NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
AUSTIN — Entering the bell lap, Edinburg IDEA Quest senior Valery Tobias had some work to do if she wanted to make history and become the first Valley athlete to capture three consecutive state gold medals in a running event.
She made the right decisions and ended up in a familiar spot — at the podium with gold around her neck as Class 3A’s 800-meter run champion Friday at Mike A. Myers Stadium at The University of Texas. Her time of 2 minutes, 15.28 seconds was more than a second quicker than second place.
“It was definitely tough,” Tobias said. “There’s no time to think during the race, because it’s just instinct. It’s whatever you feel is good. Just go with it, because it’s just two minutes or so, and they’re going to go by really quick.”
She started the staggered race in the seventh lane, and when the lanes collapsed and runners left their lanes in search of inside positioning, most of the nine runners were packed closely together.
“At the beginning, I was just determined to get out of there and make sure I wouldn’t get boxed in,” Tobias said.
She had to weave in and out of traffic, and she finally made the move to overtake the leader and claim first during the final 100 meters.
“At the end I was thinking, ‘It’s my last race — my last high school race,’ and I wanted to end on a good note,’” Tobias said. “I wouldn’t be able to do this, come here and have the confidence, without all my friends. They often reminded me that I could do it, and they gave me that boost of confidence that I was never able to get on my own. I’m just thankful for that: my friends, my coaches, my family.”
Tobias, who will run track and field at the University of Texas next school year, wasn’t done. She finished fourth in the 400 dash with a 59.06.
Progreso’s Everardo Esparza knows about the state competition from a cross country prospective. On Friday, the senior had his first taste of state track. He finished third in the 3,200 run with a time of 9:47.94.
He didn’t have an explanation for why his success translated so well, except for his pure love of running.
“I really don’t know. I just run,” Esparza said. “The main difference is I’m a little more of a cross country guy. I fell in love with cross country more than track. Track just grew into me after the few meets that I did my junior year. You have to be crazy to run long distance. You have to love the sport in order to do something like this. I guess it was just that: the love and passion of the sport.”
BODDEN THROWS BOMBS
Brownsville Veterans thrower Andres Bodden was a standout early in the day. He was the only Valley thrower tossing in both shot put and discus, and he had a strong start to his senior state meet.
Bodden earned third in the shot put with a throw of 53 feet, 6.5 inches. He said the strength of throwers in the Valley helped him prepare for the state meet.
“I knew the top guys in my region and in my area were going to be here at the state meet,” Bodden said. “It’s just a matter of competing today. I’ve competed against all these guys in the summer and throughout the year. I’ve seen all of them.”
A few hours later, he was in the ring again, this time for discus. He used a personal best 173-1 in his second-to-last throw to take a brief lead. He ended up claiming the silver medal in the event.
The day was special for Bodden not only because of the results, but because it was a precursor to his college career, as he will be a preferred walk-on with the Longhorns. He’ll join Tobias as well as Rio Grande City’s Brandon Gracia and Edinburg North’s Beth Ramos as RGV athletes taking their talents to the Forty Acres.
“It’s exciting. This is my dream school. This is the school I was coming to either way, whether I walked on or not,” Bodden said. “My whole family came here, and I’m just happy to be here.
OTHER VALLEY NOTABLES
Sharyland Pioneer’s Johnny Howell experienced a bitter end to high school throwing. He injured his leg while warming up before the shot put competition and was only able to complete one throw standing still for a 24-11.
His coach, Larry Howell, said that Johnny “had the meet” and was throwing in the mid-50s in warmups before the injury.
On the girls side, Sharyland Pioneer’s Daizy Monie in discus and Edcouch-Elsa’s Mackenzie Contreras in shot put finished ninth and eighth, respectively. Both are underclassmen and plan to use the experience to return stronger next season.
Mercedes’s Dominic Cavazos earned sixth in the 3,200 run with a time of 9:40.19. The UT Arlington commit and the Valley’s top distance runner in Class 5A didn’t want his 1,600 race to end with the same sour taste.
“I was kind of disappointed about that, because the shape I was in, I could have easily placed in the top three,” Cavazos said. “Mentally, I wasn’t there, and physically, I was just tired. After the 2-mile, I was kind of in a depressed mode, I guess, if you want to call it that; kind of a little slump. I actually didn’t get out of it until 45 minutes before the mile started.”
In the 1,600, Cavazos jumped out to a quick start by his standards, but he was in last place after one lap around the track. He stuck with his mantra of pacing, something a younger Cavazos might not have done.
“The first 100 meters, these guys were going full-out sprint,” Cavazos said. “I was like, ‘No, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to run my pace.’ Believe it or not, I was in dead last, but believe it or not, I was running faster than my pace.”
His pace paid off, and he caught a majority of the field. His comeback bid secured him a bronze medal and a final memento from his high school career with a 4:18.32.
“My freshman year, that would have been a totally different me,” Cavazos said. “I would have been out there and just trying to stay with the pack. Nine times out of 10, if you hit your pace, it’s going to be something good. It’s also motivating when you’re passing people versus when you take off 100 miles per hour and people start passing you.”
Sharyland High’s Valeria Diaz finished her 1,600 in eighth place with a time of 5:12.64, just .8 from a school record, according to her coach Melissa Dearth.
Alex Ayala of Santa Rosa finished with a bronze in the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.40.
Dariana Vasquez of La Feria earned a bronze medal in just her sophomore year. She finished the 3,200 in 11:31.77.
Edcouch-Elsa junior Bianca Cardenas didn’t have the day she wanted in the Class 5A pole vault. She was not able to clear the first jump and finished with a “no height.”
She reflected on her strong season, during which she became the Valley’s all-time record holder in girls vault.
“I am really proud of the fact that I accomplished so much in a couple of months,” Cardenas said. “I feel like the work I’ve been putting in will reflect my jumps next year. I’ll just take into consideration that having a no height sucks, so to make sure that doesn’t happen next year.”
Sharyland High senior Blake Klein soaked in the experience of the state triple jump, finishing fifth with a jump of 45-09.5.
“Comparing this to region is obviously different,” Klein said. “There’s a lot less jumps (at regionals). You see the list and you say, ‘OK, it’s beatable.’ Then you come here at state, and it’s the top in the state. Yeah, the competition is way better. I was so excited to qualify. All I wanted to do was qualify. I didn’t care about how I came here and jumped. It was just about the experience.”