DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
Sharyland High senior Rene Guillen wanted to make an impact this season. So he dedicated himself this summer to more training.
“I wanted to make every day count, and that was the biggest difference,” Guillen said.
It paid off. After capturing his first district title weeks ago, Guillen was the Valley’s top individual finisher in any class at Saturday’s UIL state cross country championships in Round Rock, finishing seventh in Class 5A.
“I didn’t know what to expect. It was my first state meet,” Guillen said. “I was pretty satisfied with how I did. I just focused and I reassured myself that I was going to do well. I relied on the training.”
Guillen was not the only Valley runner to stand out.
Mission Veterans Memorial’s boys team finished fourth in Class 5A, while the Progreso boys finished seventh in Class 4A.
“Overall, this was a team success,” Mission Vets boys coach William Proctor said. “Our focus was getting back here and getting up on that podium (to medal the top three teams), but it didn’t work out that way.
“But we improved upon last year, after finishing sixth, and we’re happy about that.”
The Patriots finished 10 points behind third-place Georgetown in a swan song for seniors G.J. Reyna (19th, 16:19.77) and Martin Garcia (68th, 17:14.64). The duo has been vital in establishing a foundation of success for the program.
“Both of them were the main reason we’re here, as far as bringing the program to this level,” Proctor said. “They were our champions this year, have been here all four years and helped put this program on the map.”
Progreso capped off a strong season with another strong showing. The Red Ants were led by Omar Anguiano, Everardo Esparza and Jesus Salazar, who all finished in the top 70 individually.
“We knew we could do well,” Progreso boys coach Margarito Jimenez said. “We had a goal, and it was to finish better than last year. Last year we were 12th, so we did what we wanted to do.”
Anguiano (42nd, 17:23.51) and Esparza (55th, 17:35.85) are freshmen.
“They’re doing very well,” Jimenez said. “We’re very lucky to have them. We have a great middle school program, with coaches who help year-round with runners, and these two kids are really outstanding. By the stats, they were the No. 1 and No.2 freshmen in the state in Class 4A.
“For the next three years, they’re going to be runners to look out for. The future is very bright for our team.”
Other standouts individually were PSJA Southwest’s Victor Pedraza (11th, Class 5A), Sharyland Pioneer’s Isabel Mendoza (11th, Class 5A), Hidalgo’s Moises Campos (14th, Class 4A), Edinburg North’s Beth Ramos (20th, Class 6A) and Weslaco East’s Albert Herrera (24th, Class 6A), Edinburg IDEA Quest’s Valery Tobias (24th, Class 3A), Edinburg Economedes’ Emily Suarez (28th, Class 6A) and Sharyland Pioneer’s Lizette Chapa (29th, Class 5A).
Team standouts also included Sharyland Pioneer girls (12th, Class 5A), Edinburg Vela boys (14th, Class 5A) and Mercedes boys (14th, Class 5A).