Weslaco High runner Amity Ebarb (middle) takes the last handoff for the girls 4x400 meter relay during the Rio Grande Valley's Class 6A Area Track & Field Meet on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at PSJA Stadium in Pharr. (Roman Madrigal | Special to The Monitor)

WESLACO — The Weslaco High girls mile relay team qualified for the state track and field meet every year since 2015, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic cut last season short for the Panthers and teams across the Rio Grande Valley.

But Weslaco has not missed a beat in its return to competition.

Despite a limited number of meets within the Valley this year, Weslaco High has rallied behind the strength of a decorated senior class led by its 4×400 meter relay team, which is back on track and positioned to again qualify for the state meet heading into the Region IV-6A meet Friday in San Antonio.

“It affected everybody throughout the whole country,” Weslaco High girls track and field head coach Pablo Almaguer said. “You never know what you’re going to get when you face adversity like that, especially with young teenagers. To see them push through those times and see them really just step up, do the things that we asked them to do … I was really proud of the team and very blessed.”

Seniors Emma Arndt and Amity Ebarb, along with juniors Kalissa Cavazos and Alexa Davila, lead Weslaco’s mile relay team, which has established itself as one of the most elite units on the RGV’s track and field circuit this season.

The 4×400 relay team has won first place in each of the seven meets in which the Panthers have competed this year, most recently capturing the area title in dominant fashion with a season-best time of 4 minutes, 2.1 seconds.

The group’s seven straight first-place finishes have also broken the team’s all-time consecutive meet winning streak.

“I think in previous years, the program has done a really good job with peaking when it counts,” Almaguer said. “You have to be able to finish in track and field. Anybody can run the first couple of meets, but who’s willing to go the distance, get to that district meet, get a little bit further, keep training and do all the hard stuff? I think this group has passed that and they understand it. They’ve been there before and I really feel that we’re starting to peak at the right time.”

Weslaco’s continued success in the 4×400 has maintained the program’s long-standing tradition of being one of the Rio Grande Valley’s elite relay teams while also being emblematic of widespread success for the Panthers in a number of track and field events this season.

The Panthers captured both team titles in both the District 32-6A meet and the RGV’s Class 6A area meet, securing regional qualifiers in nine different events to lead all Valley girls track and field programs.

Arndt, who has committed to run collegiately next year at West Point, and Davila have simultaneously led the group to an area title in the 4×200 meter relay, providing Weslaco with needed experience, leadership and stability during an unpredictable, shortened track season.

“It feels great,” Arndt said. “It’s just a relief that we got to compete and get to this point. … It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to go compete out of town, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

Destinee Longoria has also bolstered a strong senior class with her recent performances in a variety of distance events.

Longoria qualified for regionals in each of her three events — the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 — while winning area titles in the mile and two-mile runs. The Weslaco senior recorded personal records in all three events during last week’s area meet too among a host of Panthers posting recent PRs.

Cavazos tallied a PR of 46.52 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles at the area meet to take first place among a competitive field, while sophomore Jayda Hough also set a PR with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches to win an area title in the high jump.

“It’s going to be fun,” Longoria said. “Last year we weren’t able to go (to regionals). We’re just trying to have some fun and do what we like to do.”

But among several Weslaco track and field standouts elevating their performances to new heights on the cusp of the regional meet, none have stood out as much as Ebarb.

Weslaco High runner Amity Ebarb (right) pulls away from the pack to take a huge lead during the first lap of the girls 800 meter run during the Rio Grande Valley’s Class 6A Area Track & Field Meet on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at PSJA Stadium in Pharr. (Roman Madrigal | Special to The Monitor)

Ebarb — one of the Valley’s premier distance runners — has relentlessly shattered records in her quest to punch a return ticket to the state meet.

“Right now, going into regionals, this is a great time for all of us to be in the positions that we are right now,” Ebarb said. “We’re going in there comfortable and with a good mindset.”

The Panthers’ star, who reached the state meet as a sophomore and the state cross country meet in November, took first in three of four events at the area meet while setting Valley-wide records in the process.

Ebarb set PRs in both the long jump (16 feet, 7.5 inches) and the triple jump (36 feet, 3.5 inches) to capture second and first place, respectively, but shined most in the 400 and 800.

She clocked in at 57.17 seconds in the 400 and 2 minutes, 12.3 seconds in the 800 to shatter the Valley’s 6A area-meet records in both events.

Ebarb’s finishes in the 800 and 400 at last week’s area meet rank as the fastest and second-fastest times, respectively, among all runners in Region IV at any point this season, positioning herself to break her own PRs and as one of the favorites heading into Friday’s regional meet.

“I feel like it couldn’t have gone any better or any other way with setting PRs and bringing home the area title. It just felt great,” she said. “It would be great to go represent our school and go out there for each other, especially as a relay team. Going out there and ending our high school career with another state appearance would mean a lot to us.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch