MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
AUSTIN — By noon Friday, the 2016 UIL state track and field meet had yielded no medals for the Rio Grande Valley athletes.
Rio Hondo senior Mike Zuniga changed that less than an hour later.
Zuniga rose to the occasion, throwing a 57-00.50 to capture the bronze medal in the Class 4A boys’ shot put Friday afternoon at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
The medal was the second in a row for Zuniga in the event. He won a silver medal at last year’s state meet.
While bronze wasn’t what Zuniga was shooting for, he’ll definitely take it.
“It’s a great way to end my high school career,” Zuniga said. “It’s not the place I was hoping, but you can’t complain about medaling at the state meet. My 57-foot throw felt effortless and that’s when you know you had a good throw.”
Rio Hondo’s throw coach and cousin David Zuniga was certainly pleased with the performance and said it was a fitting end to an already great high school career.
“What more can you ask for when one of your athletes makes it to state twice?” said Coach Zuniga. “Kids can only dream of that. Mike is living it and he is already signed on to throw at UTSA. What more do you want? Gold is great, but accomplishing a dream is just his cherry on top.”
Zuniga’s mark was the best in the field after the first three tosses, but that was before Jacob Allen of Bullard High School tossed a 58-00.75 on his fourth throw. Allen finished in second, behind Lorena High School’s Micha Lane, who tossed a 58-09.50 on his fifth attempt.
Zuniga’s state meet isn’t over, however.
He competes in today’s 4A boys discus throw at 8 a.m., which will officially conclude his high school track career.
“It’s been a great ride qualifying for state twice,” Zuniga said. “It’s nice to get out here and get to medal. I want to tell future athletes to work hard because your possibilities are endless.”
LA FERIA DUO COMES UP SHORT: Lions triple jumper Isaiah Martinez was able to sneak in as the ninth competitor after taking bronze in the triple jump at the Region IV-4A meet, but Friday just wasn’t his day.
Martinez finished eighth with a distance of 43-11, but he took it all in stride after the event.
“This is the state track meet and things don’t get any easier, they get even harder,” Martinez said. “I feel I could’ve done better, but things happen for a reason. Today just wasn’t my day and I gave it what I had.
“You don’t always get what you want, so you just live with it and come back from it.”
Earlier in the day, Lionette distance runner Tina Sierra had a solid outing in the 3200-meter run, but came up just short of medaling with a fourth-place finish.
Sierra led the race early, but in the end couldn’t keep up the pace.
Today, the La Feria boys have a busy day.
Carlos Rodriguez and Reyes Rodriguez will compete in the 800-meter run at 12:20 p.m., Joseph Lunn will compete in the 300-meter hurdles at 2:05 and the Lions’ 1600-meter relay team will compete at 3:15.