WESLACO — Harlingen High’s Faith Franklin set District 32-6A records in the 100-meter dash and the 200 on Wednesday at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
“It feels great,” she said. “I have been working hard all year, it is finally paying off. I did not know that I was going to set the records because I felt sore from Monday, but I did it.”
Franklin ran the 100 in 11.77 seconds and posted a time of 24.09 in the 200 at the meet.
The Los Fresnos girls 800 relay team comprised of Kathleene Salazar, Adriana Garza, Eliana Vasquez and Penny Alanis broke a 39-year-old record with a time of 1:47.51.
“I feel very proud of my teammates,” Salazar said. “I know they worked so hard to get here, and I am just so happy that we were able to do this today.”
The girls all said that they were ready and that because they broke a record they have to work extra hard now as they laughed.
The Harlingen South girls team is the district champion with a score of 138 points. South edged Weslaco High, which finished with 125 points, and Harlingen High, which had 109 points.
“I am happy,” said Isabella Marez, South’s triple jump champion. “I do not even remember the last time we did this, it has been a while, and being my senior year, it feels great. I love my coaching staff. They are the ones who helped us get here, and we worked every day to get here.”
Harlingen South’s Alexis Fonseca won the girls mile run.
“It feels really nice to accomplish something like that,” she said. “Winning the team title felt amazing. All of our girls pushed really hard to get the points for our team, and our coaches did a great job.”
The Harlingen High boys finished first with 234 points. South finished second with 119, and Weslaco High took third with 91.
Not counting 2020, when COVID-19 disrupted the athletic calendar, this is the Cardinals’ fourth title in a row.
“It is an amazing accomplishment,” Harlingen High coach Efrain Ambriz said. “Especially because of last year’s acclaim. The goal was for them to make their own mark, and today was a fulfillment of that.”
Weslaco High’s girls 400 relay, run by Sadie Romero, Mya Pugh, Rebecca Becerra and Yazmin Knaub, started the meet by narrowly defeating South by .01 seconds for gold.
Harlingen High’s boys 400 relay also won a close race, beating San Benito by .11 seconds. Isiah Perales, Alberto Garcia, Luis Galvan and Josue Landaverde finished in 43.58.
Los Fresnos’ Ayelen Torvik won the 800. Cardinals long distance runner Geovany Cisneros won the 800 and mile runs.
Weslaco High’s Kalissa Cavazos won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles events. Harlingen High’s Chris Rodriguez also dominated the hurdles, winning the 110 and 300.
Harlingen High’s Josue Landaverde took the 100 with a time of 10.90.
Harlingen South’s 800 relay team took gold. The team included Noah Peters, Aiden Moreno, Fidencio Mesa and Jacob Cano.
Brownsville Hanna’s Aliyah Castillo cruised in the 400 and finished third in the 200.
Brownsville Rivera’s Samara Rodriguez finished the 200 in second.
“I was nervous,” she said. “All day I have been nervous. I am always nervous. It is scary, but when I am running I do not feel it. I feel good and finished strong. I set a personal record in the 200, and I did not think I had enough energy to do it.”
The Weslaco High girls’ 1,600 relay held off a furious comeback attempt by San Benito to win gold. Mya Pugh, Kalissa Cavazos, Rebecca Becerra and Kennedy Villalpando finished with a time of 4:09.41.
Harlingen High’s Rene Renteria took gold in the 400 and 200, and anchored the 800 relay. Renteria joined Fernando Quintanilla, Chris Nowak and Chris Rodriguez with a time of 3:25.47.
“I was able to help my team as much as I could,” Renteria said. “It was a tough race. I knew we were going to win district, but I still wanted to come home with another gold. I wanted three. I am ready to dominate area, that is all I came for.”
