AUSTIN — A week before La Feria’s Reyes Rodriguez would compete in the UIL Class 4A state track & field meet, he looked over video from last year’s fifth-place finish in an effort to try to correct some of his mistakes.
Apparently, watching the video worked because on Saturday afternoon the junior surpassed last year’s record and placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.07.
“I’m excited,” said an exhausted Rodriguez after the race. “Last year I finished fifth and a week ago I went back and saw my mistakes, and I saw that I need to take off faster coming out.”
The strategy worked as Rodriguez edged out Dallas Carter’s Lakyron Mays (1:56.16) just feet from the finish line. Big Spring’s Ian Gonzalez took first place with a time of 1:55.89.
Port Isabel’s Todd Harbour still holds the record for the fastest time of 1:51.84 set back in 1977.
However, Rodriguez wasn’t the only La Feria athlete to step up to the podium Saturday as Tina Sierra also took home a medal.
The senior waited until her final competition of meet to place third in the 1600-meter run. Sierra finished the race with a time of 5:08.24.
Another distance runner who saw her stock rise was Santa Maria’s Kristen Aleman. The freshman might not have won a medal in the 800-meter run, but she went toe-to-toe with Class 2A’s best and walked away with a very respectable fourth-place finish.
In the final 100 meters, Aleman and three other runners battled for every foot as she crossed the finish line with a time of 5:23.46. The time was Aleman’s personal best by an astonishing 11 seconds.
“I wanted to place because I wanted to get a medal,” said Aleman. “I knew it was going to be us four at the finish because I could feel it. I knew nobody else was going to catch up to us because we were going together as a pack, so I just wanted to give it my all and try to medal.
“Beating my PR feels really good. Going into regionals my time wasn’t as fast as I wanted it to be, but after today I’m proud of my times.”
HOW THEY FARED
How area athletes did at the UIL state track & field meet at Mike A. Myers Track Complex on the campus of UT-Austin on Saturday:
-TINA SIERRA, La Feria: Came in 4th place in the girls 4A 800-meter run and collected a bronze medal in the 1600
-KRISTEN ALEMAN, Santa Maria: Took 4th place in the girls 2A 800-meter run
-ALEX AYALA, Santa Rosa: Finished 8th in the boys 3A 300-meter hurdles
-REYES RODRIGUEZ, La Feria: Won silver in the boys 4A 800-meter run, decided to not participate in the 400 and came in 9th as part of the Lions’ 4×400-meter relay team
-JULIAN TREVINO, La Feria: Finished 8th in boys 4A long jump event and 9th as part of the Lions’ 4×400-meter relay team
-DARIUS HERNANDEZ and BRANDON PEREZ, La Feria: Finished 9th as part of the Lions’ 4A 4×400-meter relay team
-NATALIE GARZA, Port Isabel: Finished 5th in the girls 4A 400-meter run
