Announcement
PSJA Race Walkers Excel in Maryland
“I never though I could walk that fast,” said fifteen year old Amberly Melendez during last months 3K race walk trials in Pharr. Her 3K qualifying time was 16:43 and Coach A.C. Jaime assured her that she was going to do even better as she continued putting forth her best efforts in practice and that is exactly what happened this Sunday in Maryland. The PSJA Jefferson EC High School freshman’s time of 16:14 not only assured her of a gold medal but also earned her 4th place on the USA High School race walk 3K indoor rankings. Her father, Hector, accompanied Amberly to Maryland and Sofia, her mother, welcomed then back as they flew into San Antonio.
Amberly had been chasing after thirteen year old, Elite Race Walker Jonathon Aguilar of Alamo Middle School. The sixth grader was determined not to be caught as he registered a personal best time of 16:09 for first place and as a result earned 5th place on the USA High School Indoor Rankings at such a young age. Jonathon, the son of Juan and Rebecca Flores of Alamo, attracted so much attention with his excellent time that Coach Cason William of St. Andrews University in North Carolina thought he was a high school senior and advised Coach A.C. Jaime by e-mail that he had scholarship money for Jonathon to race walk for his school.
Fourteen and thirteen year old Kasandra Rodriguez of Alamo Middle School and Julisa Juarez of Liberty Middle School were going around all the other competitions as they followed Amberly and Jonathon. Kasandra finished in second place in her 14-15 year age category behind Amberly in a time of 16:34 while Julisa won a beautiful 1st place gold medal in her 13 year age category with a time of 16:43.
The girls would have earned a 9th, 11th and 13th place at the 2013 NAIA National Collegiate Championship held on March 1st in Geneva Ohio with the times they demonstrated at such a young age. They are part of the reason college coaches like to attend the Texas Winter Elite Race Walk Camp held in Pharr every December.
Geraldo Flores, PSJA Southwest High School five time All-American, led the race from beginning to end earning his gold medal in a time of 14:53. He is now ranked as the 3rd fastest high school race walker behind high school senior twins Anthony and Alex Peters of Chicago.
The New York indoor 200 meter armory tract proved too much for Amberly & Kasandra the previous day as they finished the mile competition in 22nd and 26th place against the top 35 milers in the country. They were the only freshman and 8th grader that had qualified to attend this race among the other 33 girls that were mostly experienced juniors and seniors from the east coast that participate in indoor races all winter long. On the other hand, Geraldo managed a 3rd place finish behind the Chicago twins to win yet another All-American honor. Coach Jose Rene Perez of Ford Elementary School in Pharr attended to the boys needs and served as their timer during the races.
