NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — La Joya Juarez-Lincoln senior Harley Vargas signed on the dotted line Thursday afternoon to run Division I track and field for the Vaqueros of UTRGV.
Vargas was a dual-sport athlete for the Huskies and often put the team first. His versatility on the track was a major factor in his recruitment to a UTRGV team that is under a first-year coaching staff in the 2017-18 season.
Formerly a relay specialist, Vargas entered the 800-meter run for Juarez-Lincoln at this year’s district meet, earning a silver medal with a time of 1:57.88. He earned another silver in the event at the area meet.
“The 800 was never an idea for me until this year,” Vargas said. “I was always on that relay thing. I was like, ‘Coach, I want to help out the team. I’m going to try it.’ I ended up being good at it. I started hitting good times, and my coach pushed me, pulled me off to the side (and) did our different workouts, besides our relay team.”
Along with this season’s surprise 800 success, Vargas was part of some of the most accomplished relay teams in school history.
The 800 relay advanced to the regional level, and the 1,600 team dashed all the way to state. Their regional time of 3:20.73, with Vargas’s 48.4 split, lifted the Huskies to become the first relay team the school sent to state.
“It was pretty amazing, an amazing feeling,” Vargas said. “When we made it to state, I kind of shed a tear, because that’s always been a big dream of mine and my team.”
Horacio Garza, Huskies head track coach, said that UTRGV needs runners who can compete in multiple events.
“They’re looking for a little bit of everything right now,” Garza said. “They really liked what he was doing in the 800. He’s able to run the 800, the 400 — anything. It’s a plus that he can do all those events and still be able to run the 800.”
Vargas will be the fourth Juarez-Lincoln grad on the 2018-19 UTRGV team. Yariel Matute will be in his senior season, while Jose Serna and Carlos Serna are underclassmen.
“What’s happening at Juarez-Lincoln is coach Garza has done a tremendous job in building athletes and having them look up to these guys,” Juarez-Lincoln assistant track coach Billy Cardenas said. “What this does is inspires and empowers these kids to want to be great.”
Garza said the communication with UTRGV was seasonlong.
“We’ve been in contact with UTRGV for a while,” Garza said. “It was just what they needed and what we needed to do for him as an athlete in the races that he needed to run so that we could accommodate both.”
Vargas also played on the Huskies football team, where his speed was used as a kick returner and receiver. He had nothing but praise and faith in his speech, thanking his football and track coaches, family and team-mates.
Vargas plans to study criminal justice.
“I’m just thankful to UTRGV for giving me the chance and my family for giving me this opportunity to pur-sue my career in college,” Vargas said.
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