Sun City Running

This past weekend we saw a lot of progression in its athletes that helped shape the 3rd Annual Jim Omohundro Invitational into one of the top meets of its tenure.

This is the third Omohundro sponsored race in El Paso’s history of track meets and this year we were lucky enough to talk to Ryan Omohundro, the son of Jim Omohundro of which the foundation is named after. Jim was a natural leader in his community throughout his time with the EPPD. His unfortunate passing due to injuries sustained on the job has turned into an amazing history of philanthropic work led by his son Ryan. He spoke of its importance and why it was necessary to keep pushing forward in his name.

The future is bright in the Sun City as there are many upcoming freshmen who are taking over the varsity division. In the 400m, we had two ladies put on a show. It was a dominant performance again from the young and talented Zaiyah Davis from Montwood HS. She controlled much of the race, showing her speed and technique through the first 300m of the race. It wasn’t until the final stretch that another freshman out of Bel Air HS proved to be a real challenge for Davis. Jenavicia Acuna put up a hell of a kick, almost matching Zaiyah stride for stride. In the end, Davis would outkick Acuna and finish first with a time of 59.95. Acuna would go on to finish in second place with a time of 1:00.28, which was a big PR.

The specific relevant content for this request, if necessary, delimited with characters: In the hurdles division we were also treated with another great race when freshman Nuria Herrera-Surrat from Eastwood HS dominated the 300 hurdles from start to finish. Her first three hurdles really set the tempo for the race which sent the other ladies scrambling to keep up. Heading into the curve, Herrera-Surat showed maturity in her technique which helped propel her into a comfortable first place finish. Despite an impressive outing, Nuria also showed humility in how she described her performance and season thus far. She finished with a time of 48.69, putting her in the top 5 in El Paso.

Lastly, it’s hard to deny the ending we all witnessed as the meet closed in spectacular fashion in the varsity boys 4x400m. Last week at the Bobby Aguirre Invitational at Riverside HS, we saw a vulnerable Montwood HS boys’ team. This past weekend, we saw a relay team that was poised for redemption. And redemption was acquired when they showed great depth within the ranks as they were able to replenish an empty leg slot. The race started off extremely competitive going into the 3rd leg of the race, but that’s when Montwood took over. They sprinted to a 1st place finish, beating second by a good 3-second margin. They earned some gold, an impressive time of 3:23.38, but more importantly, they would close the chapter from last week’s unfortunate event. Here’s what they had to say about turning a negative into a positive regarding their 4x400m relay team:

Other Notable Performances:

Boys:
Randy Jacques, Montwood HS – 12-00.00 – 1st place Pole Vault (Tied)
Matthew Solar, Clint Mountain View HS – 12-.00.00 – 1st place Pole Vault (Tied)
Mark Mukiibi/Oscar Martinez/Christopher Davis/Diego Constantino, Bel Air HS – 44.52 – 1st Place 4x100m
Jacob Olivo, Clint Horizon HS – 23.22 – 2nd place 200m

Girls:
Genesis Rubio, San Elizario HS – 106-08.00 – 1st place Discus
Sherlyn Carrasco, Tornillo HS – 15-09.50 – 1st place Long Jump
Paulina Estrada, Eastwood HS – 2:30.91 – 1st place 800m

The Sun City of El Paso is finally starting to heat up along with all of the competition. Keep up with the action as next weekend I’ll be heading to Del Valle for their invitational March 1-2. For all other interviews from the Jim Omohundro Invitational, you can check them out here.