STAFF REPORTS
St. Joseph Academy ’s Gaby Garza continued her successful freshman season in track & field.
Garza won both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles events Friday at the TAPPS South Regional 5A meet at Houston Awty International.
She took the 100 with a time of 15.17 seconds and won the 300 in 44.78 to qualify for the TAPPS state meet May 8 and 9 at BaylorUniversity’s Hart Patterson Track & Field Complex in Waco.
“She won the 100 with a pretty stiff wind to her face,” St. Josephcoach Meme Garza said. “But she ran really well, and now she’s a regional champion in two events.”
Also advancing to the state meet were the 400, 800 and 1,600 boys relay teams for their top-four finishes.
The relay team of Kai Money, Mario Garcia, Gerardo Moses and Cole Conner finished third in both the 400 (43.91) and 800 (1:31.63) relay races. And the team of Miguel Guerra, Money, Garcia and Conner finished fourth in the 1,600 (3:30.16).
Each time was a personal record for the three relay teams this season.
“Our boys stepped it up,” Garza said. “They were running against pretty strong competition. Luckily we made it in all three relays, thatwas their goal all year long.”
The Bloodhounds had four athletes qualify for the state meet in the field events Thursday, including Megan Lopez and Marifer Valencia in the pole vault, Desi Rae Cortinas in the discus and Money in the long jump.
St. Joseph will have just a week to prepare for competition against the state’s best.
“We’re going to tweak some things, and hopefully we can push ourselves and improve our times,” Garza said. “We’ll get prepared. We’re excited about the field events, and we’re very happy about the running events. It was a good trip and the kids had a good time, and we’re looking forward to Waco.”