KASSY'S LAST CHANCE?

HARLINGEN - Kassandra Larios sees the writing on the wall.
Win and her season continues. Lose and come home and get ready for the final stretch of her senior year at Harlingen South.
"It's do or die," Larios said. "I guess deep down I'm a little nervous. I hope it's not but this could be my last (track and field) meet. I'm just going out there and trying not to think about it. If I do, I might get distracted."
She surely won't want to get distracted this weekend at the Region IV-5A track and field meet at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio.
Larios qualified and will compete in the 100-meter hurdles, triple and high jumps and the pole vault.
In her four years on the Lady Hawks varsity track squad, Larios excelled in all events that she competed.
She's repeatedly said that the hurdles is her favorite.
As a freshman, Larios made the finals after the eighth lane scratched. She came in eighth.
But things looked promising the next couple of seasons as Larios returned each year with a little more confidence.
Larios came in third as a sophomore and last year too just missing out on a trip to the UIL State Track and Field Championships in Austin.
So this is it for Larios.
"As a freshman, sophomore or junior I always thought, 'I have one more year,'" Larios said. "Now this is it. This could be the last time I have to prove myself on the track."
Larios will play volleyball at St. Mary's University this fall and will likely never return to the track competitively.
But head coach Dolores Cruz said she was sure this wouldn't be Larios' last run.
"I think she's ready," Cruz said. "There's not much more to do than what we've already done. She's been working really hard for this. Her attitude has been great at practice and she's been really focused on everything she needs to do. We've just been fine tuning this week."
Cruz has seen Larios grow physically and mentally from the time she first joined the team as a freshman.
Cruz described Larios as having raw talent but in need of coaching.
That's when Cruz and her staff went to work.
In the past four years, Larios has become one of the Valley's premier female athletes.
She's known across the Valley as a standout volleyball player as well as a track star.
At track meets, she's almost a celebrity walking around the track known for her domination of the hurdles, triple and high jumps.
It's not rare to see coaches and athletes stop what they're doing to catch a glimpse of Kassy Larios running or jumping.
"Kassy is a great athlete," San Benito head coach and Valley track and field veteran Frank Silva said. "I saw her at the Meet of Champs and I complimented her after the race. She probably didn't know who I was but I told her that we (track and field community) were going to miss her and it was sad to see her go (graduation)."
And Larios has learned to appreciate the compliments and cherishes each of them.
"It's really kind of weird," Larios said. "I didn't think as a freshman that I wanted to be known or the best ever. When I was younger there were athletes I wanted to be like. Now I'm there. It's pretty cool."
So it comes down to one race and one jump for Larios.
Her journey began four years when she was the skinny freshman girl from Harlingen South with amazing talent.
She's then grown to become one of the Valley's all-time best.
"I've matured a lot mentally and emotionally," Larios said. "Four years seems like a long time but it all went by too fast. Even if I advance to state, it'll be my last race there. And that's sad because it's all eventually coming to an end. Now I have to go start all over in college."