The PSJA North boys track and field team delivered a dominant season opening performance by taking first at the 23rd Annual Edcouch-Elsa Yellow Jacket Relays with 148.5 total points this past Saturday. Edcouch-Elsa and San Benito tied for second with 82 points.
The Raiders won eight gold medals, four silver and four bronze.
Distance runner Hector Solis, a Texas Longhorns signee, led the way for PSJA North with first-place finishes in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs. Teammate Gabriel Elicerio also finished first in the shot put (45-2.5 feet) and discus (116-1 feet). Sebastian Cerda won in the 300 meter hurdles (45.13), as did the Raiders’ 4×100 and 4×200 meter relay teams.
Solis set two personal records Saturday with times of 2:02.10 in the 800 and 9:32 in the 1600.
“This start means that everyone is doing their part,” Solis said. “Track is a team sport now because we’re a track team, and it sure by the looks of it from this first meet, it’s coming together quite well really early on, so that’s just setting the momentum for what the end of the season has in store for us.”
Other notable performances at the Yellow Jacket Invitational include PSJA Memorial senior Rolando Maldonado winning the high jump (6 feet), long jump (20-1) and triple jump (41-1) and Brownsville Veterans’ senior Chris Ortiz taking first in the 200 meter dash (23.60) and 400 meter run (53.43).
At the 2022 Earl Scott Relays on Saturday at Bennie La Prade Stadium in Donna, Harlingen High won first on the boys side with 163 points. Laredo Alexander finished second with 133 points, followed by McAllen High at 108.
Harlingen’s boys team swept the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 relays. McAllen High’s Holden Hood won the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.56. Donna High’s Kevin Hernandez posted a first-place finish in the 3,200 (9:30.02) and second in the 1,600 (4:42.56).
Upcoming track and field meets this weekend include the Mission Invitational on Friday at PSJA Stadium and ninth annual McAllen ISD Invitational on Saturday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
