By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — During his first three years at PSJA Southwest, Victor Pedraza was known for doing things differently than his teammates.
As a freshman, he wore a 30-pound weight vest to practice. Two days before the UIL state meet, when coach Nyles Alvarez assigned his team to run three miles in practice, Pedraza veered off on his own and ran 12 miles.
“Things like that, he just wasn’t listening,” Alvarez said. “He felt I wasn’t giving him enough mileage. But I kept telling him, ‘Trust me. I have a plan for you, and hopefully it works out.’”
Over time, Alvarez has seen Pedraza evolve into a more mature runner — one who heeds advice, listens to his body and understands when to take days off. It’s part of the reason why the senior will make his fourth trip to the state meet Saturday at Round Rock.
And it’s one of the driving forces behind his confidence that he will finally medal.
“What I learned the last couple of years is, I have to stop being stubborn and do what coaches think it’s best,” Pedraza said. “Over the years, it’s become easier to do.”
The turning point came last season, around the time he placed 11th at state. Pedraza remembers the sting of being in sixth place heading into the final stretch before four runners surpassed him.
“By one guy I could’ve gotten a medal,” he said. “It stayed with me until the beginning of the year, just wanting to prove to everyone that I won’t let anyone pass me anymore.”
Pedraza tried his best this season to follow the training regimen, running 80 miles per week. But without reliable transportation, that became difficult. At times, Pedraza runs from his house to school and then from school to work, where he’s a lifeguard.
But the added exercise isn’t as much of a concern for Alvarez as it was four years ago, when Pedraza ran with ankle weights and generated interest among his teammates to do the same.
“They’d see me do it and just stare because they wanted to see if it helped me improve or not,” Pedraza remembers. “They saw me always overlapping people since middle school, and I conquered a lot of people.”
Throughout the years, Pedraza evolved into a leader. And in what can very well go down as his crowning achievement, Pedraza guided the Javelinas to a second-place finish at the Region IV-6A meet, while becoming the Valley’s only Class 6A or 5A runner this year to win their respective division.
The success has helped Pedraza stay the course. Years ago, it might’ve been difficult to sell Pedraza on the idea of pacing himself. But regionals served as a reminder as to the level of patience Pedraza is running with these days. For a while during that meet, Pedraza was in seventh place as he strategically used runners in front of him to shield him from the wind.
Gradually, he pulled ahead and ripped through the crowd.
“In that aspect, he’s listening more and taking his time,” Alvarez said. “It wasn’t that he wasn’t listening at all before, but he was just doing extra stuff. Now, he’s really listening and it’s paying off.”
As he enters his final opportunity to medal at state, Pedraza said he plans to savor the competition. He’ll run with confidence as he does every meet, he’s sure, wearing a smirk on his face and waiting for the opportune moment to pounce.
“Everything’s lining up perfectly,” Pedraza said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”