All-Metro boys co-MVPs Guillen, Fierro capped season with strong showings

Perhaps it’s only fitting two of the Rio Grande Valley’s top runners from the recently completed cross country season are boys co-MVPs on The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Team.

Port Isabel’s Armando Fierro and Los Fresnos’ David Guillen, close friends who throughout the fall continually pushed each other to what resulted in standout finishes for both at the UIL state meet at Georgetown in November, say they’ll happily share the recognition that goes along with the All-Metro honor.

“Armando’s gotten the award before, and so have I,” Guillen said. “I think it’s just fair and it’s sweet (that we’re sharing it this time).”

As seniors, each won district in 2011 as Guillen triumphed in District 32-5A and Fierro was the top finisher in District 32-3A. Guillen was fourth and Fierro fifth in their races at the Region IV meet Nov. 3 in San Antonio. One week later at the state meet in Georgetown, Fierro earned a silver medal for a second-place finish in Class 3A, while Guillen came in 12th in Class 5A, although Guillen finished with a better time.

“Yes, it was a pretty satisfying senior season (of cross country),” said Fierro, who will be running track and playing baseball for the Tarpons during the coming months. “Racing against David really helped me out. He’s one of the best runners in the Valley, and we always knew that it would come down to either one of us (winning our races at meets). It’s a friendly competition and we push each other.”

Added Guillen, also a senior, “I felt pretty good about my season, except the only thing was I didn’t reach my goal of finishing in the top 10 at state. I missed it by two places.

“Running against Armando, I definitely knew it would be a tough race,” he added. “He’s a really close friend, so it’s cool (to have that friendly competition between us). I think we helped each other be top runners in the Valley.”

The two standout athletes are now thinking about running in college at the same school. They are looking at such schools as the University of Texas-San Antonio and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“I’m still considering my options,” Guillen said. “It’s very possible (we could be running at the same college).”

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