By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
PHARR — The Pharr IDEA Lions girls and boys cross country teams won the District 31-3A team championships Wednesday at their home course.
The varsity girls ran the first race of the morning, and North Mission IDEA’s Ammy Garcia clinched the individual district title. Garcia was trailing Pharr IDEA’s Camila Alvarez when they entered the final stretch, and with the finish line in sight, she found another gear and overtook Alvarez to win the race with a time of 13 minutes, 59.92 seconds.
“I was just thinking to get first and to go chase her,” Garcia said. “I was saving it all because I was, like, ‘I have to do this.’ That’s what made me focus there at the end. This is a really good feeling. I haven’t won a race this season, so it’s like, whoa. It feels good and I’m just waiting for regionals now, hoping to do the same thing.”
Alvarez had to be treated by paramedics after the race. Pharr IDEA coach Sinai Lopez said she stepped on a piece of glass on the course, and it cut through her shoe into the bottom of her foot. Despite the pain she was in, Alvarez pushed herself to finish the race and took second with a time of 14:07.42.
Edinburg IDEA’s Jacqueline Solis finished third with a time of 14:47.38. Pharr IDEA notched a team score of 60 for the win, and Weslaco IDEA Pike took second with a score of 68. Lyford, the only East Valley team in the district, had four girls compete. Katherine Loredo was the Lady Bulldogs’ best finisher, coming in fifth with a time of 15:12.87, and Nancy Correa (seventh) also finished in the top 10.
The varsity boys championship was won handily by Pharr IDEA’s Antuan Cotero. He finished with a time of 17:43.08 and led for the majority of the race. All five scored Lions runners finished in the top 10 to earn the team title with a score of 24. Kevin Gomez was second, and Pedro Rios, Daniel Robles and Diego Briones came in sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
“It was really hot and I was hurting a little in the last mile, but it was OK and I felt good,” Cotero said. “I was coming into the race wanting to win it as a team. I knew I had to win, so I was practicing every day and working hard. I was disappointed (with my time), my (personal record) is, like, 17:10, so I was kind of disappointed but still got the gold. I was very happy with my team. They did a good job.”
Lopez said it has been a hard season due to COVID-19, but he’s proud of how his runners have worked and stayed focused to come out with the sweep at the district meet.
“The boys, we already had an idea (we would win). We have a really good team on the boys side,” Lopez said. “My top five finished in the top eight, and that’s not even with their best times. They were, like, 30 seconds slower for some reason. It was a hard season for the girls. We ran three girls the whole season and two of my girls are injured, so I just told them to finish the race so we could qualify (for the regional meet). It was close with the other team, but it was good.”
Edinburg IDEA’s Joel Solis took bronze. He battled teammate Fabian Garcia down the stretch and crossed the finish line less than one second faster. The two separated from a group of four contending for third place during the final quarter of the race.
Pharr Vanguard Academy Rembrandt (65 points) was the second-place boys team, followed by Weslaco IDEA Pike (77). Lyford’s top finisher was Richard Herrera, who came in 19th. The top two teams and top 10 individuals in the girls and boys divisions qualified for the regional meet Nov. 9 at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.