EDINBURG — Edinburg North’s Keyshawn Garcia has been on a tear since the start of the 2023 track and field season.
He took the state by storm in the 800-meter dash during his senior season, going undefeated en route to the Class 6A state title. Two weeks after winning state, Garcia set the RGV record in the same event during the Running Lane National Championships, clocking in at 1 minute, 49.61 seconds to break Port Isabel athlete Todd Harbour’s adjusted record time of 1:49.64 set in 1977.
Garcia wasn’t done yet.
The Houston signee broke his own record less than a month after setting it, clocking in at 1:48.22 for third during the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships on June 18 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The mark moved him to No. 2 all-time in the state, according to the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association’s records, coming within .01 seconds of the record set by Abilene’s Jonathan Johnson in 2001.
“It was fun going out there with the top guys,” Garcia said. “You got guys with big backgrounds from across the nation. Being out there and racing against them is a great accomplishment. Then beating some of those guys, it means a lot.”
Garcia’s meteoric rise didn’t happen overnight. The recent Edinburg North graduate spent the first three years of his track and field career as a sprinter before making the move to mid-distance during his senior year.
Despite going 10-of-10 during his final year at Edinburg North, Garcia averaged a time of 1:59 during his first five times out.
He shaved nearly six seconds off his average during his final five races, averaging a time of 1:53.87 during his state championship run.
“You have get down in the start and stick with it for the first lap,” Garcia said. “The first 200, some guys are running around 23 seconds and that’s a PR for a lot of people in the Valley. Going through the first lap, it is pretty fast. You just have to stick with the group and kick the final 200. It is a very painful race running a fast two laps.”
Garcia has only gotten faster since capturing state gold, having clocked in under 1:50 each of his last two races.
His first mark of 1:49.61 moved him into No. 12 all-time in the state before skyrocketing to No. 2 with his most recent performance.
Garcia isn’t finished, though, with one last chance to break the record during the 2023 USATF U20 Outdoor Championships set for July 6-9 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
“It means a lot to be No. 2 in the state,” Garcia said. “I really wasn’t going for it in the beginning, but now that I came within .01 seconds from the top, my next goal is to break it. It’ll be my last meet before college. I just want to go out there and go hard, and hopefully break it.”
