NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
PSJA Memorial’s Cruz Gomez is breaking his own records in only his third race of the cross country season. At the McNeil Invitational on Saturday in Round Rock, Gomez finished in 14 minutes, 48.66 seconds — his season and personal best, plus the third-fastest high school 5,000-meter finish in the nation this year, according to Texas MileSplit.
“It feels great, being not only on the top of the state, but also nationwide,” Gomez said. “I’m just glad that I’m able to represent the RGV and my school at that level.”
Though races have been going on since August, the veteran runner Gomez has become an expert at saving his legs. His training stays intense while his race schedule picks up later in the fall.
As a junior, his best time came at state. He ran a 15:13.6, which earned a fifth-place finish.
Last time he raced, on Sept. 1 in Falfurrias, he won with a 15:10.3. Less than a month later, he smashed that time.
“That was one of my goals, to try and break 15 minutes, whether it was McNeil or the state meet,” Gomez said. “It just feels really good to break it this early. Well, not early, because we’re almost done with the season. But it still feels good.”
The state-hopeful senior knew that Old Settlers Park, which also hosts the UIL state meet in November, would be a good place to run a memorable race.
“I wasn’t that surprised, because I’ve been training pretty good,” Gomez said. “It was expected to run fast, especially on that course. Because on that course, almost everyone PRs (sets a personal record). I guess it was just something that was going to happen.”
Gomez’s coach at PSJA Memorial, Leroy Perez, has seen the strategy work before. He’s banking on Gomez to peak when it counts.
“Whenever you have thoroughbreds, it’s a matter or periodization,” Perez said. “It’s a matter of holding them back and just training through, because it’s what you do at the end of the season that matters the most. Last year, we had made some plans to go deep into the postseason. And, sure enough, it paid off. This year, we have some plans to go deep once more.”
During his time away from weekly races, Gomez has traveled the country in search of a university that will allow him to continue his running career.
“In the couple of weeks he didn’t race, he was doing college visits, which is perfect for senior year,” Perez said. “He’s getting to visit colleges, and he puts in his long runs over there.”
“I’m really blessed that God gave him a lot of talent, plus his work ethic,” Perez said. “His grades are excellent. He’s National Honor Society. He’s got a part-time job at Chick-fil-A, but he still does the work. It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of talent, because there’s a lot of kids out there that are pretty good.”
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Freddy Calvillo finished ninth with a time of 15:12.83. The Williams twins from McAllen Memorial were the next best finishers. Trevor Williams finished 18th with a 15:24.22, while Evan’s 15:29.72 was good for a 22nd-ranked finish.
Elsewhere, at the Nike South Invitational in The Woodlands, Donna North’s Jorge Ponce led Valley runners by finishing ninth with a 15:42.60. Mercedes junior Guadalupe Reyes finished 15th with a 15:53.20. Edinburg Vela’s Jeremey Nino was the last RGV runner in the top 20 — he was 17th with a time of 15:55.80.