Ray_BearKat
04-17-2005, 12:23 PM
Here's an article from our local paper...
Raymondville, La Feria roll to District 32-3A titles
By ELADIO JAIMEZ
eladioj@valleystar.com
956-430-6285
LA FERIA — Going homeless doesn’t seem to affect the Raymondville Bearkats.
Despite jumping from school to school just to find practice time for its track and field team, Raymondville successfully defended its District 32-3A title on Saturday at Lions Stadium.
All year, Bearkats head coach Tony Neimeir was forced to look to area schools for usage of their tracks while Raymondville’s new football stadium and track are being built.
The distractions didn’t seem to bother the nomad Bearkats.
Raymondville finished with 205 points for first place, nearly 100 points better than runner up Port Isabel.
The Tarpons scored 108 for second and La Feria was third with 82 points.
"We really have to thank the administrations at Lyford, Rio Hondo and Santa Rosa," Neimeir said. "They allowed us to use their facilities and we really owe them."
On the track in La Feria, Raymondville’s relays and senior Adam Hernandez proved very valuable for the Bearkats.
The Bearkats got off on the right foot with a gold in the 400-meter relay (44.59), then the 800 (1:33.07) and finally the 1600 relay (3:27.59).
Hernandez went home with first-place finishes in the 400-meter dash (50.63) and 800-meter run (2:01.99).
The Bearkats got solid performances all around qualifying at least one athlete in each running event but one for the Region IV-3A track meet in Kingsville in two weeks.
"We had about half a dozen seniors come out this year and that gave us depth," Neimeir said. "That helped us here today and that’s something some other schools don’t have."
And for the second straight year, the La Feria girls joined the Bearkats as district champs.
The Lionettes tallied 213 points for first year head coach Lori Verduzco. Port Isabel was second with 102 and Raymondville third with 97 points.
When public address announcer and Hidalgo baseball coach Albert Guerra announced the final girls’ standings, the Lionettes surrounded Verduzco and dumped a couple of five-gallon jugs of water on her in celebration.
"It’s very rewarding," Verduzco said. "We’re very unified. Our strength is our depth, but we work as a team. And that’s quite obvious with the outcome."
The Lionettes didn’t dominate any one event like Raymondville did the relays. But its depth gave La Feria plenty of points throughout the day to successfully defend its title.
Verduzco’s mile relay took the gold at the end of the night with a 4:17.80. The Lionettes also got golds in the 800 run (Victoria Zepeda, 2:28.19), 100 meter dash (Erika Rosales, 12.77), 800 relay (1:51.27) and 400 (Madelyn Gonzalez, (62.41).
In other events, Rio Hondo long distance runner Luis Zuvieta added to his 3200 gold from Thursday with a first place in the 1600 run.
Zuvieta beat out Valley View’s Ernesto Perales in the highly anticipated mile race with a new Valley’s Bests 4:20.89. The two were running alongside each other until the Rio Hondo senior kicked into high gear down the last 100 meters of the race leaving Perales well behind. Perales ran the mile in 4:28.76.
Other notables included Rio Hondo hurdler Elizabeth Cowan.
She won gold in the 100 hurdles with a 16.66 and the 300 hurdles with a 48.67.
La Feria high jumper Alyssa Zambrano tied a personal best clearing 5-0 for first.
Port Isabel’s Marky Villarreal also put on a show in the 110- and 300-hurdles. Raymondville’s Tommy Wolfe gave the PI junior a race in the 110 hurdles, but the speedy Tarpon blew away the competition in the 300.
Villarreal ran a 14.98 in the 110 hurdles. Wolfe came in second with a 15.08 and moved into fourth on this year’s Valley’s Bests. Villarreal improved his time, but remained in third on the list.
PI’s Johnny "Nitro" Nieto won gold in the long jump with a 21-3 and Lyford’s Noel Garcia jumped a new Valley’s Bests in the high jump with a 6-6.
Tarpons sprinter Scott McGallicher won golds in the 100 and 200. The speedster ran a 22.87 in the 200 and a 10.67 in the 100; the second-fastest 100 time in the Valley’s Bests.
Raymondville, La Feria roll to District 32-3A titles
By ELADIO JAIMEZ
eladioj@valleystar.com
956-430-6285
LA FERIA — Going homeless doesn’t seem to affect the Raymondville Bearkats.
Despite jumping from school to school just to find practice time for its track and field team, Raymondville successfully defended its District 32-3A title on Saturday at Lions Stadium.
All year, Bearkats head coach Tony Neimeir was forced to look to area schools for usage of their tracks while Raymondville’s new football stadium and track are being built.
The distractions didn’t seem to bother the nomad Bearkats.
Raymondville finished with 205 points for first place, nearly 100 points better than runner up Port Isabel.
The Tarpons scored 108 for second and La Feria was third with 82 points.
"We really have to thank the administrations at Lyford, Rio Hondo and Santa Rosa," Neimeir said. "They allowed us to use their facilities and we really owe them."
On the track in La Feria, Raymondville’s relays and senior Adam Hernandez proved very valuable for the Bearkats.
The Bearkats got off on the right foot with a gold in the 400-meter relay (44.59), then the 800 (1:33.07) and finally the 1600 relay (3:27.59).
Hernandez went home with first-place finishes in the 400-meter dash (50.63) and 800-meter run (2:01.99).
The Bearkats got solid performances all around qualifying at least one athlete in each running event but one for the Region IV-3A track meet in Kingsville in two weeks.
"We had about half a dozen seniors come out this year and that gave us depth," Neimeir said. "That helped us here today and that’s something some other schools don’t have."
And for the second straight year, the La Feria girls joined the Bearkats as district champs.
The Lionettes tallied 213 points for first year head coach Lori Verduzco. Port Isabel was second with 102 and Raymondville third with 97 points.
When public address announcer and Hidalgo baseball coach Albert Guerra announced the final girls’ standings, the Lionettes surrounded Verduzco and dumped a couple of five-gallon jugs of water on her in celebration.
"It’s very rewarding," Verduzco said. "We’re very unified. Our strength is our depth, but we work as a team. And that’s quite obvious with the outcome."
The Lionettes didn’t dominate any one event like Raymondville did the relays. But its depth gave La Feria plenty of points throughout the day to successfully defend its title.
Verduzco’s mile relay took the gold at the end of the night with a 4:17.80. The Lionettes also got golds in the 800 run (Victoria Zepeda, 2:28.19), 100 meter dash (Erika Rosales, 12.77), 800 relay (1:51.27) and 400 (Madelyn Gonzalez, (62.41).
In other events, Rio Hondo long distance runner Luis Zuvieta added to his 3200 gold from Thursday with a first place in the 1600 run.
Zuvieta beat out Valley View’s Ernesto Perales in the highly anticipated mile race with a new Valley’s Bests 4:20.89. The two were running alongside each other until the Rio Hondo senior kicked into high gear down the last 100 meters of the race leaving Perales well behind. Perales ran the mile in 4:28.76.
Other notables included Rio Hondo hurdler Elizabeth Cowan.
She won gold in the 100 hurdles with a 16.66 and the 300 hurdles with a 48.67.
La Feria high jumper Alyssa Zambrano tied a personal best clearing 5-0 for first.
Port Isabel’s Marky Villarreal also put on a show in the 110- and 300-hurdles. Raymondville’s Tommy Wolfe gave the PI junior a race in the 110 hurdles, but the speedy Tarpon blew away the competition in the 300.
Villarreal ran a 14.98 in the 110 hurdles. Wolfe came in second with a 15.08 and moved into fourth on this year’s Valley’s Bests. Villarreal improved his time, but remained in third on the list.
PI’s Johnny "Nitro" Nieto won gold in the long jump with a 21-3 and Lyford’s Noel Garcia jumped a new Valley’s Bests in the high jump with a 6-6.
Tarpons sprinter Scott McGallicher won golds in the 100 and 200. The speedster ran a 22.87 in the 200 and a 10.67 in the 100; the second-fastest 100 time in the Valley’s Bests.