EDINBURG — Weslaco East’s Aaron Nava hasn’t taken long to establish himself as one of the Valley’s brightest young cross country stars.
Going into Saturday’s 12th annual RGV XC Classic Invitational, Nava held the sixth-fastest time in the Valley, clocking in at 16 minutes, 45.3 seconds during last week’s Edinburg High Bobcat Invitational.
Sitting in front of Nava was Edinburg North’s Alexis Rodriguez, one of his opponents during Saturday’s meet. The Wildcats freshman took note of the rankings.
Nava continued his breakout freshman campaign Saturday, overtaking Rodriguez in the final mile and picking up the win at Monte Cristo Golf Course in Edinburg, his second of the year.
“Once I saw him slow down a little bit, I knew that was going to be my chance to take it,” Nava said. “I was online researching other numbers and figured out he was ranked five and I was six. It was a little mini goal to try and pass him up and move up in the ranks.”
Nava’s first place marks the fourth straight meet the freshman has finished in the top two in as many tries, taking home a pair of silver medals and a pair of golds.
His personal best time of 16:08 during the RGV XC Classic vaults him into the top five fastest times in the Valley this season, overtaking Rodriguez.
“I didn’t expect this at all,” Nava said. “In eighth grade, I have to give props to Juan Aguinaga Jr. Him and I were rivals, but also best friends at the same time. We would always go head-to-head in summer track. I wasn’t always the fastest. I just figured out I loved running and practiced a lot. There were barely any breaks, especially when you live with your coach. A lot of hard work has been put into this. I upped the mileage and tempo training this year, and it’s been paying off.”
Nava was one of three Weslaco East runners to finish in the top 10 Saturday, with Eric Davis (17:22.0) and Adrianno Gonzalez (17:33.0) coming in sixth and seventh, respectively.
Still, it was Edinburg North capturing the team championship, led by Rodriguez’s silver medal performance, finishing in 16:15.8. Edinburg North finished with 32 points, followed by Weslaco East (52) and Weslaco High (58). The team with the lowest score wins in cross country.
TEAM SWEEP
The La Feria boys and girls cross country teams haven’t been afraid to compete against bigger schools this season, consistently putting themselves to the test against 5A and 6A programs despite being a 4A program.
The increased competition comes with an increase in mileage, with 5A/6A schools typically running 3 miles during racedays, while 4A races normally consist of two.
The Lions haven’t been deterred by the challenge, picking up their second team championship sweep of the season during Saturday’s Donna ISD Cross Country Invitational at Donna North High School.
Liana Navarro led the girls, taking home the gold in 19:11.8. Armando Morales was the boys top finisher, coming in fifth in 16:41.7.
The team victory marked the fourth straight for the girls team and the boys’ second.
BEST OF THE BEST
While Nava continued to establish himself as one of the best in the Valley, the RGV’s two fastest runners continued their dominant start to the season.
At Edinburg, San Juanita Leal broke the sub-18 mark once again, one week after becoming the fourth Valley girls runner to do so, according to RGV track and field and cross country historian Carlos Vela.
Leal finished nearly two minutes ahead of the competition, clocking in at a personal best 17:39.0.
“She’s a phenomenal athlete and has an incredible work ethic,” Edinburg North girls cross country head coach Marianna Watson said. “She’s on a whole other level right now. I know during practice it’s a bit of a separation, but we try to encourage all of our girls to try and stay as close to her as possible. She’s going to be the one who helps us. The little ones look up to her and ask her questions. That’s what I push for. She’s just an amazing athlete.”
At Donna, McAllen Memorial’s Ayden Granados picked up his fourth straight win, coming in first in 15:47.5 on Saturday during the Donna ISD Cross Country Invitational at Donna North High School.
For full results from Saturday’s meets, click here.
