Meet the Preps

Runners to your marks

The UIL announced today that it will plan on going on with the regional meets on a new schedule. Originally it planned to cancel the meets and take only the top four times in the region at district to state. However, it appears that with more time they are trying to find a way to get our athletes a chance to run.

To read more about this pick up tomorrow paper or click here to read Lenny Jurado's story.

No more regional track and field meets?

On Wednesday the UIL, faced with the swine flu outbreak, made a decision that will affect the careers of several local high school athletes. While baseball and softball will now have their seasons pushed back, officials ruled that the regional track and field meet will be cancelled and only the top four times/marks at district in each region will go to state in a now three-day meet. 

As of right now this is the status, however, as reported by Lenny Jurado earlier today, the UIL is moving towards re-instating the regional meets at a later date. (You can read the story in today's paper or click here ). This is one of the biggest events to ever affect athletics here in Texas and if the UIL does not bring back the meet it will end the season for several athletes, many of whom are seniors. Looking at the district results, here are the list of athletes who would go to state. (Remember the UIL rules are the top four marks at the district meets in each event, so if someone had a faster time earlier in the season or in a prelim, then it does not count).

5A Boys

300-Meter Hurdles

Isaac Spoon, Eastwood — 39.28 (3rd in region)

200 Meters

Chris Pitts, El Dorado — 22.02 (3rd)

Discus 

Brandon Lira, El Dorado — 166-09 (2nd)

Adam Clark, Franklin — 162-09 (3rd)

High Jump

Roman Romero, Americas — 6-04 (Tied-4th)

Carlos Hernandez, Franklin — 6-04 (Tied-4th)

* Six are tied at 6-04

Pole Vault

Emilio Arias, El Dorado — 14-06 (Tied-4th)

Oscar Flores, El Dorado — 14-06 (Tied-4th)

* Seven are tied at 14-06

5A Girls

High Jump

Victoria Claytor, Hanks — 5-06 (Tied-2nd)

* Five are tied at 5-06

Long Jump

Rachel Mack, Franklin — 18-02.00 (3rd)

Triple Jump

Rachel Mack, Franklin — 39-00.25 (1st)

Victoria Claytor, Hanks — 37-07.00 (4th)

4A Boys

100 Meters

Miguel Edwards, Irvin — 10.65 (1st)

400 Meters

Miguel Edwards, Irvin — 48.41 (2nd)

Mike Davis, Parkland — 49.72 (3rd)

Leo Arroyo, Mountain View — 49.87 (4th)

3200 Meters

Isaac Spencer, Austin — 9:48.49 (2nd)

Mile Relay

Austin — 3:22.68 (3rd)

800 Meter

Ramon Garcia, Austin — 1:55.12 (1st)

Danny Tarango, Burges — 155:34 (2nd)

Danny Cuevas, Austin — 1:56.60 (4th)

4A Girls

800 Meters

Marissa Paz, Chapin — 2:20.75 (4th)

100-Meter Hurdles

Evonne Britton, Chapin — 14.08 (2nd)

300-Meter Hurdles

Evonne Britton, Chapin — 44.55 (3rd)

Triple Jump 

Kayla Thornton, Irvin — 37-10 (2nd)

High Jump

Hannah Williams, Chapin — 5-04.00 (Tied-1st)

* Three are tied for first

Shot Put

Lidia Hernandez, Chapin 38-04.50 (2nd)

Now are here some positives and negatives.

For starters if the UIL decides to have regional meet, only the top two finishers in each event get to go to state, so that means that in the 4A boys 800 or 400 meter run, where we have three athletes in the top four, a person will be left out. So in a way this helps get some of out top students to the state meet.

However...

Notice anyone missing?

If you have been keeping up with track and field all season you know there are several who have hit higher marks than they did at district, or have been to state once before and have the capability to do it again.

Marcus Calhoun is one name that comes to mind, and you can read more specifically of why he would be missed in Lenny's story. 

So what happens, if an athlete is in several events at district to help their team get points and know that at regionals they are going to focus on one even? Or what happens if it was just a bad day, personal or weather wise? Here's a good example especially in the running events, more specifically the distance ones: what if there simply was no one there to push the star athlete, but at regionals they can keep up and beat the best as they've done in the past?

Now well everyone should always go hard, all the time, there are reasons why someone may not run their best time at district, injuries or otherwise. Maybe some might say you have to be prepared and if your time wasn't in the top four then you may of had a slim chance to get in, and now we have three in some events going to state. True.

I would love to see more than just two of El Paso's own make it, but I do know, from going through results district by district, there are some on the cusps of making it and who knows what one more race could have done for them.

But here's the real reason why this reporter think the regional meet MUST go on...

As a former mile runner in the Sun City, I didn't have the talent to make it to regionals and if I did it would have been the race of my life, mixed with luck to get there. If by some way I was able to qualify to regionals as a senior I would be ecstatic, but would know that if I barely slipped into the top two (it changed to top three after I graduated) at district, then there was no way I was making it to state. 

So a regional trip would be my moment in Fenway Park. Now to have some officials yank that away would be devastating. I know from being at meets and talking to these runners, jumpers and throwers that there are those who are looking for their moment in the spotlight and that was regionals. For them and everyone else it would be an injustice to ruin their last race, because win or lose or even fall, that was going to be the one they remembered forever.

As of right now the above listed athletes (and if I miscalculated on them, let me know) are going to state, but the UIL is leaning towards bring back regionals. If they do I believe it will make thousands of athletes very happy, even if they have to extend the season a couple of weeks into the summer. 

We here at the Times will work to find out what their final decision is and we will break the news when we do find out. Nothing is set in stone except for the fact no high school sporting events, aside from practice, will be held until May 11. 

So stay tuned because it may not be game over, it may just be paused.

Extra's from District 2-4A track and field meet

Here is a more in depth look at the District 2-4A track and field meet, hosted at Riverside High School on Friday night.

Your district champions were Canutillo on the boys side who finished with a commanding 182 points. Parkland came in second with 113, while Horizon was third with 97.

Canutillo got several points from the field events on the previous two days. Jesse Rose, Ibn Caraveo and Josh Silvas finished 1-2-3 in the shot put. Rose also won the discus with a throw 140-06. Chris Corral, who also won the 300-meter hurdles, got Canutillo big points by winning the triple jump and placing second in the long jump behind Ysleta's Michael Armendariz.

The Scorpions also did well in the field, with Richard Chavez winning the pole vault and Norberto Solis took home gold in the high jump.

On the track, no one showed dominance in the relay races. Mountain View won the 4x100, Del Valle won the 4x200 and Canutillo won the 4x400.

Mike Davis, who easily won the 100, and Leo Arroyo had a great duel in the 400, with Davis notching a 49.72 and Arroyo finishing at 49.87.

But it was Del Valle's Rudy Tueckmantel who came away from a closer race with a gold. He won the 110-meter hurdles with a 15.82, but second place Luis Carlos (Canutillo) and third place Tommy McCoy (Parkland) were not far behind with a 15.98 and 15.99.

"My coach always tells me to block out everyone, because that's one of my flaws," Tueckmantel said. "This time I just focused on the finish line."

Horizon was more than well-represented in the distance races. First Adrian Anaya, Rudy Flores and Daniel Flores went 1-2-3 in the 3,200, then Luis Fuentes wins the 1,600 with Anaya in second. Fuentes also finished third in the 800, but that race belonged to Canutillo's Miguel Garcia who out kicked Ysleta's Alonso Diaz in the end.

On the girls side, several athletes had double golds.

Del Valle's Monica Lopez won the long and triple jump, which she set a record in with a mark of 37 feet and four inches.

Meanwhile Mountain View's Adriana Arrieta won the shot put, was second in the discus and then went on to win the 300-meter hurdles, while teammate Patty Rodriguez took home the gold in the 100- hurdle and high jump. 

Also medaling in different events was Horizon's Adriana Jurado who won the pole vault and then struck the first blow in the "distance wars" between the Scorpions and Conquistadors, by winning the 3,200 meter run with teammate Vanessa Moreno in second, followed by Del Valle's Adriana Rosales in third.

Then in the 800 meter, Sonia Vasquez notched another victory for the Scorpions by defeating Maria Esquinca. Vasquez ran a 2:26.17 while Esquinca was close behind at 2:26.93.

Esquinca and the Del Valle runners got revenge in the 1,600. Esquinca won the race by pull ahead of Moreno and Jurado. But, two more Conquistadors would place top six.

Not to be overlooked in the 800 was Parkland's Nicole Dudley who placed third and then came back to win the 400 meter run. Her teammate Zuleika Hernandez edged out Del Valle's Lopez by .19 of a second in the 100.

Riverside's Rio Salazar had a breakthrough performance, taking the gold, with a smile, in the 200 meter run with a time of 26.52. She also anchored Rangers 4x200 relay team and passed three others on the curve to lead her team to victory.

Parkland, who finished second in the 4x200, won the 4x100 and then once again was runner-up in the 4x400 to Horizon.

However, that right there goes on to show how good of a night the Matadors had. While they may have not won several events, only three golds, they 13 medals and got back-points to win with 156 point total. Horizon win in the 4x400 propelled them to a second place finish, with 116 points, just ahead of Del Valle who had 113.

Overall, for a chilly night it was hot competition on the track and in the field during the two previous day. But when it came down to it, Parkland got it's amazing eight straight title and Canutllo got its second consecutive championship.

Congratulations to both. 

Update on New Mexico star distance runner Jackie Campos

El Paso is having a tremendous year in track and field, having qualified 11 athletes to the University Interscholastic League state championships May 9-10. Four of them advanced in two events, two set Region 1-5A meet records and another set a Region 1-4A meet record.

But let's not forget about the great Jackie Campos from Santa Teresa, a small New Mexico school that often gets overlooked. Sure, Santa Teresa isn't in the El Paso Times' coverage area when it comes to sports, but Campos deserves mention considering she's competed toe-to-toe with some of El Paso's most talented distance runners.

Santa Teresa head track and field coach Epifanio Solis e-mailed me some recent information on Campos, a junior, and these are the highlights of her accomplishments in 2008.

Campos is heading to the New Mexico Class 4A track and field championships May 16-17 and will be looking for her third consecutive 3,200-meter title and first 1,600 crown.

She currently is ranked No. 2 in both the mile and  2-mile among state-qualifying girls.

Her best times are 11 minutes, 46 seconds in the 2-mile and 5:19 in the mile, both run this season. Campos annually races against El Paso athletes in cross country and in track, and Solis gives credit to El Paso runners for helping give her quality competition.

Solis also said Campos continues to gain strength and speed, much stronger than last season. Going into the state championships, Campos has won 10 of her 12 events ranging from the 800 to the 3,200.

Best of luck to Campos at the state meet, as she continues to represent Santa Teresa at the highest!

Some quick hits on Campos cross country and track and field accomplishments at state:
•Freshman year
—3,200, first place
—1,600, fourth place
(Didn't run cross country)

•Sophomore year
—Second place, cross country
—3,200, first place
—1,600, third place

•Junior year
—First place, cross country

Former Montwood runner does it again at Big 12 championships

Christina Munoz, a 2006 Montwood High School graduate, finished among the top five in two distance events at the Big 12 Indoor track and Field Championships Feb. 29-March 1 in Lincoln, Neb.

The Texas A&M sophomore placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run in 16 minutes, 50.34 seconds, then finished fifth in the 3,000 in 9:41.37.

Adding to the achievement, the Aggies won the conference title with 119.2 points, well ahead of second-place Nebraska (95) and Kansas (93).

It's been a breakout year for Munoz, who also qualified to the NCAA Division 1 Women's Cross Country Championships last fall.

She was 11th (21:19) at the Big 12 championships, then shot up to fifth (20:54) at the South-Central Regionals.

Munoz placed 183 out of 253 runners at the NCAA's, running 22:14.1 while battling bronchitis.

Fred Loya Track and Field Invitational at Eastwood

Here are some noteable performances that didn't get into the paper Sunday from the Fred Loya Track and Field Invitational at Eastwood.

Just for context, Eastwood won with 161 points, followed by Chapin (93) and Hanks (86).

•Eastwood's Maegan Stires finished second in both distance races. First in both went to all-state cross country runner Brissia Montalvo, a senior, of Del Valle.

•For those unfamiliar with Kelsey Canavan, you'll be hearing about her a lot in the coming years. The 6-foot Hanks sophomore is not only an all-city basketball player but also a champion discus thrower. At this meet, she won the event with a mark of 105 feet, 9 inches. That ranks third in El Paso.

•Isabel Flores' high jump of 5-4 matched a personal best.

•Montwood sophomore Bianca Veal won her first varsity gold medal after holding off Fabens' Vivian Manzano in the 800 dash. Veal, normally a quarter-miler, won in 2 minutes, 31.57 seconds. Very few medals outside of regionals and state are as precious as that very first one.

•Hanks sophomore Brandi Wade placed second in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles (personal-best 15.28; season-best 46.17). First-place went to Chapin sophomore Evonne Britton, who ran state-ranked times of 14.60 and 44.43, also personal-bests.

•Eastwood swept all three relays. Those runners were Jessica Ubanyionwu, Jessica Payne, Jessica Salazar, Isabel Flores and Amanda Almanza.

•Parkland went 1-3 in the 400-meter dash, led by freshman Nicole Dudley and junior Shirelle Givens. Dudley, the younger sister of Class 4A discus state champion Matt Dudley, won in 59.72 seconds. The time ranks second in El Paso.

•Hanks was without Kendra Chambers, who ranks first in El Paso in the 200- (26.03 seconds) and 400-meter dashes (59.36). The junior was being rested to alleviate back pain.

Coronado girl sets city pole vault record

Coronado senior Ale Cano set a city record in the pole this past weekend at the Horizon Invitational, catapulting herself 11 feet, 1 inch off the ground.

The University Interscholastic League, Texas' governing body of public school extracurricular activities, began allowing high school girls to pole vault in 2002.