BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
AUSTIN — Edinburg IDEA Quest coach Robbie Cruz was completely honest. He had all the confidence junior runner Valery Tobias was going to win the girls Class 3A 800-meter run at the UIL Track and Field State Meet a little after noon Saturday.
“I had to remind her a couple of times that it was her race to win,” Cruz said. “I told her to go out there and run the race the way she was trained to.”
Tobias obliged, capturing the state gold medal, running a personal best 2:13.08. Pottsboro’s Olivia Zint won the silver at 2:13.64 and Little River Academy’s Jenna Brazeal took bronze with a 2:14.37.
Through the first 400 meters, Tobias ran with the pack as Zint began to create some separation between herself and her competitors. Heading into the final 100, Tobias turned on the speed as Zint began to decelerate. Tobias eventually passed Zint to take first.
“I knew a lot of girls out here cannot keep up with the speed Valery has, especially at the finish,” Cruz said. “The girl from Pottsboro, who led the majority of the race, is a senior and lost to Valery last year. I knew she was going to go out there not wanting to lose again and set the pace for Valery. As long as she was within striking distance, around the 1:50 mark, we told her to start making your mark and finish with your speed.”
Tobias’ win in the 800 marks her second gold medal in as many. As a sophomore, Tobias won gold in the 800 run at state as well, with her previous best coming in at 2:16.86. Tobias’ 2:13.08 time is only two hundredths of a second slower than the girls 3A record. Albany’s Desi Hudson holds the record with a time of 2:13.06 set in 1996.
“After she won, it was still a shock to her,” Cruz said. “Valery is one of the most humble athletes I know. She doesn’t smack talk or showboat. She respects every runner. She was more excited that she accomplished winning back-to-back gold medals than she was shocked. It means a lot for our program, especially coming from a school that doesn’t have the resources to utilize as the bigger schools do. It says a lot about our kids and how hard they work.”
WOLVERINE WILD CARD
PSJA Memorial sophomore Cruz Gomez did not make the top two of the Class 6A boys 1,600 at the Region IV meet in San Antonio two weeks ago. But he did finish third at regionals with a personal best of 4:14.29, behind Comal Canyon’s Sam Worley (4:09.74) and Edinburg North’s Tristan Pena (4:14.25).
When every regional meet concluded, Gomez’s third-place time was the fastest of the third-place marks in the state, meaning Gomez would make his second appearance at the state meet and first in the 1,600 run.
While the likes of Worley, Southlake Carroll’s Reed Brown (4:02.49) and Pflugerville Hendrickson’s Daniel Viegra (4:06.68) set class records or medaled, Gomez placed fifth at 4:14.34, five hundredths of a second slower than his time at regionals.
“Cruz was the wild card coming into the race,” PSJA Memorial coach Leroy Perez said. “To get fifth in a large class like 6A, it feels really good that he performed at a big showcase like this. He’s maturing very well.”
Gomez was the youngest runner in the race and the only non-senior to crack the top five.
“The biggest takeaway will be the mental aspect,” Perez said. “He knew he was going up against a couple of seniors, and people take pictures with those kids (Worley and Brown) all the time because they’re really famous on the internet. Now, Cruz is going to step up. Hopefully, we can travel a little bit next year and get him some exposure in bigger meets. We hope he can come into a situation like this or regionals and be a little bit more prepared mentally.”