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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Eagles at home for 2003 track opener
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Running at home last April helped the Pecos Eagle girls track team
come away with the District 2-4A Track and Field title, while Pecos' boys
took home second place from the district meet a year ago.
On Saturday, the Eagles will get their first look at how they shape up
as members of District 4-3A, when they host their district rivals and several
other area teams in the season-opening West of the Pecos Relays.
Aside from the Eagles, Monahans, Fort Stockton, Midland Greenwood, Kermit
and Presidio out of District 4-3A will be at this Saturday's track meet,
and some Class 2A teams from the area may also be in the high school divisions.
The track meet will be timed finals, and will include both high school
and junior high divisions; boys track coach Jerry Parent said. Events will
begin with the junior high running finals and the high school field events
at 9 a.m., while the high school running finals and junior high field events
should start about 2:30 p.m.
Pecos' girls won their first track and field title in over three decades
in 2002, edging Clint by three points to win first place. This year, the
Eagles figure to face tougher competition overall, though coach Roxie Chavez
is hoping Pecos can do better in the distance races, which was the strongest
area for most of their 2-4A rivals.
"We're going to have some distance girls this year. Leslie Rodriguez and
Jessica Martinez are back, and we've got a couple of freshman coming out,
Deannady Herrera and Jennifer Martinez, who should help us this year," Chavez
said. "Jennifer's a pretty good freshman, and she's making our upperclassmen
work."
Jessica Martinez placed second last year at district in both the 800 and
1600-meter runs, and also was second in the high jump at the 2-4A meet.
The girls picked up two first place finishes a year ago at district, from
discus thrower Stephanie Herrera and the girls' 800-meter relay team. "I've
got Mindy Harrison and Tiana Terry coming back for the sprinters, but I'm
looking for two more girls to fill the 800 spots," Chavez said.
She added that she's also looking at transfer student Junny Akangode as
a sprinter for the Eagles this season, while Alessandra Carrasco may move
from the sprints to the mid-distance races this year.
Herrera has won the discus each of the past two seasons, but will be playing
with the Eagles' softball team at the Tall City Tournament this weekend.
"I'm hoping she can do well, and I also have Stephanie Arreguy coming back
and she's looking good, so I have two girls throwing over 100 (feet)," Chavez
said. "Jessica Flores is also trying out in the discus, and she should be
pretty tough."
The boys lost out on the team title last season to El Paso Mountain View,
but did pick up more first place finishes overall _ four, including Will
Armstrong in the pole vault, Rashad Terry in the 100 and 200 meter dashes,
and the 400 meter relay team, which both Terry and Armstrong were members,
and will be back again this season along with Jason Sanchez, Parent said.
"Right now on the 400, I'm looking at Jason, Will, Jack Bradley and Rashad,"
said Parent, who added that Armstrong probably wouldn't get a chance to vault
this week, since the Eagles are still awaiting the arrival of the new pole
vault pit at Eagle Stadium.
"We'll have Rashad in the 100 and 200, and (Alex) Orosco in the quarter
(400)," said Parent about this Saturday's meet. "We won't have Allen Chappel
this week, but he'll run there, and then we'll have Genaro (Mendoza) in the
mile."
Mendoza placed sixth last year at district in the mile, but like the girls,
will probably face an easier field this year, and won the District 4-3A cross
country meet back in October. Another cross-country runner, Jay Dannelley,
is also scheduled to run the distance races for Pecos.
"As far as the 800 relay, I haven't made up my mind yet, and on the 1600,
I'm looking at Jason, John Parent, Alex and for that last spot I've still
got to find another runner with Chappel out," Parent said.
Bradley will be the only entry in the 110 high hurdles this week, while
he and John Parent will run in the 300 intermediate hurdles.
In the other field events, the Eagles' coach said Terry, Bradley and "maybe
Abel Lopez" would be in the high jump, while Sanchez and Isaiah Armendariz
would compete in the triple jump, and Tony Trujillo and John Parent would
be in the shot put and discus again this year. Trujillo placed second at
district last year, while Sanchez and Parent were third in their events.
In the long jump, Parent said seniors Matthew Levario and Freddy Torres
were working out there. "They can compete Saturday morning, then they have
to go over and play baseball," he said, referring to the Eagles' afternoon
doubleheader against Snyder.
Overall, the girls will have about 25 team members this year, while the
boys will have between 40 and 45, and Parent said he would split the squad
into varsity and JV divisions. Both will be going along with the girls to
Fort Stockton next week, while the JV boys will go to Van Horn while the
varsity squads compete in Odessa at the West Texas Relays on March 7-8, and
the JV boys and girls will head to Andrews two weeks later, while the varsity
boys go to the San Angelo Relays.
This year's Region I-3A meet will also be in Odessa in late April, while
Parent said due to a scheduling conflict, the District 4-3A meet this season
will be run on Tuesday, April 8 and Thursday, April 10 at Walton Field in
Kermit. The Eagles will also go to Kermit on April 4 for the Permian Basin
Relays, their final meet before district, while Pecos' seventh and eighth
grade track teams will have their own district meet for the first time this
year, on April 5 at Eagle Stadium.
Helpers sought for Saturday's opening meet
Pecos Eagles track coach Jerry Parent said he is still in need of volunteers
to help with this Saturday's West of the Pecos Relays.
"We need rakers, hurdle setters and spotters for the throwing events,"
Parent said. "Anyone who wants to work can show up."
The season-opening track meet will involve both high school and junior
high track teams and will run from about 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. at Eagle Stadium.
Temperatures are supposed to be in the upper 30s when the track meet begins,
but the high on Saturday in Pecos is expected to be around 70 degrees.
The Pecos Relays is the first of two home track meets this season. The
Eagles will host the District 4-3A Junior High Track and Field Championships
on April 4.
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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