By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
WESLACO — District 32-5A sprinters and runners finished off their district track meet Friday night at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
The Edcouch-Elsa girls track team is a back-to-back district champion, finishing with a score of 190 points. Donna High finished second with 122 points, and Mercedes was third with 85 points.
Edcouch-Elsa received points on the track from Robynn Perez, Christina Hernandez, Alexis Ramirez, Jasmine Mireles, Haley Guzman, Arely Vasquez, Rebecca Davila, Miranda Guerrero and Sophia Ramos.
“We really worked hard for this one,” Edcouch-Elsa girls track coach Juan Aguinaga said. “We wanted to do something the school has never done in its history, to win back-to-back championships. That was a goal we had, and the girls, they worked for me. They were out here hungry, they came out fighting and were never satisfied.”
Brownsville Pace’s Genesis Augustus won the 100-meter hurdles, Brownsville Veterans’ Naia Gracia won the 800 and Mercedes’ Jaymie Flores took the 200.
Donna High’s Emily Jones finished first in the 400, and Samariah Gonzalez capped off a great track meet with a 100 victory.
“I put a lot of work into it,” Gonzalez said. “The wind was really strong, too, so it was kind of hard, but I stayed strong and pushed the whole race.”
The Donna High boys won the district championship with 152 points. Mercedes finished second with 106 points, and Edcouch-Elsa was third with 94 points.
Donna High’s Kevin Hernandez, Marcus Mata, Marcos Mejia, Brian Juarez, Caleb Harrison, Luis Silva, Xavier Rodriguez, Marc Zamorrano and Francisco Contreras contributed to the team win.
“Last year we finished second, so we had a bittersweet taste in our mouth,” Donna coach Jeromi Harris said. “The kids came ready to work. I have been preaching to them they can win it. The kids have been putting in extra time, and hard works pays off.”
Mercedes’ Austin Davila took gold in the 200 and partnered with Luis Pinion, Xavier Sanchez, and Tyrell Trevino to win the 400 relay.
Edcouch-Elsa’s Alexis Rodriguez finished first in the 110-meter hurdles, and Brownsville Porter’s Chris Ortiz is the 400 district champion.
“It was great,” Ortiz said. “I should have been back-to-back champ, but I made the mistake of not eating or hydrating before. It feels good coming back and winning district this year.”