WESLACO — David Zuniga hasn’t competed in the RGV in nearly two years. Prior to his freshman year, Zuniga and his family relocated to Fairfax, Virginia, due to his father’s job.
There, Zuniga spent the first two years of his high school career running for James Madison High, making a name for himself on the cross-country course and on the track.
Zuniga and his family traded in the “Goldilocks” weather of Virginia for the hot and humid RGV climate this year, returning to the Valley for his junior and possibly senior seasons.
Sharyland Pioneer’s distance runner wasted no time reacquainting himself with the Valley competition, opening his junior year with a gold medal during the Weslaco ISD Invitational at Mary Hoge Middle School in Weslaco.
“Today’s race went out amazing, even though I went out a little slow,” Zuniga said. “I just transferred back, so I’m still getting used to it and shaking the rust off. … I’m going to use this win to my advantage. I got to know a little bit of the field. We had one of the top guys in the Valley out there today in Aaron Nava. He’s a big dog. We talked a little about how the race was going to go. I think he took it a little easy today, but it was still a good race for everyone. That experience of getting out and competing is just unmatched.”
Different climate and terrain presented a challenge during Zuniga’s first race in the RGV since eighth grade, battling through high temperatures and a flat surface in comparison to the cool and hilly courses in Virginia.
That didn’t stop Zuniga from shining during his return, clocking in at 16 minutes, 38.1 seconds for the win, just two seconds shy of his personal best set in Virginia, according to his Athletic.net profile.
“Coming down here and facing the weather changes, it is a hard obstacle,” Zuniga said. “Today I was able to face them, thanks to God. Over there it is cool, while over here we have hot and humid weather. Here it is flat, though, and over there it is a lot of hills, so I feel like it kind of evens out. I feel ready for this season. Good little rust buster today.”
Zuniga wasn’t the only athlete to pick up a milestone win Friday. Weslaco East senior Mareli Cuellar recorded the first win of her career during the same meet, finishing first in the girls division with a time of 21:04.2.
Prior to Friday, Cuellar had never finished in the top 10, according to her Athletic.net profile, with her 11th-place finish at the Donna ISD Invitational on Aug. 28, 2021, serving as her all-time best.
“It is a big milestone for me,” Cuellar said. “I hope to keep it going and keep the times the same or better. I don’t know if I’ll get first again, but this is really motivating. I never expected to do this. I’m hoping to use this to help me make it to regionals as an individual and with my team. Maybe even get top 10.”
Cuellar’s performance helped the Wildcats capture the overall team victory, with their top five runners all finishing in the top 10. The Wildcats finished with 19 points for first, with Brownsville Hanna coming in second with 44 points.
The Wildcats completed a clean sweep of the team championship, with five top 10 finishes propelling the boys to the team championship over Sharyland Pioneer.
Senior Eric Davis led the way with a silver medal finish, clocking in at 16:44.1. Adrianno Gonzalez (17:02.4), Aaron Nava (17:19.6), Octavian Serna (17:20.9) and Ivan Gonzalez (19:08.9) all added top 10 finishes alongside Davis.
In Edcouch, La Feria’s boys and girls teams picked up right where they left off last season, sweeping the team championships during the 35th annual Yellow Jacket Invitational at David Ybarra Middle School in Edcouch.
Both teams are coming off state meet appearances a year ago, with the boys team fresh off a runner-up finish in the Class 4A team standings.
The Lions boys team was led by sophomore twins Armando and Anthony Morales, who finished first (15:36.21) and second (15:37.08) on Friday, respectively.
In Rio Grande City, a pair of Valley athletes took home the top spots on the podium during the Rio Grande City Invitational, while Laredo Nixon swept the team wins.
Sharyland High sophomore Patricio Garza clocked in at 16:21.8 to win the boys race, and Rio Grande City’s Morgan Ramos finished in 19:46.8 to win the girls gold.
The San Benito Dog Pound Invitational also took place over the weekend, but results were not available as of press time Saturday.
For results from all the weekend’s cross-country action, visit RGVSports.com.
