DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Friends and family could not find Weslaco East senior Jayven Cordova moments after he crossed the finish line to win the varsity boys’ division of the first annual Pioneer Diamondback Invitational at Sharyland Pioneer High on Saturday morning.
That’s the norm, his father assured, as this happens after every race. But Cordova’s brief departure this time had a different feeling to it.
“I lose usually, so I’m always mad,” said Cordova, who won with a time of 15:37.4, seven seconds better than second-place finisher Victor Pedraza of PSJA Southwest. “I tend to just leave to get away from everything and get myself together.
“But this is my first time winning a meet and I felt good, so I just wanted to walk around and take it all in.”
Cordova, who has been running since the third grade, said he knew a win was in grasp around the two-mile mark of the 5K race.
“I didn’t expect winning it all, but as the race kept going I was feeling pretty good,” he said. “I started off in the middle, worked my way up and when I started catching up to the leaders, I felt their energy was tiring and I still felt good. I took the lead and I didn’t look back.”
Cordova took quickly to the course, which was praised by runners at a meet that consisted of 23 boys teams and 20 girls teams. The terrain was mostly grass and the race finished on the school’s track, something Cordova said is unique compared to the typical meet course.
Because of the relative smooth nature of the run, Cordova’s effortless gait found no troubles along the path.
“Everything just fell into place,” Cordova said. “A lot of people tell me I have a real smooth form and it looks like I don’t use a lot of energy. I try and use that to my advantage and make sure opponents never see me fatigued or down. It looks that way, but really I’m dying inside.”
Rio Grande City senior Ana Bautista wasn’t set on winning the varsity girls division, but she did anyway with a time of 18:43.6, a little more than 25 seconds better than second-place finisher Jezabelle Rodriguez of Eagle Pass.
Bautista achieved her goal of a new personal record by beating her previous time of 18:54.
“I was just nervous,” Bautista said. “I didn’t really care about winning coming in, I cared most about a PR . That was my main focus. I’ve been working hard since the summer because I want to get better. It’s my senior year and this means a lot.”
Bautista focused on picking up her pace and recovery runs during the summer, and so far it’s paying off. She is considered by Valley cross country coaches to be one of the top runners this season.
“I didn’t expect this and I’m still a little bit surprised,” Bautista said. “But this is good. It’s good for me going forward.”
Bautista’s win highlighted a strong showing for the Rio Grande City girls team, which placed third with 137 points. Senior Marlett Trevino finished fifth individually with a time of 19:40.2.
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Pioneer Diamondback Invitational
At Sharyland Pioneer High School
Saturday’s Results
Boys
Team Results — 1. Eagle Pass, 101 points; 2. Sharyland Pioneer, 118; 3. Brownsville Rivera, 118; 4. Mission Veterans Memorial, 126; 5. Weslaco East, 159; 6. Donna North, 176; 7. Donna High, 218; 8. Corpus Christi King, 231
Individual Results — 1. Jayven Cordova, Weslaco East, 15:37.4; 2. Victor Pedraza, PSJA Southwest, 15:44.8; 3. Parker Scott, Corpus Christi King, 15:52.7; 4. Anthony Garza, Brownsville Rivera, 16:00.1; 5. Andres Martinez, Laredo Alexander, 16:09.4; 6. Jonathan Herrera, Brownsville Rivera, 16:16.4; 7. Miguel Huitron, Eagle Pass, 16:18.5; 8. Jose Aleman, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:20.7; 9. Rudy Aranda, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:20.8; 10. Marcus Guajardo, Edinburg Vela, 16:25.2; 11. Fabian Garcia, Mission Veterans Memorial, 16:30.1; 12. Brandon Gracia, Rio Grande City, 16:31.1; 13. Nathan Kowalski, Eagle Pass, 16:33.9; 14. Jacinto Garza, Edinburg Vela, 16:35.0; 15. Francisco Morales, Donna High, 16:37.3; 16. Luis Ramirez, Weslaco East; 16:37.4; 17. Diego Monjaras, Valley View, 16:38.9; 18. Martin Gonzalez, Sharyland High, 16:41.1; 19. Ryan Rodriguez, Eagle Pass, 16:41.9; 20. Bryan Vela, Weslaco East, 16:44.0.
Girls
Team Results — 1. Eagle Pass, 44; 2. Laredo Alexander, 48; 3. Rio Grande City, 137; 4. Valley View, 167; 5. Brownsville Veterans Memorial, 185; 6. PSJA Memorial, 189; 7. Mission Veterans Memorial, 214.
Individual Results — 1. Ana Bautista, Rio Grande City, 18:43.6; 2. Jezabelle Rodriguez, Eagle Pass, 19:08, 9; 3. Alexa Rodriguez, Laredo Alexander, 19:23.3; 4. Monica Rivera, Eagle Pass, 19:31.8; 5. Marlett Trevino, Rio Grande City, 19:40.2; 6. Abril Escamilla, Laredo Martin, 19:59.6; 7. Jennifer Lopez, Brownsville Rivera, 20:02.9; 8. Bianca Martinez, Laredo Alexander, 20:07.4; 9. Suzet Salinas, Eagle Pass, 20:08.4; 10. Mia Garcia, Laredo Alexander, 20:08.7; 11. Alyana Rendon, Laredo Alexander, 20:09.7; 12. Monica Yanez, Valley View, 20:10.7; 13. Ruby Briones, Eagle Pass, 20:14.8; 14. Violet Torres, PSJA Memorial, 20:23.6; 15. Justeen Cantu, Weslaco East, 20:28.6; 16. Anna Sanchez, PSJA High, 20:29.6; 17. Nyla Vela, Mission Veterans Memorial, 20:34.1; 18. Maria Gonzalez, Mission Veterans Memorial, 20:34.4; 19. Valerie Gutierrez, Grulla, 20:35.4; 20. McKayla Guerra, San Benito, 20:38.6.