MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — For three years, Joshua Doria never finished in the top 20 at the RGVCCCA Meet of Champions. The Edinburg North product said he didn’t feel he possessed the strength necessary to compete against the Valley’s best, nor did he have the proper motivation to test his limits.
But in the wake of his mother’s death due to breast cancer, Doria said he found the inspiration to tap into his potential. So when he won the elite boys division at the ninth annual Meet of Champions on Saturday at Monte Cristo Golf Country Club, Doria savored the moment.
“You have to run with heart and guts,” Doria said. “Runners run with purpose, right? They run for their family, for their coaches. They run for themselves to get scholarships. But I run for my mom. I love her. I wish she was with me everyday, like an average mother. But you have to keep on fighting in life.”
Doria clocked in at 15:40.1 to edge La Joya Palmview’s Eliseo Rodriguez by exactly two seconds. His finish helped Edinburg North claim the top prize as a team with 103 points. Donna High (173) came in second, and Rio Grande City (175) third.
Brownsville Rivera’s Andrea de la Rosa (18:25.5) won the girls elite division by a significant margin over the competition. La Joya Palmview’s Brianna Robles (18:47.8), who finished second, said it was the first time this season that she didn’t come away with a win.
“It was hard,” Robles said. “It was really humid and I haven’t gotten used to that. I just felt tired.”
For Doria, the meet marked the first time he took first place at any event this season. That it came against 30 of the Valley’s top programs added significance. In past years, he said he didn’t feel he was adequately prepared to win. But as he continued to improve his strength and stretch properly, he noticed a difference in his results.
Doria showed improvement in regionals last year, after he said he garnered “a bad place” as a sophomore. Physically, he said, he was in a lot of pain then, unable to keep up with the upperclassmen. His coaches continued to push him, however, reminding him of the sport’s everyday commitment.
“I failed so much,” Doria said. “I’m not going to lie. But I said I’m going to run hard, I’m going to run smart. I’m going to fight for things. My mom fought with breast cancer, and I’m going to fight for this. I’m going to fight for education and scholarships.”
Though he admittedly did not run “smart” on Saturday, Doria said it was his toughness that prevailed when he saw Eliseo Rodriguez trailing him, along with Rio Grande City’s Brandon Gracia (15:50.5), who finished third.
“Brandon and Eli, they’re strong competitors,” Doria said. “On the straightaway, I just looked back to check to see in case if Eli was going to catch up. I was pushing, pushing, giving everything I had.”
While Robles said she had ambitions of winning the elite girls division Saturday, she was ultimately pleased with outcome, given her fourth-place finish a year ago with a time of 19:23.5.
The junior was coming off a first-place finish at the Islander Splash in Corpus Christi, and the Meet of Champions served as her final tuneup before district gets under way. Feeling both “heavy and tired” Saturday, she fell short of her own expectations.
“It was a rude awakening that I have to continue to work hard in races because at any given moment, anyone can take it away,” Robles said. “I just have to get more long runs in the afternoons to get used to this heat, and stay hydrated.”
La Joya Palmview won the girls division with 46 points. Sharyland Pioneer (141) and PSJA Memorial (155) followed. It marked the second straight year that the Lady Lobos claimed the top prize.
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