BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
Upper Valley state track & field qualifiers hope to run, jump and throw onto the podium this weekend. Last season, two local athletes returned from Austin with gold medals. The chance for more hardware is within reach again.
IN THE RING
PSJA Southwest coach Eloy Garza is getting ready to accompany senior thrower Diego Treviño to state for the third time in four seasons.
This time, the Javelinas senior thrower will enter the ring as a future Oklahoma Sooner and hopes to leave as a first-time UIL state champion.
“The idea was to really get him to be in a relaxed state so he can focus on trying to reach new personal records,” Garza said about Treviño signing early to OU. “He started off kind of concerned that he wanted to well. It really helped in the end because at the end of the day he knows where he’s going next year. It’s going to be a great future for him.”
Last year, Treviño threw in Class 6A, which meant facing some of the RGV’s best throwers all the way to state. This year, in his new division, he has yet to face the same challenges but will be tested again at state.
“He thrives on competition and for him we always used competition,” Garza said. “He doesn’t really like it when he doesn’t have other throwers that are hitting the same marks. 5A is looking very competitive in the discus; nothing’s given. In the shot put, he does have some competition and we’ll see how they perform at the state meet.”
One thrower from the RGV is already a state champion. Grulla’s Abigail Flores earned a gold medal as a junior with a championship throw of 142 feet, 9 inches. She will have a chance to double up as a state winner this weekend.
As a senior, her throws are in a new range. She won the 4A regional meet with a personal record of 160-6. She’ll have tough competition from Canyon senior Audrey Hughes.
Treviño and Flores will joined by a big group of throwers, many in the 5A ranks.
Sharyland Pioneer’s Daisy Monie will toss the discus with one of the top seed throws from regionals. The Diamondback sophomore will be joined by district foe Charlee Salinas of Mission Veterans.
While Monie won discus, Salinas earned regional gold in the shot put with a throw of 41-10 1/2.
SUPER LEAPERS
Abelardo Lopez of Rio Grande City is a team-player first. As a junior he ran two relays, the 100-meter dash and competed in both the long and triple jump. He accumulated plenty of points for the Rattlers, but when his season ended in seventh place in the long jump and 12th place in the triple jump, his coach changed the game plan.
“He was ecstatic. He really was. It’s something we had talked about since last year,” RGC coach Eladio Bermudez said. “We felt last year if we pulled him from a lot of the races and just let him jump he had a chance to qualify and move on.”
Getting him to dial back on events wasn’t easy, especially because as he saw his team’s needs in other events.
“Him being such a team player it was so hard to talk him into doing it,” Bermudez said. “That’s again what made it so validating.
The senior expected to advance in the triple jump, but when that didn’t work, Lopez saved his best jump for the right time as he won the Class 5A long jump with a personal record of 22-9.
“Unfortunately, things didn’t go as great as we hoped in triple jump, so it was disappointing,” Bermudez said. “As the long jump came, it was challenging. But he stepped up to the plate and he let it all hang out.”
Duke commit and McAllen High senior Hannah Kelly will compete at the state level for the first time. After missing the chance to jump beyond area due to a soccer conflict as a junior, Kelly won the area meet with a jump of 5-4. At the Class 6A Region 4 meet, she earned silver with a jump of 5-6.
FAST DASH
Miguel Flores surprised the 400-meter field at regionals last week, when he overtook McAllen High’s Alex Rodriguez, who had owned the event for most of the season.
Weslaco High’s Amity Ebarb highlights the girls running events. The sophomore had a breakout regional meet and will be the lone Upper Valley runner competing in three events (400 meter, 800 meter, 1,600-meter relay). She won gold in all three events in San Antonio, including a 1 minute, 22.74 seconds personal record in the 800. Her 400-meter time of 55.44 set the Valley record that stood for 11 years.
RGC’s Daniella Muniz qualified in not just her 100-meter dash but also in the long jump. The junior is competing at state for the first time after advancing to regionals every season in high school.
At the intersection between speed and endurance is the 800-meter dash. Two times around the track, at full pace.
La Villa’s Robbie Sue Espericueta is back to Austin as a senior. Last year, she took silver in Class 2A in the same event.
Edcouch-Elsa’s Vanessa Cerda will make her debut at state in the 5A division as a sophomore after finishing in second at regionals with a PR time of 2:16.11.
ENDURANCE RUNNERS
If the Valley has a specialty in track, it would be a yearly battle between the throwing events and a group of standout distance runners. Like clockwork, that is the case again this year as the RGV sends four runners in the 1,600-meter run and 3,200-meter runs.
PSJA Memorial senior Cruz Gomez headlines the Valley field once again. Last year, in Class 6A, Gomez earned double silver medals in the same races. At the regional meet, he ran his season record in the 1,600 at 4:19.
Trevor and Evan Williams of McAllen Memorial will both run the 3,200 meter race, while Evan also qualified for the 1,600-meter run.
Brownsville Rivera’s Andrea de la Rosa will also run the 3,200 during her senior season.