BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Eloisa Martinez didn’t win the district title in December, but she almost lost it.
During a preseason workout five months before track and field enters district competition, the McAllen Memorial distance thrower put herself through an unnecessarily strenuous workout for the discus and shot put.
After pulling too hard on an attempted throw, she stumbled in the throwing ring, severely spraining her right ankle. The injury meant an extended absence from practice and time lost towards defending her District 30-6A shot put crown.
But during last week’s Patriot Relays at Mission Veterans Memorial High School, Martinez showed no aches or pain.
Fully healed and equally as motivated, the junior demonstrated why she’s the best female shot put thrower in the Valley, winning gold with a throw of 36 feet, 9 inches.
Despite claiming first, the throw was three feet shorter than her personal best of 39-09, a mark that also stands as the Valley’s best.
Though Martinez is on pace to repeat as a district champion, she knows her distances are lagging from where they should be.
“If I can get my form right, I’ll definitely be throwing a 44 or 45,” Martinez said. “I’m still not throwing where I want to be right now. I have to keep getting better and working on my technique. I definitely want to gain more balance when I’m in the ring.”
This marks Martinez’s first season as a field athlete, exclusively. She played basketball and volleyball her sophomore year, but dropped the sports after realizing greater success in the throwing ring. After winning a district title last spring, she followed that performance with a silver medal at the area meet in Laredo, throwing 35-00. Martinez placed sixth at the regional meet in San Antonio with an attempt of 37-11.75.
Doubling down on her efforts to reach the state meet, Martinez began working with Larry Howell, the Valley’s premier throwing coach, during the summer. Martinez says her workouts under Howell improved her quickness and she grew accustomed to throwing with technique instead of relying on power.
“The throwing technique we’re doing isn’t something you can grasp right away,” Martinez said. “It’s something you have to keep doing and doing and keep repeating.”
While Martinez is flourishing in shot put, she’s still a work in progress in the discus. At the Patriot Relays, she placed fifth with a throw of 111-09, eight feet behind first place. Undaunted, Martinez says she wants to compete at a high level in all of her events and that getting better in discus will help her remain strong in shot put.
“Discus is more technical,” Martinez said. “If one little thing goes wrong, you mess up your whole throw or you lose feet or inches from the throw. Shot, it’s technical, but there is a bit more power to it. A strong throw can make up for anything wrong I do.”
LEARNING BY OBSERVING
After a season of having two of the Valley’s elite sprinters as teammates, Abraham Garza is using lessons learned to lead Sharyland High’s group of sprinters.
The Rattlers were led in that department last year by James Cole and Sean Landez, who ranked among the Valley’s best in the boys 100, 200 and 400-meter dash. But with Cole and Landez at North Texas and Texas A&M Kingsville, respectively, Garza is shouldering the burden of being the fastest man for Sharyland.
At the Patriot Relays, Garza won first in the 100 dash with a hand time of 10.86 seconds, edging McAllen Memorial’s Trevor Speights by .04 seconds. Garza’s personal best time of 11.14 seconds (fully automatic) is tied for the sixth fastest time in the Valley.
“I just saw the hard work and time they put into what they did,” Garza said of Cole and Landez. “It showed me what kind of effort I had to put in to get better and compete at the same level they did.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Valley track and field athletes have the weekend off due to spring break, but will return to action next Thursday when four meets will be held in the area. The only Upper-Valley meet scheduled is the Rey Ramirez Relays at Joe R. Sanchez Stadium in Rio Grande City.