Notebook: San Perlita's Watson shines at state
Andres Watson could barely stand up straight moments following his Class A 800-meter run on Saturday in Austin.
Watson was representing San Perlita, which hadn’t sent a qualifier to state in 22 years, at the UIL State Track and Field Championships at Myers Stadium.
A couple of minutes after the race started, Watson became the first medalist from tiny San Perlita since Sonia Rodriguez won gold two straight years in 1988 and 1989.
Watson dropped as far back as seventh place during the first lap.
He found himself in the middle of the pack fighting for positioning about 600 meters into the run. As Watson made the last turn at the 150-meter mark, he began to sprint and passed Marfa’s Jarrett Lujan with about 75 meters to run to take third place.
Watson finished with a new personal best of 1:59.78. He qualified by running a 2:02.77 at regionals, his PR at the time.
Jonathan White of Bremond won the race in 1:56.09 and Michael Montanez of Hamlin was second with a time of 1:59.25.
"I just saw the dude (Lujan) and I knew I had to beat him," a huffing and puffin Watson said after receiving his medal. "I’m excited right now. It feels great and it feels good that I could do this for San Perlita. Everyone was really supportive and third place is good."
Watson, a transfer from Colorado last year, had never run the 800 before. A triple jumper by nature, his coaches made the switch this season.
Watson returns for his senior season next year.
BITTER SWEET: Sharyland’s 400 and 800 relays entered the state meet with such high expectations.
And despite eighth place finishes in both relays, the Rattlers’ relays etched their names in the Valley record books, again.
The 800 relay of Edmundo Crespo, Francisco Campos, Daniel Cardenas and CJ Cavazos broke their own Valley record that they set this season finishing in a time of 1:27.23. Their previous Valley record was 1:27.84, which they set last month.
The sprint relay of Crespo, Cavazos, Cardenas and Nick Flores ran a 42.32 FAT time at regionals a couple of weeks ago. Adjusted to handheld time it was a better time.
But Sharyland’s sprint relay got rid of any debate in Austin running a superior time of 41.93.
SETTING A FOUNDATION: Five years ago, track and field was pretty much an afterthought at La Villa High School.
On Saturday, a couple of athletes from the tiny town on Highway 107 took center stage in the biggest track and field meet of the season. Seniors Krystal Mata and Steven Perez each competed in the Class A shot put.
Mata qualified as the runner up at the Region IV meet a couple of weeks ago. Perez got his shot at state as the ninth qualifier.
The pair didn’t return to La Villa with medals, through.
Mata got close finishing in fourth place with a toss of 36-7 ½. Loraine’s Danyelle Dillard took gold with a throw of 41-4 ¼. Perez came in eighth place with a toss of 48-9 ½. Boys Ranch’s LaQuan McGowan won gold with a throw of 57-3.
Danny Perez coaches both the girls and boys track teams. As a matter of fact, Perez takes care of the track and field program from the seventh grade through 12th grade.
On Saturday, Danny Perez stood on the track beaming with pride and knowing that the best is yet to come in La Villa track and field.
Danny Perez arrived at La Villa when Gene Garza took over as head football coach and athletic director four years ago. The pair came from Edcouch-Elsa where football is a way of life and track is just as important.
"When we got there we asked about track and field and there was nothing," Perez said. "We started the program then and we had a pretty good little varsity squad this year. We have some good kids coming up in our JV squad so we’ll be getting better."
Getting Mata and Steven Perez to the state meet was a huge accomplishment for the program.
"These guys have worked hard and I’m glad they came here and experienced this meet," Danny Perez said. "We started practicing right after the Christmas break so it’s been a long season. I’m glad they both qualified."
CORINA’S DAY: Los Fresnos thrower Corina Cox was pretty pleased after competing in the Class 5A discus throw even though she finished in seventh place.
Cox threw a distance of 133-8, making it her best throw ever. The sophomore thrower said she was nervous before and early on during the competition. But she settled down and produced her best throw of the season.
"It was crazy at first," Cox said. "This is big for me to be here. I was a little too excited. But now I know just to stay calm and get yourself where you need to be."
Cox’s nerves were evident early on as her first two throws went out of bounds. On her third attempt, Cox just put on in play that went about 35 yards in order to move to the finals. On her fourth throw, Cox popped that 133-8.
Mansfield Legacy’s Shelbi Vaughn won with a throw of 161-0, a new Class 5A record.
Los Fresnos teammate Madison Metsker-Galarza ran a 2:25.19 in the Class 5A 800 run to finish in eighth place.
NICE RUN: Weslaco’s RC Cervantes finished in seventh place in the Class 5A 400 but the senior ran a good time and set a new personal best.
Cervantes finished the quarter-mile in 48.58. His previous PR, which was also a Valley’s best time this season was 48.85.
Also, Harlingen South pole vaulter Blake White ended up in eighth place with a height of 14-0.
VALLEY QUEENS: One ran her last race. The other has a nice future ahead of her.
Harlingen South’s Zariah Noyola finished in fifth place in the Class 5A 300 hurdles and came close to her own Valley record running in a time of 43.99. Noyola owns the Valley record, which she set at regionals last year with a 43.80.
Edinburg Economedes sophomore Leigha Brown competed in her first state meet and came in ninth in the 100 hurdles.
Brown, who started running the 100s this season, finished in a time of 15.13.
BIG SHOT: McAllen Memorial’s Lauren Garza finished in eighth place in the Class 5A shot put with a toss of 39-5 ¾.
Arlington Martin’s Brea Garrett won the shot with a throw of 46-0 ½. The very athletic Garrett won the 100 hurdler earlier in the day in a time of 13.70.
