BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
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SAN ANTONIO — Joshua McGowen traveled to Alamo Stadium with the longest to-do list of any Valley athlete, but shouldered the burden of his ambition with relative ease.
While the McAllen High senior has spent his lone season with the Bulldogs crushing area competition and sleepwalking his way to the Region IV Track and Field Meet, he essentially proceeded business as usual during the two-day meet.
After competing in the last of his five individual events, McGowen walked away with three gold medals, a silver and a bronze, qualifying for the UIL state meet in four events: the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, and the long and triple jump.
All athletes to place in the top two in their respective events automatically qualify for state, held May 12-14 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
McGowen’s first gold on Saturday came in the Class 6A 110 hurdles, pulling away from the pack after the third hurdle to finish with a time of 13.88 seconds.
“The guy in the lane next to me was from (Cibolo) Steele. He’s just a sophomore,” McGowen said. “I saw him out of the corner of my eyes and I thought, ‘This dude is challenging me. I gotta get away from him.’ I kicked in and pushed harder.”
McGowen followed that performance with a gold-medal run in the 300 hurdles, setting a meet record in 36.67. That time is the second fastest in Valley history. The current record is held by Harlingen High’s Randy Bermea, who ran a 36.46 in 2011.
While McGowen eased to the top of the podium in the hurdles, he placed third in a photo finish during a 100 dash wherein the top three finishers were separated by .02 seconds. McGowen’s time of 10.93 could still qualify for state as a wildcard entry awarded to the state’s fastest third-place time from all regional meets. McGowen says he may not run should he qualify in order to concentrate on other events.
The senior standout won the triple jump and placed second in the long jump during Friday’s field event finals.
SNAKES TO STATE
Despite a premature celebration leading to a second place finish, the boys 1600 relay team from Sharyland Pioneer became the only Valley relay team from Class 6A and 5A to qualify for state.
The Diamondbacks finished with a time of 3:19.74, the Valley’s best on the season.
Though the four-man unit held its own against the fastest in the region, they did so with little time running together. Bobby Acosta and Justin Romero, the respective second and third legs, were added into the mix only weeks ago.
Romeo, a senior, proved his prowess as a quarter-miler earlier this year during a pre-district meet in Mercedes. While some members of the team ventured to Laredo to participate in the Border Olympics, Romero and others stayed behind.
“I ran the 400 for the first time,” Romero said. “I ran a (52.17), and it showed to me that I could do that race. I used to just do the 800, but after I started posting good times in the 400, I got put on the mile relay.”
VALLEY ATHLETES TO STATE
Four Upper-Valley athletes also qualified for state Saturday. Michael Boltie won the 6A boys 200 dash after placing second in the boys pole vault Friday. Other athletes headed to state include Weslaco High’s Stephanie Sauceda (6A girls 800 run), Mission Veterans Memorial’s Jesus Mata (5A boys 800 run) and Edcouch-Elsa’s Krysta Martinez (5A girls 1600 run).