Track and Field season begins this week

By LARRY GAGE
Special to the PRESS

February 12, 2015

The 2015 Texas High School track and field season begins this week as both the Tarpon and Lady Tarpon teams will compete in the Greyhound Relays in San Benito this Friday the 13.

The Press sought out head Lady Tarpons coach, Julie Breedlove, at the athletic offices this week and got her thoughts on the new season.

Practice has been ongoing for about four weeks now and, “The girls have been working really hard,” Breedlove said Wednesday before heading out to Tarpon Stadium for practice. “We’ve got some strength in the field events, of course, with Gabby (Torres) and Daniela (Murchison) and … we’ve got all our hurdlers back.”

Gabby Torres is the defending district champion in the high jump and the long jump and qualified for the 2014 state meet in Austin.

Daniela Murchison won district titles in the discus and shot put events and is the two-time defending state champion in the shot put.

Breedlove will not be taking a full team to San Benito on Friday. “We’ve got girls still in softball and soccer and we kinda’ have to find a way for the kids to do both,” she said.

The team lost some key runners to graduation last spring but good replacements have come up from the freshmen and JV teams. “We’re missing some of our sprint relay girls to graduation,” Breedlove said. “But we’re filling in some of those spots with underclassmen and (they’re) doing a really good job.”

Two key sprinters are back this year. “We have Simone (Harry) and Amaya (Lampkin) back in the 200 meters.” Harry and Lampkin were first and fourth in the 200 meter dash at last season’s district meet.

“Simone will be back in the 400 and we’ve actually got a freshman, Natalie Garza, who’s going to run the 400 and 800.” Harry also got gold in the 400 meter run at the district meet last year.

It will be a mixture of big and small schools at the San Benito meet, according to Coach Breedlove; “I think there’s going to be a couple of 5A’s and 6A’s there, and I’ve seen a couple of 4A’s and a few 3A’s on the registration form.” Port Isabel competes as a Class 4A school.

The schedule looks much the same as last year except that the girls will pass on next week’s Lion Relays in La Feria and instead will compete in the Sams Relays in Brownsville on Saturday, Feb. 21.

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