MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
Getting off to a fast start is always a good thing and that was the case for the Harlingen South Hawks track and field team as they put together a solid first day at the District 32-6A track and field meet Thursday afternoon at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.
The Hawks not only came out and dominated the shot put and discus throws as expected, but put on a show in the pole vault, which was a pleasant surprise to Harlingen South head coach Ralph De la Rosa.
“I think our boys did a great job of competing today,” the Hawks’ coach said. “We did some things in the pole vault and it came out better than expected. Of course, our throwers came through like they have the last three years. Right now, I like the way everybody is competing. We also had some basketball guys who came out and helped score some points that we didn’t have before, so that was pretty neat to see.”
The Hawks are in first place after Thursday with 85 points, followed by Harlingen High, Harlingen (71), Hanna (26), San Benito (20), Los Fresnos (11) and Rivera (4).
The field events, along with the 3200-meter run and running preliminaries took place Thursday and the meet will conclude Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. The top four finishers in each event will move on the District 31/32-6A meet in Weslaco on April 18.
Chase Harrell won the discus throw with a distance of 163 feet, 4 inches, followed by teammates Cristian Cortez, (154-07), Benjamin Ruiz (146-07) and Hanna’s Giovanni Rivera (146-06).
In the shot put, South’s Andrew Ott took home the gold with a throw of 55-02, followed by teammate Harrell in second (54-08) , Hanna’s Giovanni Rivera (53-7.50) in third and Ruiz in fourth (46-06).
In the pole vault, Sammy Ruiz cleared 13 feet, 6 inches to secure the gold, while Rhandall Muro-Lopez took cleared 12-06, taking second on attempts as San Benito’s Mitch Guajardo also cleared the same height.
Harlingen High, who has excelled on the track, also had a big day over in the sand pits.
The Cardinals swept the top three places in the long jump with Jose Garcia placing first with a jump of 22-5.25, followed by Eric Quilantan (21-3.50) in second and Pedro Luna (20-05) in third. South’s Nitia Duran came in fourth (20-03).
Quilantan also won the triple jump with a jump of 41-05. Los Fresnos’ Daniel Dennie came in second (41-02), Garcia tied for third with South’s Gabriel Mares (40-03).
In the High jump, Caden Feekes and Nathan Gutierrez placed first and second, respectively for the Cards.
Despite a good first day, De la Rosa is wary of the Harlingen High speed expected out on the track come Saturday night when the running finals get underway.
“Harlingen has a lot of leg speed and they’re all young and fiery,” the South coach said. “They’re tough. Our job is to do what we’re supposed to do. We’re going to have to PR to have a chance and our relays will have to run faster than they have in the past. For us, we have to take care of ourselves; we can’t worry about anybody else in the field.”
LADY RAIDERS AND A CROWDED FIELD
The Rivera girls aren’t in the lead, but they have a lot to be happy with after Day 1 of the District 32-6A track and field meet with a couple of gold medals coming from another dominating run from distance runner Andrea de la Rosa in the 3,200-meter run and Ashley Hinojosa in the long jump.
Despite being one of the teams trailing Harlingen High in the standings after one day, Rivera head coach Jennifer Schuster says the good start was important with Saturday’s running events expected to be competitive.
“I think we’re on target where everybody though we’d be,” Schuster said. ‘Harlingen (High) is in the lead right now. They did very well in the jumping events and that helped them a lot. We’re hoping to be in the mix of things in the relays, but all of those are really tight in the district. It’s going to come down to these open events and who gets what in the relays. It’ll be a tight race.”
Harlingen High leads the pack with 52 points, followed by San Benito (41), Harlingen South (38), Hanna (32), Rivera (28) and Los Fresnos (26).
De la Rosa easily won the 3,200-meter run in 11:48.22, more than 30 seconds faster than Hanna’s Nadia Sifuentes, who placed second with a 12:23.07 time.
Rivera’s Bethany Guzman came in third with a time of 12:29.03 and Harlingen High’s Michelle Medina (12:30.65).
“Andrea placed first and Bethany got third and I’m proud of them for that,” the Rivera coach said. “Bethany is also the pitcher for the softball team, so for her to balance both is difficult, yet she was able to qualify, so I’m proud of her and, of course, Andrea. Also Andrea encouraging Bethany is something I love watching for the team.”
In the long jump, Hinojosa took gold with a jump of 16-08, followed by Harlingen High’s Jaiden Barbour (15-09) and Sabrina Todd (15-07) and Hanna’s Hilary Pina (15-03).
In the High jump, Harlingen High’s Amber Leyva cleared 5-00 to win the gold, followed by Los Fresnos’ Gismani Garcia, Harlingen High’s Sabrina Todd, Los Fresnos’ Sandra Salazar and Hanna’s Natalie Arnold, who all cleared 4-10.
Harlingen South’s Daniela Maximo won the pole vault (9-00) and teammate Odemary Vidano won the discus throw (120-01).