By STEFAN MODRICH, Staff Writer
In one of the last University Interscholastic League-sanctioned athletic events through the end of March in the Rio Grande Valley, the Brownsville Hanna boys and Brownsville Veterans Memorial girls won BISD City Track & Field Meet titles Friday at Sams Stadium.
The UIL has placed a temporary suspension on all athletic events effective Monday through March 29 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Texas.
The Eagles finished atop the standings with 169 points, followed by runner-up Rivera with 132 points and Pace in third place with 83 points.
“Any time you’re competing against people from your own neighborhood, it really brings (a team) together,” Hanna coach Armando Rocha said. “To beat (the other Brownsville schools) at this level, it’s a big deal. I’m pretty sure (the student-athletes) will be Snapchatting each other about it later.”
A second-place finish by the 1,600 meter relay team of Aaron Hinojosa, Eduardo Garcia, Edgar Zertuche and Charles Thirlwall put Hanna (3:35.60) over the top.
“Everyone put in their own effort,” Rocha said. “Everything came together, and it came down to the end … We took nearly three seconds off that mile relay, which pushed us over the board there to win it.”
Hanna’s John Abrego won the 1,600 and 3,200 races with times of 4:43.56 and 10:15 respectively.
He took an early lead in the 800 before giving way to teammates Aaron Hinojosa (2:01.53) and Eduardo Garcia (2:02.88), as Abrego finished third in 2:03.97 for a podium sweep of the event.
“Overall, I felt physically good,” Abrego said. “Today was a perfect day, the weather was fine. I pushed myself, and I came out pretty good today.”
The sophomore felt at home running at Sams, a setting in which he’s used to performing well.
“When I visualize my races, I can already clearly see the stadium in my mind,” Abrego said. “It just feels good picturing that and having it re-enacted in reality.”
Hanna’s Sabian Arceneaux had the best high jump of the event, good for first place at 5 feet and 10 inches.
In the girls division, Brownsville Veterans took first place with 129 points. The Lady Vikings were second with 110 points, and the Lady Eagles recorded 104 points, good for a third-place finish.
Standouts for the Lady Chargers were Aaliyah Lopez, the winner in the 300 hurdles (52.40) and Valeria Gamez, who finished in first place in the 3,200 (12:19) and second in the 1,600 (5:53.16), behind Hanna’s Brissa Stinson (5:50.49).
Other winners were Valerie Sumaya, with a high jump of 4 feet 6 inches, and Monica Garcia, with a shot put of 33 feet.
Porter’s Estrella Medellin and Pace’s Marc Garcia were the top individual performers in the girls and boys divisions, respectively.
Medellin dominated the track and the sand pit, winning the triple jump with a mark of 33 feet, 8 1/2 inches. She was second in the long jump, leaping to 16 feet, 1 inch.
“I had a good long jump,” Medellin said. “It was a personal best for me. My triple jump wasn’t my best mark, but I still finished first.”
She took the top spot in both the 400 (1:02.24) and 800 (2:24.18) and ran in the Cowgirls’ third-place 1,600 relay team that finished in 4:24.95.
Reaching a sub-2:25 800 time was an important benchmark for Medellin, one that stood out to her as a highlight among the many others that contributed to her large medal haul.
“I would say it was a successful meet,” Medellin said of her expectations. “My coach is very honest with me, and I believe in everything he told me. It was a pretty good meet overall.”
Garcia won the 100 in 11.44 seconds, was part of the Vikings’ first-place 400 relay team (44.50) and won the pole vault with a clearance of 9 feet, 6 inches.
He also was a member of Pace’s 800 relay team that finished fourth with a time of 1:34.64.