By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
Leading by four points, all the Harlingen South boys track team had to do to hold off Harlingen High for the District 32-6A title was beat them in the 1,600-meter relay like they had done all season.
The Hawks looked like they would do just that until the Cardinals’ Cole Swinnea pulled ahead down the last 100 meters of the final leg to squeeze out a Harlingen High relay win in 3 minutes, 24.21 seconds.
Harlingen South placed second in the race (3:24.49), tying the Hawks with Harlingen High atop the standings with 210 points, resulting in a co-district championship Saturday night at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville. The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons won the girls crown.
“I knew I had the whole meet on my back pretty much,” Swinnea said. “Once I got that baton, I knew it was up to me to either tie or lose (the meet) for us. That’s all that was going through my mind down that straightaway. Whatever was shutting down in my body, I had to keep pushing through it.”
Swinnea had quite a day, as he also won the 400-meter run with a time of 50.24.
After Harlingen South opened a 14-point lead through the field events Thursday, Harlingen High coach Efrain Ambriz and his team some work to do Saturday.
“ I was calculating points after the field events and I figured it would be very close, but for it to come down to the mile relay was unbelievable,” I don’t think we’ve beaten (South) in the mile relay all year. For us to pull that out was a big one for us.”
Despite the tie, Harlingen South coach Ralph De la Rosa will take the co-crown as a symbol of how far his team has come since the start of the season.
“I think in the very first meet we went to where we ran with Harlingen, I think they beat us by 56 points,” the South coach said. “Our guys have truly matured and believed the system, and did things that they normally didn’t do for whatever reason and everybody almost PRd today. That’s the effort that you need to go with a team like Harlingen. I can’t ask for anything better than that. If I had to tie with somebody, it would be Harlingen.”
San Benito finished third with76 points, followed by Hanna (49), Los Fresnos (44) and Rivera (31).
Harlingen High’s Jose Garcia had another big day, winning the 100-meter dash (10.61) and the 200 (22.07).
South’s hurdlers had a nice day as well, with Nitia Duran winning the 110 hurdles (14.79) and placing second in the 300 hurdles (39.53) behind teammate Israel Villarreal (39.39).
LADY FALCONS SOAR
Coming into the final day of the District 32-6A track & field meet, the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons were in last place and trailed first-place Harlingen High by 26 points.
That didn’t last long, as the Lady Falcons racked up six gold medals during the running finals, lifting them to the top of the standings with 132 points and a District 32-6A team championship Saturday night at Sams.
Los Fresnos coach Brent Blackman felt his team could have had a stronger first day, but he had faith in his runners heading into the final day.
“We came in a few points behind Harlingen and we left some points out there in the field events,” he said. “We knew running-wise, we had a chance if we just chipped away little by little, and that’s what the girls did. They fought hard all day, ground it out and it came down to the mile relay. We knew if it came down to the mile relay, we’d have a good chance.”
Harlingen High placed second in the girls standings with 128 points, followed by San Benito (107.5), Brownsville Hanna (105), Brownsville Rivera (76) and Harlingen South (69).
The Lady Falcons won the mile relay with a time of 4:03.96, followed by San Benito (4:06.42), and Rivera (4:07.83).
Setting the tone for Los Fresnos were Luisa Cruz, who won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.40 seconds, edging Brownsville Hanna’s Jacqueline Mora (12.68) and Harlingen High’s Jaiden Barbour (12.73).
Jumper Brianna Alex won double gold in the 100 hurdles (14.38) and the 300 hurdles (45.39). Gisemani Garcia also brought home a gold medal for Los Fresnos, winning the 800 (2:27.83).
“This is my second year as the head coach here,” Blackman said. “These girls did nothing but work hard, and they got rewarded for it today and it all worked out for them.”
OTHER WINNERS
Other gold-medal winners from Saturday’s meet included Rivera’s Julian Tavares, who won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.57, edging out Harlingen South’s Eric Lopez (2:03.32), San Benito’s Joaquin Medina (2:04.04) and Harlingen High’s Ivan Montante.
Medina got a win of his own in the 1600-meter run with a time of (4:31.68) followed by Hanna’s Juan Abrego (4:41.11) and San Benito’s Michael Torres (4:41.58) and Harlingen South’s Lopez (4:43.26).
In the girl’s events, Hanna’s 400-meter relay took gold with the return of Jacqueline Mora, who ran the final leg to secure the team’s win and a time of 50.16.
Mora also won the 200-meter dash (26.49), while teammate Aniel Aguero won the 400-meter run (59.57) and Nadia Sifuentes placed second (5:40.38) behind Rivera’s Andrea de la Rosa (5:28.73).