McAllen Memorial’s Ayden Granados set high expectations for himself going into his senior season. Fresh off a pair of silver medals during the UIL state track and field championships, Granados wanted to continue to put RGV distance running on the map and capture a state championship.
Granados put the state on notice through nine races, picking up gold medals at every meet this season, including a District 31-5A title Oct. 13. During his nine-race win streak Granados averaged a margin of victory of nearly 14 seconds.
On Tuesday, Granados made it 10-of-10, capturing the Region IV-5A individual title with a time of 15 minutes, 38.5 seconds at the Region IV cross country championships at Texas A&M Corpus Christi’s Dugan Soccer and Track Stadium in Corpus Christi.
“This is something I’ve always dreamed out and something me and my coaches have always talked about,” Granados said. “We wanted to show everyone what Memorial is all about and what the Valley can hold. We had a lot of strong showings from the Valley.”
Granados margin of victory was the smallest it has been all season Tuesday, edging San Antonio Jefferson’s Henok Hayele by 0.15 seconds for the gold. Hayele finished in 15:38.65.
Neck and neck with his competition, Granados used his signature breakaway speed down the stretch, along with thoughts of it being his final year and the late Tony Trejo, to pull away from Hayele for the win.
“I just knew I needed to keep pushing and pushing like there was nothing to it,” Granados said. “At one point on the final stretch going down onto the track, I just knew. I know I have good turnover and the final stretch is when I hit my fastest turnover. Every time I tried to get surging though, I kept falling into a pothole or he would surge, too. But I saw he started to slow down when I would slow down. So sooner or later I got right next to him on that straight away and I just started pulling away. I knew this was it and what I needed to do. I just kept pushing as much as I could.”
Granados regional championship marks the first of his career, improving from his 11th place finish during last year’s regional meet. His attention now turns to finishing what he set out to do — capturing a state championship.
“Today showed me nobody is afraid to push,” Granados said. “Our last mile was a 4:42. That kid, all kudos to him, he pushed it to the very end. I just got the better of it. I think it was his first year running cross. I just had the experience over him, I think. It just shows me everyone is ready to push. I’m ready to do it too.”
Granados leads a loaded group of runners advancing to the state meet in Class 5A, with four RGV athletes finishing in the top 10.
Sharyland High’s Valdemar Meza captured the bronze, finishing in 15:55.37. McAllen Memorial’s Diego De Leon (15:59.51) and Sharyland Pioneer’s Ryan Servantes (16:09.80) joined Granados and Meza in the top 10, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
Meza’s performance was also key in leading the Rattlers to the Region IV-5A team title, winning the crown with 126 points. McAllen Memorial also earned a team berth at the state meet, finishing fourth with 195 points.
The top four teams and top 10 individuals not on qualifying teams earn spots at the UIL state cross country championships, set for Nov. 4-5 at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock.
“During my four years as a head coach and another four or five as an assistant, we had never been district champs, much less regional champs,” Sharyland High head coach Jorge Guerra said. “Like I told the guys, this was the ultimate goal, to make it to state. We won the region, which feels amazing. Now for state, the last race of the season, we’re going to go all out and see what we can get. If we can get a podium finish it would be even more special.”
Four individuals punched their ticket to state during the Region IV-5A girls race, highlighted by PSJA Southwest’s Yazmin Guerra, who finished second in 18:39.67.
She’s joined by Brownsville Veterans’ Yazmin Guerra and Itzel Rodriguez and Harlingen South’s Alexis Fonseca.
In Class 3A, the Brownsville IDEA Frontier boys cross country team punched their ticket to state with a fourth-place finish in the Region IV-3A team standings. Senior Jose Blanco led the pack, finishing 11th in 16:56.23.
A trio of Valley runners will join the Chargers at state, with Weslaco IDEA Pike’s Jesus Gutierrez, Pharr IDEA’s Kevin Gomez and Vanguard Rembrandt’s Osvaldo Martinez each earning individual berths.
Lasara’s Jose Ventura (17:17.15) and San Perlita’s Darius Martinez (18:21.69) were the Valley’s lone qualifiers in Class 1A, finishing second and eighth in the Region IV-1A boys race.
For full results visit RGVSports.com.
