By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
With area meets getting going this week, local teams are hoping to punch their respective tickets to the Region IV track & field meets.
The action gets going today for Cameron and Willacy Country athletes as the 31/32-4A meet begins at 11 a.m. at La Feria’s Lion Stadium and the 31/32-5A meet starts at 10 a.m. at PSJA Stadium.
The 31/32-6A meet will begin Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Weslaco’s Bobby Lackey Stadium.
In Class 6A, the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons’ morale is high and they are hoping to keep the good times rolling at area after capturing the District 32-6A title.
With tough teams in the field, including the always strong Weslaco High squad, coach Brent Blackman is hoping that will motivate his runners to improve on their times.
“The girls have been great, and they’re working hard and ready to go,” Blackman said. “They’re trying to get faster on all the relays and they’re really just excited. They’re excited to see Weslaco, who is always on top of this area. We want to see if they can make us faster, and we’re excited about it.”
The Lady Falcons won the 800- (1:47.28) and 1,600-meter relays (4:03.96) and qualified in the 400 relay (50.99) with a fourth-place finish.
Blackman said their routine has got them to this point, but they have tinkered with it a bit in an effort to shave time.
“We’ve always been pretty dominant in the (800 relay) most of the season and kept most of our steps pretty much the same,” Blackman said. “We’re just trying to win with what we got and get the stick around. Now, we have to find a way to try and get faster. We shuffled some steps a little bit just to try to make the stick move around the track faster. That’s where we’re at, so we’ll see how it turns out.”
Also, Black is looking forward to seeing sophomore Gisemani Garcia and Brynn Ybarra in the 1,600 relay.
Garcia also will be competing in the 800 (2:27.83), a race she won at the 32-6A meet, and the 400, a race from she was scratched to free her up for relay duty.
In Class 4A, the La Feria Lions are feeling good, and not only because they ran away with the boys title at the 32-4A meet but because they will have the home field in today’s area meet.
“It’s a great feeling, especially for the kids knowing that they got a district title,” La Feria coach Everardo Sanchez said. “Now they have to move on to the area meet where they have the home-field advantage. We’re at home, we get to sleep in our own bed and we don’t have to travel anywhere. That’s the best part, and it gives us a great opportunity to earn an area title.”
The Lions will have 15 athletes in the field today, making that area meet crown very possible.
Sanchez is high on distance runners Santos Botello, Jose Dominguez and Anthony Cepeda, and believes they all have a solid chance in breaking through to the regional meet.
Botello placed second in the 800 at district with a time of 2:01.22. Dominguez placed fourth in the mile (4:43.19), and Cepeda got third in the 3200 (10:14.11).
The Lions also have athletes competing in all the field events except the triple jump.
La Feria’s strongest event, however, may be its 1,600 relay team of David Saenz, Darius Hernandez, Christopher Diaz and Ethan Padilla, which placed first at district with a time of 3:28.47.