McALLEN — PSJA Memorial Wolverines senior Wiliams Macias never envisioned becoming a track star. Duringg his sophomore year, Macias joined the track team to stay in shape for soccer season.
During his first year, Macias showed promise, coming in second place in one of his first meets ever. Still, he was not ready to commit to the sport, stating it was too tiring for his liking.
Not convinced by his own success, his teammates tricked him into attending another meet, inviting him to come “practice” with the team. What Macias didn’t know was that he would be taking part in another meet.
“I didn’t like the sport,” Macias said. “So, they tricked me. They called me and told me to come to the stadium for some practice. So, I said yes and that I would be right there. Once I got there, I saw it was a meet, but I had to run it.”
After the deception by his teammates, Macias admits he began to like the sports, eventually hanging up his cleats for a pair of running shoes.
The decision by Macias has proven to be a wise one, establishing himself as one of the top distance runners in Texas, not losing a race since the 5A regional meet during his sophomore year.
On Wednesday night, Macias made strides toward his goal of a state title, taking home the gold in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the District 31-5A meet at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium. In doing so, Macias earned MVP honors for the meet, scoring 30 points for his team.
With that, Macias also advances to the Region IV-5A area meet, hoping to make his return to the regional meet in April.
During his sophomore season, Macias shared the track with current Texas Longhorns and former Wolverines standout Cruz Gomez.
Macias said he learned a lot watching Gomez run that season, but nothing stuck with him more than his work ethic.
“I learned, from him, that talent exists, but it’s more important to have heart,” Macias said. “You have to want to learn and be great at your sport. I can have the talent, but I am not going to win with talent alone all the time. I have to keep training and go to practices. So, the most important thing is to have heart.”
Going into his junior year, Macias had his eyes set on breaking Gomez’s records and getting to the state meet after falling just short the previous year. The talented senior was on pace to reach his goal, placing first in each of his three meets, before the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ended his year.
Now in his final year of high school track, the goals remain the same for Macias, with his eyes set on the No. 1 spot in the PSJA Memorial record books in the 1,600 and 3,200 races. Currently, the talented senior sits at No. 2 in the record books in both races.
“My goal this year is to beat my personal records from last year,” Macias said. “It’s not easy to beat your times, but I’m the only one who can do it. I also want to beat his (Cruz Gomez’s) records this year. But, more importantly, I want to win state because I feel like I was so close last year.
While Macias shone in the running events, McAllen High Bulldogs senior Olivia Tite etched her name into the District 31-5A meet record books, crushing the pole vault record of 10 feet with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches.
Tite, who earlier this year broke the school record with a vault of 10-7, was one of the nine girls earning gold medals, helping the Bulldogs claim the District 31-5A title with an overall score of 215. Sharyland High, McAllen Memorial, and Sharyland Pioneer finished in second, third and fourth places, respectively.
On the boys side, the McAllen High Bulldogs claimed the District 31-5A title, outscoring the second-place Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks by 69 points. The PSJA Memorial Wolverines and the McAllen Memorial Mustangs finished in third and fourth place, respectively.
Helping the Bulldogs claim the title was the 4×400 relay team, which earned its sixth gold medal of the season in as many races. Led by Jose Rios, Kolton Ottmers, Michael Gower and Jonah Corona, the Bulldogs go into the area meet with the sixth-fastest time in Class 5A this season with a time of 3:25.44.
With that, the Region IV-5A area meet has its qualifiers from District 31-5A, with details on the date, time and location of the meet pending.