By Coach Lonnie Flippen, VISD
Valentine High School will be represented at the regional track meet in San Angelo on April 28th and 29th by a pair of athletes that qualified at the District 9A track meet held in Van Horn on April 12th.
Francis Sanchez, a sophomore, won second place in both the shot and the discus competition to earn her way to regional. She had a throw of 26 feet 6 1/2 inches in the shot put and a throw of 74 feet 11 inches in the discus. Both throws were personal bests for Sanchez who has continued to improve throughout the track season.
Elvis Tarango will represent the Pirates in the 200 meters after having won the event with a time of 24.46 seconds. Tarango was a state qualifer in both the 100 and 200 meters last year but was injured and was unable to run in the state meet. Fate almost dealt him a bad hand at the district meet as he tweaked a groin pull in the prelims of the 100 meters and failed to qualify for the finals. He did manage to compete in the 200 meter prelims and finished in second place. After icing the injury and having a wrap applied, he came back and won the 200 meter finals to punch his ticket to the regional meet for the third year in a row.
`We wish both Pirates good luck at the regional meet in San Angelo and hopefully they will win their way on to the state meet in Austin on the 11th and 12th of April.
District 9A owes a great deal of gratitude to Coach Brian Gibson and his great staff at Van Horn ISD for hosting the district meet. It is also a quality affair when Coach Gibson is in charge. Speaking for the entire district, Valentine thanks you for all you do for the Class A schools in the area.
