By Richard Hernandez

Eleven girls, nine events, and one regional tournament. All of the hard work that the girl’s track team has put into the season has lead them to this point: the regional meet.

On May 2 and May 3 the girls put their season experiences to work as they faced off against their regional competition.

“[The girls] rose to the occasion,” coach Kayla Cross said. “They were nervous but a good type of nervous, they were ready to compete.”

Although the regional meet didn’t guarantee any state qualifiers,  triple jump athlete Octavia Pickney did make it as an alternate to state.

“The meet was intense,” Pickney said. “The best part of the tournament was getting to meet some new people coming from the same background. There are people just like you there.”

The road to the state meet hit a couple of speed bumps as a couple of relay runners came down with  injuries.

“The girls just stepped right in and they made people [who were injured] feel comfortable,” Cross said.

With the injuries and tough competition the girls gained some valuable experience.

“Considering that we had to replace some people due to injuries we did very well and most of [the girls] are young,” Cross added. “[This] is exciting since they got so much experience.”

The state meet is on May 13 and May 14 and with Pickney being an alternate, the Mavs may have a shot at being represented at the state wide competition.

“Just getting able to travel outside of San Antonio, and definitely getting to meet new people [the state meet is] a dream come true,” Pickney added.