The Hawks claimed their second straight meet title in as many weeks Friday night, after winning the Jim Hudson Relays in La Feria.
For De La Rosa, winning back-to-back meets is something he’s never done in his 12 years at South and attributes the feat to the balance of his team.
“It really depends on who we go against. Today, it was our field event guys who stepped up,” De La Rosa said. “They carried us into the running events this week. We weren’t as clean in our relays like we were last week, but the field events gave us that momentum.”
South’s Abel Villarreal and Jimmy Morton finished first and second in the discus throw with marks of 140-9.5 and 138-4, respectively. Alec Garza took home gold in the long jump (19-8.75) to lead the Hawks.
Marcus Ramirez and Samuel Alvarez also medaled, finishing second and third in the pole vault, and Adey Awah finished second in the shot put.
On the girls’ side of things, the La Joya Palmview Lady Lobos were victorious as they ousted Harlingen South 139-121 despite not having a lot of depth.
“The kids are believing and looking at unity,” said Palmview head coach Claudia Bazan. “They need to understand we don’t have too many kids. We carry about 12 on varsity and they understand that wherever they are placed, they need to perform.”
The Lady Lobos won two of three relays on the day.
Briana Robles had a big day for Palmview, winning the 1600- (5:21.55) and 3200- (11:45) meter runs.
Harlingen South’s top girls performer was, once again, Nicole Gonzalez.
Gonzalez took home gold in the 100- (12.43), 200- (26.58), and 400-meter (1:00.40) dashes.
Teammate Annelle Rodriguez had a solid day jumping, winning the 300-meter hurdles (53.05) and finishing second in the high jump (4-8).
STARTING FAST
La Feria’s Carlos Rodriguez finished last season taking silver in the 800-meter run at the UIL State Track and Field Championships.
In his first outing this year Rodriguez won gold in the 800-meter run and finished with a time of 2:00.58.
Despite some jitters, Rodriguez feels good about his start, but understands he has already set a high bar.
“I was nervous at first, but I realized that I’ve done this many times,” he said. “The expectations are high and I need to practice harder, maintain what I did last year and just improve.”
G FAST
La Feria’s Carlos Rodriguez finished last season taking silver in the 800-meter run at the UIL State Track and Field Championships.
In his first outing this year Rodriguez won gold in the 800-meter run and finished with a time of 2:00.58.
Despite some jitters, Rodriguez feels good about his start, but understands he has already set a high bar.
“I was nervous at first, but I realized that I’ve done this many times,” he said. “The expectations are high and I need to practice harder, maintain what I did last year and just improve.”
“I was nervous, but I realized that I’ve been doing this for many years,” Rodriguez said. “