NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
McAllen Rowe girls track coach Lupe Soza has seen a lot during a coaching career that spans decades. This year’s trip to state will be special, because she’s taking an athlete, Lorena Rios, who was a work in progress for much of her career before finding the strength to complete a throw of 133 feet, 1 inch to advance with a regional silver medal in the Class 6A discus throw.
“This was a kid in physical education class, someone just told me to try her out in track,” Soza said. “This kid wasn’t an athlete in middle school. Her sophomore year, she threw in the JV division not good at all. And, believe it or not, her junior year, same old. She started going to camps here and there, and she got the hang of it. What helps a lot is this kid is extremely coachable, dedicated. She’s a workaholic.”
The first step, according to Soza, was to get Rios to trim down into better athletic shape. She joined the cross country team as a sophomore and continued to train with the group as a noncompetitor. This season, Soza even used Rios in the 100-meter dash on a few occasions.
When her silver medal throw stood as the advancing distance, Soza hugged Rios and thanked her for taking her back to state, even before Rios realized she had clinched her spot.
“We’re about inches away from each other’s nose,” Soza said. “I tell her, ‘Congratulations, you’re taking me state.’ She started crying. She didn’t have the slightest idea.”
According to the Rowe coach of 19 seasons, Rios is the first girl to represent Rowe at state since 2008.
Mackenzie Contreras, Edcouch-Elsa, shot put
If Yellow Jackets shot putter Mackenzie Contreras has nerves before her throws, they hardly show. Instead, fans around the throwing ring might notice her using some unconventional tactics to warm up.
“For my warmups, I go and do what I feel is best for me to do,” Contreras said after advancing to state on April 26 with a silver-medal throw of 40-9.5. “I barely started doing my tumbling and stuff for warmups last week, because it felt good. To keep my calmness, I just talk to other people and listen to music.”
Besides track, Contreras is a cheerleader and competitive powerlifter, and the combo seems to have worked well. She explained that push-ups keep her muscles warm before she gets in the ring, and she said her mentality for state will be the same as it was for regionals.
“I just think of it as a regular meet, stay relaxed and go out there and throw,” Contreras said. “I had a feeling I could do it. I’m just going to try to work harder to try to get top three. That’s my goal.”
Evan Williams, McAllen Memorial, 1,600-meter run
Evan Williams set two personal records at the Region IV-6A track meet two weeks ago in San Antonio. One came in the 3,200, in which he finished 11th. The other was set in a dramatic 1,600. Williams was a few steps behind the lead group when a number of runners fell out of position and had to scramble to recover.
The crash opened the door for Williams to qualify for his first state track meet with a second-place finish in 4:19.56. Even with the exciting opportunity, his workload at Memorial hasn’t relaxed.
“It’s a little difficult, because we have our AP exams and a lot of exams coming at the end of the year. I’m definitely very excited. Ready to see what the state meet has in store,” Williams said. “Tapering is the big one early (in the) week right now. We’re trying to do some harder workouts to build confidence going into these bigger races to know that you’re doing what these guys are doing.”
Abigail Flores, Grulla, discus
Grulla junior Abigail Flores is in only her third high school season, but she’s already making a return trip to Austin for the state meet. She’s hoping to upgrade her bronze medal from last season’s Class 4A competition to a slightly brighter tint.
After throwing 138-8 at regionals, Flores is ready for the return, Grulla discus and shot put coach Jesseca Carrera said.
“She’s pretty excited,” Carrera said. “She has one goal in mind, to go get that gold after she got third (last year). She goes out there every day trying to beat her own best. It’s been a long season already, but she wants to seal it with a good one.”
Carrera said Flores has a habit of raising her level as the stakes get higher.
“She placed third at Texas Relays against big-time competition, 6As and 5As,” Carrera said. “She likes to compete against the best throwers out there. She does like to compete against herself, but she likes to go against the best of the best.”
Other Valley State Qualifiers
Class 6A
Brianna Robles, La Joya Palmview, 3,200, 1,600
Tristan Pena, Edinburg North, 3,200
Cruz Gomez, PSJA Memorial, 3,200, 1,600
Diego Trevino, PSJA Southwest, Shot put
Eleanor Arndt, Weslaco High, Long jump
Sky Tatum, Harlingen South, Discus
Andrew Ott, Harlingen South, Shot put
Gustavo Vasquez, Edinburg Economedes, Triple jump
Brianna Alex, Los Fresnos, 100 hurdles
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln boys 1,600 relay
Weslaco High girls 1,600 relay
Class 5A
Valeria Diaz, Sharyland High, 1,600
Bianca Cardenas, Edcouch-Elsa, Pole vault
Daizy Monie, Sharyland Pioneer, Discus
Johnny Howell, Sharyland Pioneer, Shot put
Andres Bodden, Brownsville Veterans, Discus
Blake Klein, Sharyland High, Triple jump
Class 4A
Alex Ayala, Santa Rosa, 300 hurdles
Everardo Esparza, Progreso, 1,600, 3,200
Class 3A
Sabrina Garcia, Brownsville IDEA Frontier, 1,600, 3,200
Dariana Vasquez, La Feria, 3,200
Reyes Rodriguez, La Feria, 800, 1600
Valery Tobias, Edinburg IDEA Quest, High jump, 400, 800
Class 2A
Kristen Aleman, Santa Maria, 3,200