BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
Angel Garza got his start in coaching with PSJA Memorial’s boys track team under head man Lee Roy Perez in 2008. Five seasons ago, he left Memorial to be an assistant at PSJA North, where last year he worked under boys head coach Will Littleton. Following nine seasons as a track and field assistant coach, Garza was given the keys to PSJA North’s girls track program in 2017.
“I enjoy that I get to make my decisions now,” Garza said. “When I was an assistant, I would offer my advice, and the head coaches would make the final decision. The fact that those coaches would ask me what I thought made me feel confident that they valued my opinion.
“Even now, I still ask for advice from Coach Littleton. I’m very fortunate to have guys like Littleton to ask about information from, because they’ve been very successful over the years.”
In the beginning, Garza wasn’t sure where to put his runners. His girls told him about the events they were used to running, but Garza decided to experiment with runners like junior Susana Alvarez in events they hadn’t participated in previously.
“I said to the girls, ‘Give me what you have, and we’ll see what happens,’” Garza said. “All of a sudden, I found a quarter runner (400-meter) and she originally told me she was a 200-meter runner. I put her in the 400 at the beginning of the year, and she clocked in at 65 or 66 seconds. Two weeks ago, in the McAllen relays, she ran it in 64. And last week in Rio Hondo, she got it down to 63. She came and talked to me afterwards saying, ‘Yeah, Coach. I’m a 400 runner. This is my race.’ This didn’t happen overnight. It took awhile to get there.”
Alvarez’s 400-meter time of 1:03.94 was good enough to place second at the Roberto Garza relays in Rio Hondo on Friday. Alvarez was one of two Lady Raiders who placed in the top four in the 400. The other was senior Tiffany Borrego (1:05.06). The Lady Raiders also finished fourth in the 1600-meter relay in Rio Hondo.
Garza was quick to heap compliments on the senior Borrego, known to him as the “backbone” of the first girls team that he has led.
“She does it all,” Garza said. “She runs the 400, the 800, the 4×400, long jump and she’s told me that she can do another event if I want her to. And I’m just like, ‘Jeez!’ But she’s a workhorse.”
Thursday will mark the annual PSJA Tri-City Championship, held at PSJA Stadium. The event will be a PSJA ISD-affair only with PSJA High, Memorial, Southwest and North competing against each other. Garza and his team are eager to make a mark in his first Tri-City meet as a head coach.
“(PSJA ISD Superintendent) Dr. (David) King is a big track fan, so when we race against a PSJA school, it’s a pride thing,” Garza said. “It’s definitely something that we gear up for. I’ve been talking to the girls every day for the past week and a half about Tri-City and how we have to clean up the relays. It’s something I know the girls want.”
MORE OF MAURICIO
Coach Horacio Garza and his La Joya Juarez-Lincoln boys team have a lot of room for growth following a second-place finish at the Knights of Columbus relays last Friday in Mercedes. While the 400- and 1600-meter relay lineups are still being figured out, senior Mauricio Hernandez, who won 800 in Mercedes, may get a look in the distance competitions.
“Mauricio’s been able to be a part of every event with the exception of field events,” Garza said. “He’ll get in on a relay every now and then. He’s been working his butt off, little by little.”