MVP Rivera, Lady Raiders forging tradition of success under Hurtado's direction

There’s a strong bond between Rivera coach Arturo Hurtado and the girls on his cross country team that is evident by the success the Lady Raiders continue to achieve.

“I have only sons in my family,” Hurtado said. “These girls (on the cross country team) are my daughters.”

During the 2011 cross country season, the Lady Raiders captured their third straight District 32-5A championship. For their efforts, Hurtado is the All-Metro girls coach of the year, while two of his runners, Christina Rivera and Brandy Endsley, are the All-Metro girls MVP and All-Metro girls newcomer of the year, respectively.

“I think a lot of our success has to do with Coach Hurtado,” said Rivera, a junior who finished second in the 32-5A meet on Oct. 21 in Los Fresnos. “He really brings in a lot of girls, especially from our feeder schools. It’s really a good program. Coach Hurtado knows what he’s doing, and all his experience helps.

“The way our seniors talked to me (during the season), it really motivated me (to do well),” she added. “I’m just very happy that I have such a great support system with my friends, my family, my teammates and my coach.”

The Rivera girls repeated as 32-5A champions by edging runner-up Los Fresnos 48-49 in the team standings. Besides Rivera taking second, other top finishers for the Lady Raiders were Keila Rodriguez (third), Jackie Valles (sixth), Endsley (17th), Karla Avila (20th) and Miranda Castillo (22nd). Of those girls, Castillo is the only senior.

Hurtado has been the cross country coach at Rivera for 24 years, winning district nine times. He has taught 32 years and coached 30 years.

He said one of the most touching aspects of the recently completed season came at the end when he received a thank-you card from his team. Each girl wrote a note on the card, saying how much they appreciated him as their coach and how they were looking forward to greater accomplishments in the future.

“I’m happy (to be named an All-Metro coach), but I’m even happier for our girls,” Hurtado said. “We’ve become very close, and it’s very satisfying to see their accomplishments.

“What I like about these girls is that after the regional meet in San Antonio (on Nov. 3), they were disappointed and they got themselves together for a team meeting,” he added. “We were in second place (as a team) after our first three runners came in, but we wound up in 11th place our of 24 teams. They got together to talk about it and then they came and talked to me.

“They said, ‘Coach, we want more next year.’ They’re hungry. They want to go to state (as a team), and they know what it’ll take to get there. With these girls, we have a program that we can be very proud of.”

Endsley, a freshman who ran on the varsity for the first time in 2011, is a big part of the team’s future.

“It felt pretty good to be on the team this year,” Endsley said. “I actually felt I could have done better at district, and now I’m excited and motivated for next season. Being named newcomer of the year makes me feel that I’ve done pretty good for my freshman year.

“I have a good team (to run with) and a good coach, so being named newcomer of the year means a lot,” she added.

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