A plethora of track & field athletes competed for two days at Sams Memorial Stadium to qualify for the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation state meet.
The state competition will be part of the 2021 TAAF Summer Games of Texas to be held July 29-Aug. 1 in Corpus Christi. High school-aged athletes battled in 16-and-under and 18-and-under divisions, participating in field events Tuesday and running events Wednesday.
Herminia Corado of Mission won the girls 16U triple jump and also qualified in the long jump. McAllen’s Katelyn Vaden was another two-time qualifier in the triple and long. Mission’s Morelia Moreno and McAllen’s Madisyn Sosa swapped first- and second-place finishes in the girls 18U triple and long jump to become two-time state qualifiers.
Jada Hough of San Juan and Amare Hernandez of McAllen won the girls 16U and 18U high jump, respectively. Alamo’s Xiomara Rodriguez was the girls 16U shot put champion and Serina Ramirez from Rio Grande City took the 18U title.
Obed Alvarez of the Los Guerrero team and BC Elite’s Sebastian Flores were victorious in the boys 16U and 18U triple jump. Rolando Maldonado of Alamo won the boys 18U long jump and also qualified with second-place finishes in the triple and high jumps. San Juan’s Orlando Martinez won the 18U high jump and was second in the long jump.
In 16U competitions, Angel Tony Villarreal of City of Palms and Weslaco’s Michael Vela took gold in the long and high jumps, respectively. San Juan’s Dante Garcia won the shot put. Evan Thompson of Alamo was victorious in the 18U shot put.
Maddison Surita and John Matthew Abrego, both running unattached, won the girls and boys 18U 1,600-meter runs Tuesday. Edcouch Elsa’s Rebecca Davila and BC Elite’s Dion Arriaga were the top girls and boys 16U mile runners.
Results from Wednesday’s events were not available as of press time.
