EDCOUCH — Freddy Calvillo has offers on the table to join college cross country teams.
The various letters asking him to consider their school have been pouring in since his freshman year after he moved up to the La Joya Juarez-Lincoln varsity team, his mother Mary Martinez said.
He has his sights on joining the University of Texas Longhorns cross country team, but he knows he must win races and run faster if he’s going to get an offer from the state’s flagship school.
So he sprinted harder and faster to keep his lead to win the Yellow Jacket Invitational cross country meet on Friday morning in Elsa.
Calvillo, a senior, crossed the finish line with a time of 16 minutes, 26.37 seconds. His closest opponent Christian Gonzales, of Corpus Christi Carrol, trailed just a few tenths behind.
“He almost had me at the end,” Calvillo said with a smile. “I just gave it all I got.”
Calvillo led the pack of runners most of the race as he ran along the 5K trail outside of town located behind Ybarra Elementary. At the second mile stretch he led the pack by more than 50 yards.
“It was a little bumpy, but I managed,” Calvillo said.
Calvillo’s mother was also trying to keep up with her son at the race.
As Calvillo ran his race, she raced across the open field between the start and finish lines to get a look at her two boys compete.
She like many of the other spectators there to watch the race jockeyed for a spot along the second mile marker for a chance to see the race up close, take a photo and encourage the runners.
She said she has been following her sons Freddy and Anthony ever since they started running in middle school.
Anthony, Juarez-Lincoln junior, finished the race 37th overall with a time of 18:44.5 minutes.
“I just love it,” she said as she stood with them after the race. “I’m real proud of them, they have come so far.”
A total of 42 teams participated and more than 600 boys and girls from the freshman to varsity levels took the challenge.
Progreso tallied 60 points to win the event in the boys varsity division, Juarez-Lincoln totaled 72 points for second place and Edcouch-Elsa racked up 103 points to round out the top three teams.
EBARB LEADS WESLACO
DONNA — Weslaco’s Amity Ebarb took first place with a time of 19:23.29, nearly a minute ahead of the second-place runner, and teammate Destinee Longoria and the Panthers captured the team title at the Donna North Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at Donna North.
Weslaco captured three of the top five positions with Nataile Garcia capturing fourth. Edinburg Economedes runners Dayan Lozano and Dianett Garcia took third and fifth, respectively.
Weslaco won the team event with 28 points. Economedes took second with 49 points. Rounding out the top five teams were Harlingen High, Harlingen South and Los Fresnos.
Donna North won the boys event as Jesus Mora finished first with a time of 16:04.60. Jorge Ponce was fourth and the Chiefs finished with 72 points, edging out Weslaco East with 86 points and three runners in the top 10 with Javi Esquivel, Rene Tamez and Abram Maldonado finishing seventh, ninth and 10th respectively.
Yellow Jacket Cross-Country Invitational: Top ten boys individual results
1. Freddy Calvillo, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 16:26.3; 2. Christian Gonzales, Corpus Christi Carroll, 16:26.8; 3. Guadalupe Reyes, Mercedes, 16:34.:5; 4. Hector Perales, Progreso High 16:37.5; 5. Rosendo Rodriguez, La Joya Palmview, 16:40.5; 6. Dominik Medrano, Edcouch- Elsa 16:40.5, 7.. Jonathan Vega, Progreso High 16:48.7; 8. Daniel Lopez, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 17:01.8; 9. Cesar Ramirez, Sharyland Pioneer, 17:02.3; 10. Angel Avila, Sharyland Pioneer, 17:10.7.
Yellow Jacket Cross-Country Invitational : Top girls individual results
1. Tesse Garcia, 19:59.3, Weslaco East; 2. Sofia Ramirez, 20:05.6, Brownsville Veterans; 3. Faith Cruz, 20:20.2, PSJA High; 5. Cynthia Ramirez, 20:24.1, Brownsville Veterans;
5. Gissel Gonzalez, 20:25.2, La Joya Palmview
Girls team results
1. Weslaco East 49; 2. Brownsville Veterans Memorial 50; 3. La Joya Palmview 62; 4. La Feria 89; 5. Sharyland Pioneer 127