Brownsville athletes shine at TAAF track & field summer games

The Rio Grande Valley was represented well at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation’s Summer Games of Texas, held this past weekend in Corpus Christi.

The Summer Games are the equivalent of a state meet for a variety of TAAF sports, including track & field, where the Metro area had a few medalists in the high school divisions. Participants had to qualify at 17 regional meets to compete at the games.

Brownsville had three athletes reach the podium in three different events. Incoming senior and reigning TAPPS 5A state champion Maria Jose “MJ” Morales of Brownsville St. Joseph was victorious in the girls 18-and-under discus. Morales won gold with a throw of 127 feet, 2 inches, which is an SJA school record, according to coach Teddy Lopez.

Pedro Cardenas, a senior-to-be standout distance runner at Brownsville St. Joseph, won gold medals in the boys 18U 1,600- and 3,200-meter races. Brownsville Hanna senior John Matthew Abrego took second in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200.

Cardenas and Abrego battled often last year in cross country and track & field as two of the top distance runners in the Valley, and it seems more tight races between the friends are to be expected this season. Cross country practices are already underway in the RGV.

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