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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Friday, March 31, 2000
Relays resume after 10-year absence
PECOS, Mar. 31, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagle track teams will be starting small
on Saturday, when they host four other schools in the first West of the
Pecos Relays in a decade at Eagle Stadium.
Alpine, Presidio, Van Horn and San Elizario will be the other schools
entered at the meet, which was last held in 1990. Runners that year had
to endure a detour out of Lane 1 at the northeast curve -- complete with
orange highway cones - after erosion underneath the track caused the inside
lane to partially cave in.
Only junior high meets were held after that, and even the seventh and
eighth graders were unable to host a meet in 1999 due to the poor condition
of the runways for the long jump and pole vault pits, as well as the troubles
with the track.
All that changed this fall, after the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD, Reeves
County and the city of Pecos got together to renovate the facilities, including
a new track surface, runways, hurdles, pole vault and high jump pads and
a rebuilt shot put ring. Drainage around the track was also improved and
the track level raised in an effort to avoid past problems.
Events will begin on Saturday with the 3200-meter run at 9 a.m., followed
by the start of field events at 9:30 a.m.
"What we're going to do because it's such a small meet is run all the
field events off, then run the preliminaries," said boys' track coach Ron
Arnesen. "I think we're only going to have prelims in the 100, 200 and
400 meters."
Running finals should get underway sometime around 1:30 p.m. with the
400 meter relay.
Saturday's meet is the final one before the District 2-4A finals next
Friday and Saturday at San Elizario. As a result, girls' coach Lily Talamantez
said some of her runners who are bothered by injuries may not compete this
weekend.
"Doc (trainer Joel Birch) has to look at Jessica (Rodriguez), Yvette
(Barreno) and Shanna (Tredaway) in practice today to see if it's OK for
them to run," she said. "If not, we'll let them stay off this week so they'll
be ready for district."
"As far as the relays, those are my three of my fastest girls, and I
want to save them for district. We may run some girls in there just to
run it," Talamantez said. The Eagles ran last weekend at Van Horn without
sophomore Christina Arenivas, who placed in the 100, 200 and 400 meter
dashes at Crane the previous week.
Arnesen's boys are healthier, but until this week had not fielded a
400 meter relay team due to a shortage of runners. But after Wednesday's
meeting of district coaches in Van Horn, he said that would change on Saturday.
"After looking at what everyone's got, I think we can do something in
the sprint relay as well as the mile," Arnesen said. "As a result, some
kids may not be placed in other events."
Jason Payne, Ricky Plummer, Kevin Bates and Daniel Terrazas will run
the 400 meters on Saturday. "We'll see how they perform. Most of the other
kids will be doing their normal stuff."
Pecos looks to rebound against Canutillo
PECOS, Mar. 31, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagle baseball and softball teams will
try to bounce back from their first losses in District 2-4A play on Tuesday,
when they host the Canutillo Golden Eagles today at 4 and 7 p.m.
The girls will be up first, and they will make their second attempt
at clinching a playoff berth for the second year in a row when they face
Canutillo at Martinez Field. The boys will follow three hours later at
Eagle Field, as they try to come back from their first-ever loss in District
2-4A this past Tuesday at Clint.
The Lions found the openings for a series of bloop hits when they needed
them off Pifi Montoya, using three-run fourth and fifth innings to beat
Pecos by a 10-3 final score. Pecos rallied from an early deficit to tie
the game in the top of the fourth, after Montoya relieved starter Josh
Casillas, whose elbow problems are likely to keep him off the mound for
a while.
"We'll find out about his injury this morning," said Eagles' coach Bubba
Williams. Casillas has been bothered by elbow problems this season, after
going 11-2 as a junior last year. "He can still hit right now, but he can't
be pitching."
Williams said Capi Magana, 3-0, would pitch tonight's game. His last
start was in a 12-2 win over Merkel at the West Texas March Classic in
Midland on March 10, and he struck out the side last Friday in one inning
of work in relief of Montoya, in the Eagles' 16-0 win over El Paso Mountain
View.
"If Capi gets into trouble we'll just have to go with Richard Rodriguez,"
Williams said. Canutillo is tied with Pecos for second in district, losing
to Clint in their opener, and then coming back to beat San Elizario and
Mountain View to improve their overall record to 5-8.
Pecos' girls have struggled at the plate in their three home games this
season, and will have to improve on that in their final three, which close
out district play. They blew a 6-3 lead in the seventh inning on Tuesday
to lose at Mountain View, 7-6, dropping them into a tie for first with
Clint in the 2-4A standings, both with 7-1 marks.
Pecos managed 11 hits in Tuesday's loss, when they played without two
starters, third baseman Valerie Gonzales and outfielder Maricela Arenivas.
After today's game, Pecos hosts Fabens next Tuesday, then closes out their
district schedule a week later at home against Clint.
Earlier this month at Canutillo, the Eagles pushed across 10 runs in
the first inning on the way to a 16-3 win over the Golden Eagles, who stand
1-7 in district play so far.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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