Hanna's Vasquez, Uribe garner All-Metro C.C. honors

The 2011 cross country season will remain a pleasant memory for Hanna coach Jaime Vasquez for quite some time.

Even though Hanna’s boys had won the five previous District 32-5A championships, 2011 was the year the Golden Eagles weren’t expected to do it again. Still, somehow they did.

"This last one was definitely the most special one," said Vasquez, once again The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro boys coach of the year. "The first district title (in 2006) was good because no one really knew about us at that time, but this last one was the one to remember because we had lost three of our top five runners (to graduation). To come back (and win 32-5A) when that happens is really hard to do, especially when you know there are other good teams there in your district.

"Our runners really wanted to keep the tradition going and win district again, even though they saw that it was going to be very tough," he added. "Thank God that he sent these runners my way. To me, this (last) one was the most important one out of the six because we were not really favored to win. We had our backs against the wall, and yet, these guys came through."

Hanna won the district championship with 41 points compared to 48 for runner-up Los Fresnos.

Top runners for the Eagles at the 32-5A meet Oct. 21 in Los Fresnos were Anthony Rodriguez (second), Luis Sandoval (sixth), Jorge Gonzalez (eighth), Juan Uribe (12th), Luis Treviño (13th) and Ezequiel Calleros (14th). Other runners on the Hanna squad were Erick Salazar, Juan Rios and Rey Alvear.

Uribe, a sophomore running on the varsity for the first season, is the All-Metro boys newcomer of the year.

"Honestly, it made me feel like it was a family running on this team," Uribe said. "Since the majority of our team was made up of seniors, I felt the pressure to help them reach their goal of leaving their last year (of cross country) happily by winning district again. We really didn’t want to lose the streak (of winning district) that we had for five years.

"It was a tough race that day (at the 32-5A meet)," he added. "I was feeling a little sick, but I was just thinking of my teammates and how they really wanted it, and how I really wanted it, too. I knew I had to fight for it and just keep going.

"We were able to add one more year to the streak. I have two more years (of cross country left), so hopefully we can add some more to the streak in the future."

Vasquez said Uribe is a good example of someone who has brought success to the Hanna cross country program. He credited assistant coaches Xavier Rodriguez, Olaya Teran and Juan de Dios Garcia for also playing an important role in the Eagles’ success.

"Juan is exactly the type of runner who has helped us (win)," the Hanna coach said. "He came out for the sport, he wanted to help the team and he loves to run."

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.