By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The 62nd annual Sams Relays returns to Sams Memorial Stadium on Saturday with 20 teams scheduled to compete for the boys and 19 for the girls.
The defending team champions are Weslaco High for the girls and Sharyland High for the boys.
This marks the second weekend of track competition in the Rio Grande Valley. Last weekend’s season-opening meets included the Bobby Morrow Relays in San Benito, the PSJA North Winter Relays in Pharr and the Steve Stark Relays in Mission.
The Rivera boys and the Hanna girls were team champions last weekend at the Bobby Morrow Relays.
One of the athletes to watch Saturday is Pace discus/shot put thrower Gertrudis Ruiz-Balli, a senior who recently signed to compete at Texas A&M University-Kingsville along side her older sister Yesenia, a Pace graduate and now a sophomore at TAMUK.
Gertrudis Ruiz-Balli won the discus (122 feet, 4 inches) and the shot put (37-9) at the Bobby Morrow Relays. She ranks first in the Valley in the shot put and second in the discus.
Ruiz-Balli is a senior who is trying to qualify for state for the first time this track season. At regionals, she finished third in the discus as a sophomore and third again as a junior to barely miss out on a trip to Austin.
“Gertrudis is off to a great start,” Pace girls track coach Sergio Sandoval said. “She’s been working hard since summer track. It’s still very early in the season, and so far, she’s doing great.
“I’m trying not to get too excited (about her chances just yet),” Sandoval added. “Hopefully this is our year and she can make it up there (to state). Our goals are for her to throw 130 feet in the discus and 40 feet in the shot put. We believe this is our year. She’s already been throwing personal bests.”
Among the teams competing this year at the Sams Relays will be the six Brownsville public high schools plus St. Joseph Academy, Los Fresnos and Port Isabel along with the Harlingen schools, San Benito and Raymondville.
The Weslaco schools also are entered along with Rio Hondo, La Feria, Progreso, PSJA North, PSJA Memorial, PSJA High and Edinburg North.
The meet starts at 9 a.m. Saturday at Sams with the prelims and finals of the discus and shot put for boys and girls.
Additional field events to be competed for boys and girls Saturday morning include the long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault.
Field event awards are to be presented at 3:30 p.m.
Running prelims are set for 10:30 a.m. with the finals to follow at 3:30 p.m.
There will be no prelims and only finals competed in the races that include the 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters plus the 1,600-meter relay.
For all other races, the top eight times will advance to the running finals in the afternoon.
Running event awards will be presented during the finals and team championships are to be awarded at the conclusion of the meet.
For more information regarding the meet, call the Sams Stadium athletic office at (956) 548-8261.