La Feria's Vasquez barely out of state

CORPUS CHRISTI - Miriam Vasquez missed out on a trip to the University Interscholastic League state track and field championships, but the La Feria distance runner hardly seemed disappointed after the final race of her high school career.

That's because the La Feria senior left Flour Bluff High School on Wednesday with a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the 1,600 meters at the Region IV-3A meet. Although the season is over, Vasquez is more than satisfied with her performance.

"I wanted to at least place at the regional meet and show the (Rio Grande) Valley that we can compete at a higher level," said Vasquez, who crossed the finish line in 5 minutes, 36.65 seconds. "There's a lot of competition here. I just wanted to show my classmates that anything is possible."

As expected, Cuero cruised to the boys team championship with 86 points - 40 more than second-place Brookshire Royal. West Columbia finished third with 43 points.

Giddings scored 63 points to edge La Vernia for the girls team title. The Bears finished with 58 points, while Brookshire Royal and Corpus Christi West Oso each scored 44 to finish tied for third.

Devine's Cara Patterson claimed her second gold of the day by winning the 1,600 in 5:24.48. Luling's Maira Salinas finished second in 5:27.84, followed by Vasquez, who nearly didn't earn a spot on the awards stand.

With Patterson and Salinas ahead of the rest of the field, Vasquez and Zapata's Marlena Garcia were left to battle for third. Garcia led with 50 meters to go, but Vasquez found another gear and surged ahead of Garcia at the finish line.

Only .02 seconds meant the difference between a medal and a walk back to the stands.

"That close to the end I just thought to myself, ‘If I'm that close I might as well give it all that I got and finish strong,'" Vasquez said.

After finishing seventh in the 3,200 on Tuesday, Vasquez had no choice but to redeem herself.

"The two-mile is supposed to be my stronger race, so I knew I had to make up for it," Vasquez said. "The first mile was strong, but the second one I don't know what happened. My legs got tight and were killing me. I just rested as much as I could and got prepared for the mile."

Rio Hondo's Jose A. Jaramillo joined Vasquez on the medal podium with a third-place finish in the 800. Lytle's Brandon Lacy won the event in 1:55.67, while Jaramillo turned in a time of 1:59.71.

La Feria's Justin Villallon finished fourth behind Jaramillo in 2:00.72.

La Feria's Briana Villarreal finished fourth in the girls 800 with a time of 2:28.33 and Zapata's Michelle Garcia sixth in the 1,600 with a time of 5:39.96. Port Isabel's Genaveva Garza threw 37 feet, 1 1/4 inches to finish fifth in the shot put, while Daniela Reyes of Hidalgo finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 16-10 1/4.

Region IV-3A Track & Field Meet results

Wednesday; At Flour Bluff

Boys

Team totals - 1, Cuero, 86; 2, Brookshire Royal, 46; 3, West Columbia, 43; 4, La Vernia, 41; 5, Bellville, 39; 6, West Oso, 38; 7, Poteet, 36; 8, Lytle, 28; 9, Yoakum, 26; 10, Edna, 24; 11, Goliad, 22; 12, Sweeny, 21; 13, Smithville, 20; 14, (tie) Sealy, Columbus, Giddings, 16; 17, Staford, 14; 18, (tie) Aransas Pass, Carizzo Springs, 13; 20, (tie) San Antonio Sam Houston, La Grange, 10; 22, Wharton, 9; 23, Rio Hondo, 6; 24, Somerset, 5; 25, (tie) Bandera, La Feria, Palacios, 4; 28, (tie) Pearsall, Orange Grove, Hondo, Sinton, 2; 32, (tie) Port Isabel, Gonzales.

400 relay - 1, Brookshire Royal, 42.46; 2, Cuero, 42.90; 3, West Oso, 42.97; 4, West Columbia, 43.10; 5, Smithville, 43.15; 6, Bellville, 43.18.

800 - 1, Brandon Lacy, Lytle, 1:55.67; 2, Sabastian Benavides, Lytle, 1:57.29; 3, Jose A. Jaramillo, Rio Hondo, 1:59.71; 4, Justin Villalon, La Feria, 2:00.72; 5, Stephen Huff, Stafford, 2:01.59; 6, Stephen Elizondo, La Vernia, 2:02.79.

110 hurdles - 1, Aron Franklin, Goliad, 14.41; 2, Quentin Runnels, Bellville, 14.79; 3, Quinn Taylor, Giddings, 15.25; 4, Matthew McHazlett, La Grange, 15.27; 5, Alex Sheppard, Cuero, 15.50; 6, Preston Woodard, Sweeny, 15.70.

100 - 1, Adam Hebert, Poteet, 10.71; 2, Darnell Butler, West Oso, 10.90; 3, Shane Alexander, Brookshire Royal, 10.95; 4, Stephen Wesch, La Vernia, 11.05; 5, Ram Sanchez, Sinton, 11.08; 6, Jacolby Williams, Aransas Pass, 11.15.

800 relay - 1, West Columbia, 1:29.08; 2, West Oso, 1:29.19; 3, Cuero, 1:29.58; 4, Bellville, 1:30.24; 5, Smithville, 1:30.42; 6, La Vernia, 1:30.60.

400 - 1, Xavier Daniels, Giddings, 50.18; 2, Terrance Trahan, Sealy, 50.42; 3, Dean Thomas, Aransas Pass, 50.66; 4, James Murphy, Palacios, 50.76; 5, Jake Garrett, Goliad, 51.78; 6, Walter Reese, Bellville, 52.26.

300 hurdles - 1, Franklin, Goliad, 39.15; 2, Chris Taylor, Wharton, 39.51; 3, Weston Shoemate, Edna, 40.17; 4, Runnels, Bellville, 40.19; 5, William Markert, Yoakum, 40.92; 6, Russell Calais, Carrizo Springs, 41.66.

200 - 1, Dalen Stamps, Brookshire Royal, 21.73; 2, Hebert, Poteet, 21.78; 3, Jared McNeil, West Columbia, 22.13; 4, Gavin Brown, Sweeny, 22.14; 5, Bryson Williams, West Oso, 22.33; 6, Williams, Aransas Pass, 22.38.

1,600 -1, Lacy, Lytle, 4:23.76; 2, Richard Gallegos, Carrizo Springs, 4:26.38; 3, Abrahm Leija, La Vernia, 4:27.14; 4, Paul Hansel, Cuero, 4:29.51; 5, Trey Dunsirn, La Vernia, 4:32.14; 6, Jorge Jamie, Gonzales, 4:37.68.

1,600 relay - 1, Cuero, 3:22.37; 2, Bellville, 3:25.17; 3, Stafford, 3:25.23; 4, Brookshire Royal, 3:25.26; 5, Sealy, 3:25.94; 6, Hondo, 3:30.26.

Discus - 1, La'Adrian Waddle, Columbus, 179-8; 2, Markert, Yoakum, 162-2; 3, Zeke Riser, La Vernia, 161-10; 4, Thomas Lebato, Somerset, 150-9; 5, Dustin Leiferman, Smithville, 150-7; 6, Justin Tovar, Aransas Pass, 150-2.

Triple jump - 1, Isaiah Glover, Cuero, 48-5; 2, Hebert, Poteet, 46-5.25; 3, Woodard, Sweeny, 46-1; 4, Gabriel Hamner, Sealy, 44-2.25; 5, Jamarious Callies, Edna, 43-9.25; 6, Taylor, Wharton, 43-4.5.

Pole vault - 1, Nicholas Goertz, Smithville, 14-9; 2, Dexter Lewis, West Columbia, 14-6; 3, Coleman Weiss, La Grange, 14-3; 4, Sean Scott, Bandera, 14-0; 5, J.D. Braud, Pearsall, 13-6; 6, Dustin Kremling, Yoakum, 13-6.

Girls

Team totals - 1, Giddings, 63; 2, La Vernia, 58; 3, (tie) Brookshire Royal, West Oso, 44; 5, San Antonio Sam Houston, 39; 6, Bellville, 31; 7, Goliad, 30.5; 8, Devine, 30; 9, La Grange, 28; 10, Pearsall, 23; 11, Yoakum, 22; 12, (tie) Luling, Stafford, 18; 14, Palacios, 17.5; 15, West Columbia, 17; 16, Needville, 15; 17, (tie) Cuero, Bandera, 13; 19, La Feria, 12; 20, (tie) Sweeny, Ingleside, Zapata, Lytle, 10; 24, Smithville, 8; 25, Gonzales, 7; 26, (tie) Carrizo Springs, San Antonio Hawkins, Orange Grove, 6; 29, Sealy, 4; 30, (tie) Hidalgo, Crystal City, Port Isabel, 2; 33, Rio Hondo, 1.

400 relay - 1, La Vernia, 49.32; 2, Brookshire Royal, 49.68; 3, Sam Houston, 49.68; 4, Pearsall, 50.46; 5, Bellville, 50.69; 6, Gonzales, 50.74.

800 - 1, Cara Patterson, Devine, 2:16.73; 2, Tazna Roy, Palacios, 2:20.83; 3, Gretchen Rebollo, Lytle, 2:24.90; 4, Briana Villarreal, La Feria, 2:28.33; 5, Lee Stuart, Needville, 2:29.91; 6, Amiee Denham, Bandera, 2:31.34.

100 hurdles - 1, Jasmine Oyewuml, Stafford, 14.80; 2, Chandace Tryon, West Oso, 15.03; 3, Kendra Schumacher, Cuero, 15.52; 4, Hannah Summers, La Vernia, 16.58; 5, Whitney Flannel, West Columbia, 16.62; 6, Brittany Jones, Needville, 16.78.

100 - 1, Deserea Davis, Giddings, 12.21; 2, Ashley Frausto, Pearsall, 12.46; 3, Shayala Simmons, Bellville, 12.53; 4, Tameika Harris, Yoakum, 12.55; 5, Logan Nelson, Orange Grove, 12.90; 6, Hilary Garcia, Palacios, 12.96.

800 relay - 1, Giddings, 1:43.16; 2, La Vernia, 1:43.61; 3, Brookshire Royal, 1:44.82; 4, Bellville, 1:47.46; 5, Gonzales, 1:47.65; 6, Sealy, 1:49.36.

400 - 1, Amber Perry, Goliad, 57.21; 2, Destiny Schulze, La Grange, 58.78; 3, Ladoria Nelson, Sam Houston, 59.79; 4, Darrecia Johnson, Giddings, 60.86; 5, Priscilla Puente, Crystal City, 60.95; 6, Ashley Morales, Pearsall, 62.76.

300 hurdles - 1, Natalie Baker, La Vernia, 44.76; 2, Jasmine Oyewuml, Stafford, 46.14; 3, Sarah Richards, Bandera, 46.71; 4, Dakota Dougherty, Devine, 48.10; 5, Kaylee Nelson, Sealy, 48.12; 6, Schumacher, Cuero, 48.31.

200 - 1, Ernestine Cray, Sam Houston, 25.20; 2, Asia Wyson, Giddings, 25.25; 3, Frausto, Pearsall, 25.72; 4, Sesley Lockridge, Brookshire Royal, 25.85; 5, Nelson, Orange Grove, 26.19; 6, Marissa Perez, Bellvlle, 26.20.

1,600 - 1, Patterson, Devine, 5:24.48; 2, Maira Salinas, Luling, 5:27.84; 3, Miriam Vasquez, La Feria, 5:36.65; 4, Marlena Garcia, Zapata, 5:36.67; 5, Elise Kaistman, Giddings, 5:38.70; 6, Michelle Garcia, Zapata, 5:39.96.

1,600 relay - 1, Goliad, 4:03.99; 2, La Grange, 4:04.00; 3, Giddings, 4:07.56; 4, Palacios, 4:11.00; 5, Lytle, 4:15.24; 6, Orange Grove, 4:15.63.

Shot put - 1, Sharae Robinson, West Oso, 40-2.75; 2, Jackie Franklin, Sweeny, 39-4.5; 3, Vivian Rodriguez, Carrizo Springs, 38-4.5; 4, Cra'Nisha Johnson, Yoakum, 37-10.75; 5, Genaveva Garza, Port Isabel, 37-1.25; 6, Tammashay Jefferson, Gonzales, 35-3.75.

High jump - 1, Tyron, West Oso, 5-5; 2, Flannel, West Columbia, 5-5; 3, Casey Heising, Devine, 5-5; 4, Monica McCafferty, La Grange, 5-2; 5, Megan Lange, Cuero, 5-2; 6, Naomi Baldridge, West Columbia, 5-2.

Long jump - 1, Cray, Sam Houston, 18-5.5; 2, Harris, Yoakum, 18-0.25; 3, Ebony Washington, West Columbia, 17-2.75; 4, Jessica Jammer, Brookshire Royal, 16-10.75; 5, Daniela Reyes, Hidalgo, 16-10.25; 6, Keanna Winkfield, Giddings, 16-8.5.