BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
MORE: Complete results from the District 29-6A / 30-6A area meet track finals
Complete results from the District 29-6A / 30-6A area meet field event finals
McAllen High’s Joshua McGowen breaks own Valley record on first day of area meet
McALLEN — Victor Bocanegra’s to-do list was diminished Saturday, but his role was no less important. While the La Joya Palmview junior has spent most of the season juggling time between four events, his race-day itinerary was trimmed to just two.
For the Lobos, the move was a win-win. It allowed Bocanegra time to rest a sprained left heel, and put the multi-dimensional athlete in position to maximize his talents for a team that is coalescing at the right time. Thanks to the unselfishness and determination of Bocanegra and others, Palmview celebrated atop the podium at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium as area champions.
Bocanegra’s lone individual event was the 800-meter run, wherein he took first with a time of 1 minute, 57.92 seconds. While the 800 is his marquee event, Bocanegra has also competed in the 1600 run and the high jump, but dropped each event for area competition. With the stakes increasing as the state meet draws closer, he sacrificed his own esteem for the betterment of the team.
“It all came from the determination we had today,” Bocanegra said. “Everybody was pushing each other to do better, even though we didn’t do some of our events, it was all just to help the team in points.”
Bocanegra and all other athletes to finish in the top four at the District 29-6A / 30-6A Track and Field Championships automatically qualify for the Region IV meet April 29 and 30 in San Antonio.
Bocanegra’s other event on the day included running the second leg in the 1600 relay. Palmview placed in the top three in all three relays, and showed well in other events throughout the two-day meet. Ricky Espinoza placed first and second in the discus and shot put, respectively, and Eliseo Rodriguez won back-to-back silver in the 1600 and 3200 runs.
“Everyone performed when we asked them to,” Palmview boys coach Abel Garza said. “That’s the best thing you can say about these kids. … They were calm. They’re a calm group, extremely determined. They were ready from the first race. This late in the season, just for them to be healthy and have energy is a big thing for them.”
In the girls competition, the Lady Mustangs of McAllen Memorial exorcised the bad karma generated from an underwhelming performance at the District 30-6A meet to win the girls area crown. While Memorial dealt with injury, sickness and two lackluster relay showings during their last outing, the team reverted to its usual form Saturday.
Though Memorial didn’t win an individual gold in any running event, the team was rewarded for a consistent day of competition in the sticky humidity.
Senior Natalie Young placed second and third in the 100 and 200 dash, respectively, while teammate Lanie Nitsch won silver in the 300 hurdles and bronze in the 100 hurdles. The Lady Mustangs only took gold in the 1600 relay, winning easily in 4:01.37.
“We talked to them after last week and said, ‘There’s nothing we can do about it. Let’s just move on. That wasn’t us. It was a bad time to have a bad meet,’” Memorial girls coach John Stanley said. “These girls are so resilient. You could feel it Monday that the turnaround was happening. By Wednesday you could really feel it, and by Thursday you had this feeling that things were coming together for us. The smile was back, and the little spark paid off.”
Other notable performances for Valley athletes included McAllen High’s Joshua McGowen, who won gold in the boys 100 dash and 110 and 300 hurdles. With a sweep of the long and triple jump during field event finals Friday, McGowen placed first in all five of the events in which he competed, repeating the same feat he accomplished at district.