By MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
With the 2019 track and field season is now in full swing, athletes from across the Rio Grande Valley will take to Port Isabel and Harlingen for their next meets today and Saturday.
Port Isabel High School will host the Tarpon Invitational today, starting at 2:30 p.m. with the field events and the 3200-meter run at 3:30 p.m. The track events get going at 4:30 p.m. with an awards presentation held shortly after.
Schools scheduled to be in attendance will be Port Isabel, Mercedes, La Villa, Donna High, San Benito, Los Fresnos, Pace, Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Hidalgo, St. Joseph Academy, La Feria and Rio Hondo.
The Harlingen Relays will get going Saturday with the field events at 9 a.m., the 3200-meter run at 10 a.m. and the rest of the running events at 1:30 p.m.
Schools scheduled to be in attendance are Harlingen High, Harlingen South, San Benito, Hanna, Rivera, Weslaco High, Edinburg Vela, Porter, Donna High, Edcouch-Elsa, Mission High, Valley View, Lyford, Progreso, Raymondville, Santa Rosa, Santa Maria and the Marine Military Academy.
HAWKS CONFIDENT
One of the host schools eager to get out on the field will be the Harlingen South Hawk boys, who are hoping to build off a second-place finish at last week’s Hog Relays in Pharr and continue to round out the team.
“ Our hurdlers looked pretty good, our relays are getting better and our throwers are still out there to compete really well,” South head coach Ralph De La Rosa said. “The main thing (this week) is that we have to improve and staying healthy. Some of our basketball players came out, so we’re hoping to get some depth and see where they can help us. We also have a couple of freshmen that we’re going to move up and give them a little bit of a chance to be at the show. That varsity experience is extremely important, especially this early in the year.”
South hurdler Nitai Duran and thrower Chase Harrell are coming off double-gold performances last week.
Duran took gold in both hurdling events, clocking in at 15.31 seconds in the 110-meter race and 40.76 in the 300, which was a Hog Relays meet record. He also placed fourth in the long jump with a distance of 20 feet, 9.5 inches and fifth in the triple jump with a 41-4.5.
“ For us, that’s a big deal,” De La Rosa said of Duran’s performance. “We haven’t had a multiple event guy here at South, so for us, that was pretty good.”
As for Harrell, he won gold in the shot put with a distance of 56 feet, 5.5 inches and in the discus throw with a 171-6.
DISTRICT 32-6A SHINING
Over the first two meets, Rivera distance runner Andrea de la Rosa, Hanna sprinter Jacqueline Mora and Los Fresnos hurdler Brianna Alex have tallied three golds.
At the Sams Relays last week, de la Rosa won the 3200-meter run in 12 minutes, 2.5 seconds and the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:21.57; Mora took gold in the 100 meter dash (12.69) and the 200-meter dash (26.44) and Alex, she won the 11-meter hurdles (14.94) and the 300-meter hurdles (46.96).
After the weather shortened Bobby Morrow Relays, De la Rosa won the 3200 a time of 12:3.81; Mora won the 100-meter dash (12.44) and Alex won the 100-meter hurdles (14.59).
De la Rosa and Mora will look to keep rolling at the Harlingen Relays on Saturday, while Alex will be in action today at the Tarpon Invitational.
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