ROWNSVILLE — Track and field is black and white as athletes head to state, no times, distances jumped or feet reached are hidden. All the cards are on the table.
Brownsville St. Joseph has two aces in its hand as it heads to the TAPPS 5A state meet Friday in Waco.
Defending state discus champion Alondra Loya and freshman pole vaulter Nicole Richer enter the state meet seeded as No. 1 in their respective events after winning regional championships a week ago. Loya and Richer are feeling confident in themselves for Friday’s meet.
Richer and Loya look at their competition’s jumps or marks and even their progression this year. It is part of the sport, similar to swimming: everybody knows what they have.
Richer defeated her main competition, Lutheran South Academy’s Alma Martin, at the TAPPS 5A South Regional.
“She is happy where she is at,” St. Joseph head track and field coach Teddy Lopez said. “Hopefully it equates to a good performance. That is all she has to do, put it together like she has been doing these last three meets. I try to drill in their brain to just focus on execution and effort, do not worry about the outcome. The outcome will take care of itself.”
Richer finished second at the RGVCA Meet of Champions last month in Harlingen. The freshman has vaulted herself as one of the best in the sport in the Valley. Lopez praised the support she has from her parents. Richer also acknowledged her parents as being an important factor for her success in pole vaulting.
The TAPPS regional champion started drilling during the seventh grade but did not really feel like doing it much. Eighth grade is when Richer really became invested in the sport.
“Last year me, would have been whoa,” Richer said. “This year, I am, like,no biggie, but I am excited.”
Richer, like Loya, is extremely competitive. They both want to be champions this year, through Loya already is one.
Loya is the returning state champion in discus and, despite injuring an ankle performing a musical, is poised for another go at state, with hopes of winning it again.
“That is the plan,” Loya said. “I think the bigger plan is improving so I can get out there, because the next step is to try and go to college for it, try to get a scholarship for it.”
Joining Loya in discus is Olivia Wood and Andrea Jasso. They call themselves the Three Musketeers, with their coach Ray Cortinas, d’Artagnan at their side.
“The end goal is to make it to state,” Jasso said. “I feel blessed to go with my teammates. We have been traveling to district, regionals and now state. To do that with my teammates is something really special to me.”
Jasso, a senior, was a pivotal player on the basketball team and is headed to Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in the fall for academics. Wood is the baby of the Three Musketeers, only a freshman. Wood is ready to gain experience at state.
Wood does not have to go far for state experience, because she practices with a state champion.
“I watch her throw, and it is unbelievable,” Wood said. “Even when she hits 130, she is still upset with what she does. It is almost unreal to watch her throw sometimes.”