Rio Hondo, Lyford, Raymondville and PSJA North are scheduled to compete.
With schools from several different districts coming to participate, Sanchez and his team are excited to get a look at larger programs, as well as district foes.
“It’s always good to have some of the 6A schools here,” Sanchez said. “Los Frenos and San Benio will be here and we’ve seen them several times, as well as an up and coming Port Isabel. We get to see that competition. We haven’t seen Raymondville this year, so we get to see them and they’re a district opponent.”
The Lions feel distance runner Santos Botello and sprinter Ethan Padilla are primed for big performances today
Botello finished a in fourth place in the 800-meter run at last week’s Knights of Columbus Relays in Mercedes in 2 minutes, 02.73 seconds and Padilla finished fifth in the 400-meter dash (53.38).
Sanchez still has some things to figure out as far as Padilla, but feels Botello can make a run to region and beyond.
“We’re really hoping (Botello) can go on to area, region and, of course, state,” Sanchez said. “That’s something we are looking at for him. We’re also still trying to figure out what to do with (Padilla). We don’t know if we’ll let him run the 200-meter dash or make him a quarter miler. He’s done very well and posted one of the fastest times in the 200 last year. So that’s one of the things we’re looking at with him.”
CITY MEET
While area schools are gearing up for some out of town meets today, the teams began to compete for bragging rights at the annual Brownsville City Meet on Thursday afternoon at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The competition opened with the boy’s and girl’s 3200-meter run, girl’s shot put and boy’s discus throw.
The meet will continue today at noon.
In the boy’s discus, St. Joseph’s Pablo Zolezzi claimed gold with a throw of 161 feet, 6 inches.
The win comes on the heels of setting the St. Joseph school record with a throw of 173-04 at the Robert Garza Relays last week in Rio Hondo.
Pace’s Jose Quintero placed second with a throw of 145-08, followed by Rivera’s Mariano Mendez (133-11).
In the girl’s shot put, Pace’s Esmerelda Ruiz-Balli placed first with a distance of 35-01, followed by Olenka Galvan (31-03) and Porter’s Katya Alfaro (30-9.5).
Rivera’s Andrea de la Rosa once again claimed victory in the 3200-meter run to remain unbeaten in the race this season. The Lady Raider distance runner finished the race in 11 minutes, 25.97 seconds, followed by Hanna’s Nadia Sifuentes (12:25. 03) and Rivera’s Bethany Guzman (12:36.69).
In the boy’s 32000, Lopez’s Osvaldo Gallegos placed first (10.17.37), followed by Hanna’s John Abrego (10:21.53) and Aaron Hinojosa (10:29.13).