BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
PSJA Southwest’s Victor Pedraza celebrated his birthday with a fight.
As the junior long-distance runner competed in the Class 5A 1600-meter run at the Region IV track meet on May 2 in San Antonio, he and Sharyland High’s Rene Guillen dueled for third place during the races’ final 200 meters. The winner would be eligible to qualify for the state meet this week in Austin. The loser would leave empty-handed.
“All I wanted to do was to get close enough to reach (Guillen),” Pedraza said.” “Because I knew his times were faster than mine. I tried to get as close as I could to him. But my kick at the end was stronger than I thought it was. I passed him and I surprised myself with what I could do.”
Pedraza held off Guillen by blocking him with his right arm at the finish line. Pedraza’s bronze-medal time of 4 minutes, 24.19 seconds marks a new personal best. The top-two finishers from each event automatically advance to state, meaning Pedraza had to qualify as the fastest third-place finisher in the state.
“I was really excited when I found out I was going to make it,” he said. “I thought my time was really slow.”
Pedraza will race for a state title at 9:45 p.m. on Friday at Mike A. Meyers Stadium. He enters the race with the sixth-fastest seed time. The quickest seed time is held by Carter Blunt of Frisco Independence High School (4:13.28). Pedraza say he’s been “taking it easy” in terms of his preparations for the meet, and says he’s been running six to 12 miles a day.
“I’m conditioning my body to handle more,” he said. “I’m just running long. A jog here and there, sprints and everything that will mentally prepare me.”
Pedraza swept both distance events during the District 32-5A meet last month in Donna. He ran the 1600 in 4:29.59 and won the 3200 in 9:55.13. Pedraza placed fourth in the 3200 in San Antonio in 9:42.93.
“On the two-mile, I bombed it with a very bad time,” he said. “And it got me so angry the more I thought about it that I guess I went out there and wanted to give it everything I had in the mile.”
Though Pedraza is an accomplished runner in his own right, he’s candid when describing his mental state before the trek to Austin.
“I’m going to be really honest, I am really scared. This is the first time I’ve gone to state, and I’m just thinking in my head that I’m going to run my best. Anything can happen. It could be anybody’s race. I’m going to run my own race and hopefully everything goes well.”