By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Port Isabel senior Daniella Murchison, a two-time state champion in the shot put, opted not to go to the Texas Relays this year and instead competed at Saturday’s Meet of Champions in Weslaco.
Her decision brought a suitable reward as the SMU signee broke her own all-time Rio Grande Valley record in the event for modern-day throwers of the 8-pound, 9-ounce shot put. She won with a toss of 46 feet, 1 1/2 inches, surpassing her all-time Valley mark of 45-11 set as a junior.
It was quite a feat considering Murchison won the Class 3A state title last year with a 44-0 toss. Her previous best this season was 44-4, which ranked behind the 45-3 1/2 of Sharyland Pioneer’s Nora Monie , the prior holder of the Valley best for 2015.
“I feel really accomplished,” Murchison said.
The all-time Valley best by a female athlete using a lighter 8-pound shot put is 48-4 1/2 set by La Feria’s Olga Aranda in 1973.
Lady Tarpons coach Julie Breedlove said Murchison is on track to finish her senior season with a flourish, beginning with the District 32-4A meet April 14 and 16 in La Feria.
“Daniella had been wanting to do that (and surpass her all-time Valley best sometime) her senior year,” Breedlove said. “She was focused and real relaxed. It’s what she does.”
Muchison wasn’t the only athlete for the Lady Tarpons to enjoy a standout day Saturday. Teammate Gabby Torres, also a senior who is a University of Texas-San Antonio signee, won the long jump (18-0 1/2) and the high jump (5-7), the latter mark setting a meet record.
When asked if she witnessed some solid performances by her athletes at the meet, Breedlove said, “I sure did. It was exciting. I’m proud of all my girls.”
Also for the Lady Tarpons, Natalie Garza was third in the 400 meters.
MORE STANDOUTS
The Metro area that includes Brownsville, Los Fresnos and Port Isabel was well-represented at the Meet of Champions.
For the Los Fresnos boys, Pete Perez and Christian Perales won the triple jump (43-1 1/2) and 100 meters (10.74 seconds), respectively. The Los Fresnos boys won the 400 relay and took second in the 1,600 relay.
The Los Fresnos girls were led by Jaleah Calvillo , a University of California-Davis signee who won the triple jump (35-9), took second in the 100 hurdles and long jump, and tied for third in the high jump with teammate Jackie Kingsbury.
For the Rivera boys, Angel Espinoza won the discus (182-5), while teammate Anthony Garza was second in the 1,600. In the 3,200, Rivera teammates Christian Machuca, Jonathan Herrera and Garza finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Gaby Garza was a double-winner for the St. Joseph Academy girls in the 100 hurdles (14.77) and 300 hurdles (45.18), while teammate Megan Lopez finished second in the pole vault.
Also in the 100 hurdles, Pace’s Maria Avila came in third.
LOOKING AHEAD
Competitions this week in the East Valley include meets at Los Fresnos, Harlingen and Raymondville. All three will be one-day events Thursday.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.