BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
The Weslaco High Lady Panthers won’t take to the track until the final race of this weekend’s UIL state track meet in Austin. The members of the 4×400-meter relay team aren’t scheduled to compete until 9:15 p.m. on Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
The prolonged downtime will be put to good use, according to coach Pablo Almaguer. The team will stop in San Antonio on Thursday for a final practice session before taking Friday off in order to cheer on Valley-athletes from Class 5A.
“For all of these girls, it’s the first time they’ve been to the state meet,” Almaguer said. “So we want them to get adjusted to the crowd and the atmosphere. It’s going to be a long day.”
The added wait will also benefit team-anchor, Angela Villarreal, a senior who suffered a foot injury at the regional meet earlier this month in San Antonio. Villarreal has put in time in the pool instead of the track in order to recovery, meaning alternate Jerin Pena has received the bulk of the anchor work during practices.
“We’re really confident that Angela is going to be able to run Saturday night,” Almaguer said. “But we have to prepare for anything. We feel like we’re a strong group and we feel comfortable with our alternate.
Pena was the anchor on the 4×400 relay team which won bronze at the regional meet a season ago. This year, Weslaco’s relay rotation has featured freshman Eleanor Arndt, Alyssa Deleon, Stephanie Sauceda and Villarreal exclusively.
Aside from Villarreal’s setback, the Lady Panthers travel to Austin on a record-breaking tear. The team broke the Valley record in the 4×400 relay twice in San Antonio, running a time of 3 minutes, 55.02 seconds during preliminaries before following up with a 3:50.07 during the finals. The previous record (3:55.35) was set by PJSA High in 1991.
“We feel one person didn’t take us to the state meet,” Almaguer said. “It took all four girls, and we truly believe as a group, that we can shave off a little bit of time. We feel confident enough with the workouts we’ve done this year. We’ve got rest, bodies are rested and we feel we’re going to run faster at the state meet, regardless of who’s on the team. It’s a total team effort. We believe each girl can take off a second here or there. We can still run well and represent the Valley.”
The Lady Panthers will begin the race in the first lane and enter the event with the seventh-fastest seed time among the nine teams competing.