PHARR — The 2024 high school track and field season got off and running this week, with a several major meets taking place at various locations across the Rio Grande Valley.
The week go started with the Bobby Morrow Relays on Thursday at Bobby Morrow Stadium in San Benito. The weekend’s season opening festivities continued Saturday with the PSJA North Winter Relays at PSJA Stadium and the Edcouch-Elsa Quad Meet at Benny Layton Sr. Memorial Stadium in Elsa.
Here is a look at some of the top performances from those various meets. For full results from each meet, click here.
McAllen High Girls Relay Teams: McAllen High’s girls track and field program kicked off the 2024 campaign with a team championship during the PSJA North Winter Relays, edging Los Fresnos in the team standings by four points. Leading the way was a dominant showing from the Bulldogs’ relay teams, with McHi claiming the top spot during four of the eight relay races. More impressively, the Bulldogs set meet records during each of their four relay victories, including a blistering 1 minute, 48.58 second time during the sprint medley 800-meter relay.
Harlingen High Girls 4x100m Relay Team: Harlingen High had to go to their reserves during the 4×100-meter relay at the PSJA North Winter Relays, with one of their key runners dealing with an injury. That didn’t stop the Cardinals from blazing past the competition, posting a meet record time of 50.03 seconds during the race. Anchoring the race was Vanderbilt signee Faith Franklin, who cruised comfortably to the finish line to secure the win.
Masyn Vela, Junior, McAllen Memorial: Vela made serious noise as a freshman, qualifying for the regional meet during his first varsity season. Last year, however, injuries sidelined the Mustangs’ hurdler, limiting him to only a handful of meets. Vela looks back and ready to make some noise once again this season, capturing gold in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles while setting personal bests in both events.
Dariana Luna, Junior, McAllen High: Luna made it look easy on the track during the PSJA North Winter Relays, zooming past her competitors en route to gold in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Nobody came close to the junior during the 100m hurdles, winning the event in 14.7 seconds. The next closest competitor clocked in at 16.07. She completed the sweet of the hurdle events by holding off Sharyland High’s Federica Gongora for first. Luna finished in 46.49 during the race, with Gongora following in 46.66.
Jazmine Thompson, Senior, Harlingen High: Thompson looked in mid-season form during her outdoor opener, with no competitor coming remotely close to her during the discus and shot put at the PSJA North Winter Relays. The Wake Forest signee let it fly for 43 feet, 2 inches during the shot put to claim gold, with the next closest competitor nearly nine feet away. She blew away the competition in the discus throw with a mark of 153-03, nearly 20 feet further than the second-place finisher.
Alexis Rodriguez, Senior, Edinburg North: It was a dominant start to the season for the reigning 31-6A 1,600-meter champion, with Rodriguez winning the gold comfortably during the Bobby Morrow Relays. The Lamar University signee clocked in at a hand-timed 4:33 for the gold. The senior distance runner added a gold during the 800-meter run, clocking in at 4:33 to beat Edinburg Economedes Jesus Rodriguez (4:39.6) for first.
Kristopher Perez, Junior, Edinburg Vela: Perez dominated the boys throwing events during Thursday’s Bobby Morrow Relays, taking home the gold in the shot put and discus to kick off his junior campaign. His throw of 138-05 during the discus throw was over 10 feet further than the next closest competitor, while his mark of 52-04 during the shot put helped him surpass the 50-foot mark during his season opener, a feat he didn’t accomplish until his fourth meet last year.
San Juanita Leal, Edinburg North: The states reigning Class 6A 1,600- and 3,200-meter run champ picked up right where she left off during her senior season opener, blowing her competition out of the water during both events at the Bobby Morrow Relays. The Texas A&M signee cruised comfortably to gold in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:58.4. Leal added a dominant win during the 3,200-meter run, clocking in at 10:40.0 to finish nearly two minutes ahead of second-place.
Samara Rodriguez, Senior, Brownsville Rivera: Rodriguez has qualified for regionals in the 100- and 200-meter dash during each of her past two seasons. The Raiders sprinter looks ready to reach the regional meet and possibly more this season, opening her senior season with a pair of golds in the same event during the Bobby Morrow Relays. Rodriguez won the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.04, following it up with a time of 25.14 during the 200-meter dash for the gold.
Herminia Corado, Edinburg Economedes: Last year’s District 31-6A hurdling champ is back for one more go, sweeping the gold in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles to kick off her senior season. Corado held off Edinburg North’s Kaylee Andrade by .2 seconds for the gold during the 100-meter hurdles, coming in at 15.9 seconds. She also added a victory over Andrade during the 300-meter hurdles, finishing in 46.3 seconds, with the Edinburg North hurdler following in 48.6.
Juan Aguinaga Jr., Sophomore, Edcouch-Elsa: Aguinaga is fresh of his first state cross country meet appearance in the fall. The momentum from XC season has seemingly carried into track season, opening his sophomore campaign with a pair of gold medals during La Maquina Quad Meet. The sophomore distance runner set a personal best in the 3,200-meter run during the meet, clocking in at 9:56.20 for the gold. He finished in 4:39.92 for first place during the 1,600-meter run.
Rebecca Davila, Senior, Edcouch-Elsa: Like Aguinaga, Davila is coming off her first state cross country meet appearance in the fall. She’s eyeing her first state track meet appearance this year after qualifying for regionals during each of her last two seasons. Davila set the tone for a deep run during Saturday’s La Maquina Quad Meet, sweeping the distance running events. She finished in 5:38.26 for gold during the 1,600-meter run, while clocking in at 11:49.05 for first in the 3,200-meter run.
