By MARK MOLINA, Staff Writer
There are few things that are ever guaranteed, but when it comes to the Harlingen South shot put and discus throwers turning in a winning performance, it’s close.
South’s quartet of throwers, which consists of seniors Andrew Ott, Chase Harrell and Cristian Cortez along with junior Benjamin Ruiz, was key in helping the Hawks deliver a co-District 32-6A championship as they once again helped the team get off to a hot start at the meet.
Harrell, Cortez and Ruiz finished first, second and third, respectively in the discus throw. In the shot put, Ott, Harrell and Ruiz finished first, second and fourth, respectively.
Hawks coach Ralph De La Rosa said with as much time as his group of throwers puts in to train, it’s no wonder it has performed at the level it has.
“You know how they call basketball guys gym rats? Well, these guys are ring rats,” he said. “They’re always out here in the field. They’re always throwing, and they’re always talking.”
Ruiz, the youngest of the group, said being consistent as a thrower is a process like no other that not only focuses on the time and effort but the attention to detail.
“We are all very technical,” the junior said. “I’ve been technical all my years, Ott’s been technical, Cristian this year has gotten a lot better and Chase has been good all of his years. It’s a lot of working on drills, technique and not just trying to throw far every day. It’s working on little things that make a big difference. Then in the weight room, it’s not about messing around, it’s having a purpose, having a workout and having a plan to get stronger faster.”
The Hawks’ throwers take their craft seriously, and they do so with the bigger picture in mind.
Not only is the goal to rack up medals at district, area or even the regional meet, but at the state meet and beyond.
“We all work a lot harder than your average throws team,” said Ott, a Kansas State commit. “We’re all out here trying our very best to be nationally ranked and throw for colleges. That’s our ultimate goal. Our vision goes beyond the district, area or the region. We’re trying to get recruited, so we have to scale ourselves against the USA.”
Harrell said getting to such heights as a throwing team has been a result of the type of competition they’ve had to face.
“We’ve been to some big-time meets, and lots of our experience comes from big-time throwers we’ve thrown against,” Harrell said. “Iron sharpens iron, and that’s the best thing for experience.”
On a more personal level, Harrell has competed with a clear head as he has his future, like Ott, in order. Harrell has committed to the University of Houston.
“My coaches said that, for college, all the pressure was lifted,” he said. “Just go out and have fun at these meets. Just throw whatever you want to throw, do what you can do. As a result, I’ve had no pressure, no anxiety and no nerves.”
Though Harrell has that sense of freedom when throwing, there is still a standard to be upheld and that is the one that this team has created during the past couple of seasons with multiple state qualifiers and such dominant showings.
While pressure and expectations come with being associated with this quartet of throwers, it also has served as a motivating factor, Cortez explained.
“(Our performances) really set the standard, and coaches from other schools really expect that now,” Cortez said. “If we got to a meet and don’t show what we can do and what other people know we can do, it kind of brings us down a little bit. That’s why we have to work hard every day at practice and just continue to be better and to show that we (are that standard).”
Still, throughout all the training and the meets, one constant among the group is the camaraderie, which creates friendly competition that includes trying to best or come close to one another’s personal records.
Still, the team finds time to laugh and joke with one another during the grind.
“We always work on those technical things, but at the same time we also have fun,” Cortez said. “We make jokes a lot. We’ll see each other around the school and poke fun at each other, and when we go on trips we tend to room with each other. It’s always a fun time.”
“Obviously we’re all trying to make it to regionals,” Ruiz added. “But it will be the same thing, being able to travel with each other. We’ve really gotten to know each other in that sense.”
The goal this year is for all four to go back to the regional meet just like last season, but go beyond that while making their school and their coaches, present and future, proud.
“We had some really good marks that got us nationally noticed last year,” Ott said. “(Harrell) signed to the University of Houston and I signed to Kansas State. We’re really trying to build off of all of that and do our head coaches proud at our respective colleges. We’re also trying to do well for coach (De La Rosa) and improve upon our PRs from last year. We’re just trying to make that legacy (at South) even greater than it is and make it a tradition.”