Huskies and Lady Lobos claim track district titles
The Juarez-Lincoln Huskies and the Palmview Lady Lobos ran circles around their competition last week as they took the boys and the girls District 30-6A track and field titles. Held at La Joya ISD Stadium the two-day district meet included last Thursday’s field and long distance running events as well as Saturday’s dashes, runs and relays.
Among the individual district champions for the Big 7 schools’ boys were Juarez-Lincoln’s Carlos Barrera (triple jump), Yariel Matute (400m dash) and Michele Lara (1,600m run); Palmview’s Victor Bocanegra (high jump), Eliseo Rodriguez (3,200m run), Tristen Myende (110m hurdles) and Rene Pecina (300m hurdles) and La Joya High’s Ricardo Mendoza (800m run). In addition to the individual district titles the Huskies boys also took first place in the 4 x 100m, the 4 x 200m and the 4 x 400m relay races.
Individual district champions for the Big 7 schools’ girls were Palmview’s Mirna Tamez (long jump), Brianna Robles (3,200m and 1,600m run), Alyssa Garza (100m dash), Mia Hinojosa (200m dash) and Juarez-Lincoln’s Karen Guerra (discus). The Lady Lobos also took the district titles in the 4 x 100m, 4 x 200m and 4 x 400m relay races while the Lady Huskies came in third in all three events.
The fact that this was the first girls’ track and field district championship in Palmview High School’s seven year history is not something that Lady Lobos’ head coach Claudia Bazan or any members of the team are taking lightly.
“It’s something very big because we’ve had really good teams in the past, but we’ve never won a district title before,” said junior Mia Hinojosa who competed in the 4 x 100m relay, the 4 x 200m relay and the 200m dash. “It’s really an honor to be part of this team.”
“I knew that we had an opportunity to win this year because we had some girls come in to compete in the hurdle events, which is something we’ve lacked before,” added senior Alyssa Garza who competed in the long jump, the 4 x 100m relay, the 4 x 200m relay and the 100m dash. “The fact that we won district in our own home stadium made it extra special because our friends and family were there to watch us compete and excel with our performances.”
Lady Lobos’ freshman Brianna Robles expressed what being part of a district championship team meant to her when she said, “It feels really good. I’m really happy to have been able to experience it with my teammates. We’ve worked hard together and they were there to push me and motivate me.”
As the only head girls track coach Palmview High has ever had, Bazan has waited seven years for this title.
“This is something that we’ve been working towards since day one,” explained Bazan. “It never panned out the way we wanted it to before but we knew that this was our year. We started a bit bumpy early in the season and we lost a couple of kids but we found the missing pieces and the kids came through at the district meet.”
“I’m excited for them because this is starting a tradition in track and field that we’ve had in cross country,” added Bazan. “This win is setting the foundation for track and field. Next year is another year and we are going to want to win it again.”
As a team the Lady Lobos outscored their nearest rival, McAllen Memorial, 175 – 118 at the district meet. As for the Huskies boys they had a much closer finish outscoring the McAllen Memorial boys by a margin of 168 – 152 last Thursday and Saturday.
