Run, Rattlers, run!

At the soon-to-be renamed Rattler Stadium in Sharyland, the Rattlers and Lady Rattlers track teams both captured 30-5A district titles Saturday. The Rattlers breezed to a 54-point win over runner-up Edinburg Vela and the Lady Rattlers pulled off an impressive 98-point win over their closest challengers, the Palmview Lady Lobos.

Sean Landez led the way for the Sharyland boys as he won individual district championships in the long jump and in the 400 Meter Dash. Landez also ran the opening leg in the 4 x 100 Meter Relay and the anchor leg in the 4 x 400 Meter Relay which the Rattlers also won.

Running three races without much time to rest in between is not easy to do. Nonetheless, Landez managed to not only win, or contribute to wins in, all three races, but he also crossed the finish line in record time in one of those events.

“In the 400 open, I ran a 49.51 F.A.T. (Fully Automated Time), which beat the previous school record set by J. C. Valadez who graduated last year,” said Landez. “It was a tough and very tiring race, but I’m happy with the results.”

While Sharyland head boys track and field coach Tommy Lee was happy with the results of Saturday’s meet, he knows there are still plenty of hurdles to jump and batons to pass if his boys are going to attain their season-long goals.

“This was a good opportunity for me to end well with this group of kids – at least district-wise,” said Lee. “This makes six district titles in a row and four in a row for these seniors. This was definitely a special one for me.”

“The good thing is that we’re not done yet,” added Lee. “We have much higher goals set. Luckily we have two weeks to see if we can reach those goals and get to the regional meet.”

The final boys team results from the 30-5A District meet were: 1st – Sharyland, 176; 2nd – Edinburg Vela, 122; 3rd – La Joya Palmview, 86; 4th – La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 81; 5th – Donna, 58; and 6th – Edinburg North, 41.

Shary Girls Win District

With the final event of the meet being the 4 x 400 Meter relay, the Sharyland girls added to their already sizeable lead by finishing ahead of the field with a time of 4:10.71. Maria Isabel Mendoza, Kimberly Cross, Deandra Garza and Abigail Trevino made up the team that gave the home faithful plenty to cheer about.

Mendoza, who ran the lead leg of the race, passed the baton to Cross in second place. That gave Cross the opportunity to come from behind and put the Lady Rattlers into the lead. However, doing so did not come easy since she was running in unfamiliar territory.

“It was different because I never ran the second leg before,” explained Cross. “Merging into the lanes is difficult because you have to be fierce and cut people off so that was different for me. But I was able to pass the Palmview girl and we did really well.”

As the anchor, Trevino had to come from behind to win after she briefly gave up the lead she was given when she first took the baton.

“Donna passed us at the 200, but I kept my pace because I knew that if I worked too hard I would lose energy,” said Trevino. “Then at the next 200 I kicked it and I passed her again and that’s how we won.”

As the Lady Rattlers head track and field coach, Sandra Guerrero was pleased with how all her girls did against their district rivals.

“We’re very excited to win another district championship and we’re hoping to win another area championship in two weeks,” shared Guerrero. “We were already ahead after the field events and the two mile run which took place Thursday. While we were anticipating a win today, you never know what can happen.”

“This makes eight years in a row that we’ve won district championships but last year was the first time in school history that we’ve won an area championship,” added Guerrero. “Everybody performed really well for us today, but Nora Monie scored in several areas.”

Monie placed first in the shot put, second in the triple jump and the discus, fourth in the 100 Meter dash and ran the second leg of the Lady Rattlers’ third place 4 x 100 Meter relay.

The final girls’ team results from the 30-5A District meet were: 1st – Sharyland, 205; 2nd – La Joya Palmview, 107; 3rd – Edinburg, 89; 4th – Edinburg North, 67; 5th – Donna, 51; 6th – Edinburg Economedes, 40.