LA FERIA — La Feria long-distance runner Liana Navarro is off to state again.
The sophomore will compete for the fourth time at a state meet Thursday when she steps onto the Mike A. Myers Stadium track in Austin.
Navarro has qualified for state in both cross country and track & field. Entering this meet, Navarro is the Region IV-4A champion in the 3,200-meter run.
“(Navarro) has improved every season,” La Feria girls track coach Graciela Campos said. “Every season her times have improved. She is a hard worker, she is courageous and has a lot of conviction in what she wants to accomplish.”
Navarro finished seventh at the state cross country meet in November. Last year, she qualified for the state track & field meet as a wild card and was close to the podium, Campos said.
“If her workouts are an indication of what is going to happen at the meet, she will be very impressive,” Campos said.
It was a grueling practice for the sophomore Tuesday. Navarro ran 400-meter runs in the morning before school, 24 of them, maintaining a good pace throughout.
“The workouts have been way harder since the beginning of the season,” she said. “The workouts have really helped me with my endurance and my breath intake. I feel like I have improved this season.”
Navarro was proud, excited, honored and happy to qualify for the state meet.
“I could not have done this without my coaches,” she said. “A lot of the days, I did not want to do the hard workouts that they planned for me, but they kept me going, pushing me and making me the best athlete that I can be.”
Sophomore Evan Torres also will be representing La Feria at state in the 3,200. He is the first athlete to qualify for the state track meet under long distance coach Luis Zuvieta in the decade that the coach has been there.
Torres finished second at the Region IV-4A meet. He was only one second off of first place but could have finished stronger, the young runner said.
The sophomore also qualified for the state cross country meet, where he finished 12th out of 150 competitors. Torres feels good heading into this meet and is focused on setting a personal record at the meet.
“I feel prepared going in,” he said. “I have worked hard. I would say I have worked a good amount.”
Navarro and Torres will be two long-distance runners to keep an eye on, not just at this state meet, but in future meets as they continue to reach better times.
