Rivas, friends refuse to slow down

WESLACO - Mishak Rivas repeatedly has said he wants to start as a freshman on Texas State's football team.

So after collapsing with a hamstring injury during a race in March, no one would have blamed the Weslaco High senior for shutting it down. An injury this late in his high school career easily could have set back his college plans, or worse.

But Rivas has only one gear - full speed ahead. It's the reason he set a single-season rushing record on the gridiron, and the reason he's headed back to the Class 5A state track & field championships in two events. Teammate Jerry Espinoza and Weslaco East's Robin Torres will join him this weekend in Austin.

"Hamstring injuries are quite tricky to deal with, but at the same time you also have to go about it with the sense that, ‘Hey, I'm not going to let this beat me,' and I didn't let it beat me," Rivas said. "I just went out there, believed in what my coach told me, believed in myself, and got rid of this injury, and I feel great."

Espinoza had his own hamstring injury this season, causing him to miss two meets. But he, too, has recovered nicely, and now both Espinoza and Rivas are running as well as they ever have going into the state competition.

The pair finished first and second in the 400-meter dash at the regional meet, with Rivas winning with a time of 48.14. Espinoza finished just behind with a 48.16. Rivas' time was better than his state-qualifying time last season, when he won state bronze with a 47.77.

"Mishak, right now, looks stronger than he's ever looked, and most people don't know that," Weslaco coach David Fuentes said. "But after the injury and coming back from the injury, that kid has really never looked stronger."

Rivas - who also won regional gold in the long jump - and Espinoza are making their third trips to Austin, but it will be Espinoza's first in the 400. The senior's previous two appearances came as the fastest leg of the Panthers' mile relay.

"The bad thing about Jerry the last couple of years is that he has had no opportunity to shine on his own," Fuentes said. "I have always buried him in the relay, always put him in relays to kind of give us the speed to win it, and that kid is really, really fast."

East's Torres joins the Panthers as Weslaco's trio of state representatives. Considered more of a long-distance runner in the past, a knee injury forced him to change his strategy this season. That switch may have helped him improve his speed and qualify for state for the first time in the 800.

His personal-best 1:56.46 is the fifth-best qualifying time, and he'll be going up against the reigning 5A champ, Howard Shepard, who transferred from Dallas Skyline to 4A Lockhart this season. But coach Tom Owens said he likes Torres' chances of placing.

"I think we're going to go up there to PR, and I think he can finish in the top three," Owens said.

Jason McDaniel covers high school sports for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442. For more local stories, visit www.rgvsports.com.