By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LYFORD — Everardo Flores spent the past four years representing the Harlingen South Hawks, but during the next four, he’ll have the name of a rival across his chest.
Flores signed to compete in track & field for the William Jewell College Cardinals in May. The thrower will be moving to Liberty, Mo., at the end of the month to represent the Cardinals in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the NCAA Division II level.
“I’m just really excited to compete. I love competing, it’s my favorite thing to do,” Flores said. “It’s really exciting that I get to finally show off all my hard work, and I get to keep working and getting better. I’m definitely going to do discus and shot, and they’re going to try me out in all the events. I’m excited to start throwing different things, like hammer and weight. I’ve thrown them a couple of times in high school and it was really fun, so I can’t wait to do that more.”
Flores started throwing during the seventh grade and learned a lot in his four years with the South program, getting to watch the successful athletes that came before him. The 2020 season was his first competing at the varsity level, and having the season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic was a tough blow.
He was hitting his stride as “championship season” approached. He threw personal records in both the shot put and discus at the Jimmy Platt Invitational in Weslaco, the last meet in which South competed before the shutdown. He finished first in discus with a throw of 158 feet, 8 inches, with Hawks teammate Ben Ruiz in second, and took silver in the shot put with a throw of 47-6.5, finishing behind Ruiz.
“That was my first actual good meet for both shot and disc. I PRd in both events, and I was starting to get the ball rolling and my practices were going well,” Flores said. “Even that Spring Break week before everything got canceled, we had practices and I was doing very well. And to have everything canceled, it was just really disappointing.”
Flores credited Ruiz for helping him develop as a thrower and get the opportunity to attend William Jewell. Ruiz sent Flores an Instagram link to a post from Cardinals assistant track & field/throwing coach Garrett Appier that said the college still had scholarships available. Flores sent a direct message to Appier with his stats, and things blossomed from there.
“The person that had the most effect on my career, I would say, is Ben,” Flores said. “When I got to high school my freshman year, I wasn’t the strongest and I didn’t have the best technique. He coached me in the weight room, throwing … he brought me up from basically nothing.”
Appier, Flores’s future coach at William Jewell, was a big reason the thrower decided to make the move to Missouri. Appier still trains professionally while coaching and has his sights set on qualifying for the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He is the NCAA DII shot put record holder.
Before heading to William Jewell, where he’ll be studying nursing, Flores took up a job on a farm to make some money for school. He said the job doubles as strength training as he does a lot of heavy lifting, and he’s working out and throwing in his spare time to get ready for college competition.
Harlingen South coach Ralph De La Rosa praised the growth Flores made through his career and said his dedication to the weight room helped him find the confidence that led to success. He believes Flores’ work ethic and willingness to learn will lead him to a solid career.
“The measuring tape doesn’t lie. When you go out there and you see the distance he’s throwing, schools are going to notice, and it’s really good for him to get this chance,” De La Rosa said. “He’s going to be a great teammate, but he’s also very coachable. I think Ever is going to go in there and absorb everything that the coaching staff is giving him, the strength coordinator, the nutritionist … There’s going to be so much more information, and being able to use that information and absorb it will help him.”