Coronado’s Pastor medals twice at Class 6A state meet; Van Horn finishes second in 1A

Posted: May 13, 2023 / 08:24 PM MDT

Updated: May 13, 2023 / 10:37 PM MDT

AUSTIN, Texas (KTSM) – Coronado distance star Luis Pastor wanted the El Paso record in the 1,600 meters so badly at the UIL State Track & Field Championships that he almost forgot to celebrate his two state medals at the Class 6A meet on Saturday.

Competing at state for the third straight year at what will soon be his home track as a University of Texas signee, Pastor first corralled a bronze medal in the 3,200 meters on Saturday morning, chasing down Klein Oak’s Jack Boyd in the final 50 meters to take third place in a personal-best time of 8:57.35.

Here's Coronado's @luispvstor tracking down Jack Boyd in the final 50m to take bronze in the 6A 3200 meters this afternoon in a major PR of 8:57.35. A Texas signee, Pastor did it on the track he'll soon call home.

Reese Vannerson set new state record in the 3200 in 8:49.10. pic.twitter.com/KUjsd8MnwM
— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaverTV) May 13, 2023

That race came after a lengthy weather delay that stopped the meet completely for two hours. Pastor came out of it no worse for wear, though, earning his first state medal.

Later in the night, Pastor put together a great race in the 1,600 meters, securing a silver medal in his final high school race in 4:09.04. Pastor wasn’t as happy with it, though, admitting that he was disappointed he missed out on setting the El Paso record in the mile by less than a second.

“I’ll appreciate the silver medal more tomorrow, but I really wanted that time,” Pastor said with a smile. “A lot of people didn’t believe in me. To come to state and medal and run right outside of that city record, it shows I wasn’t a fluke or a one-hit wonder.”

Elsewhere in Class 6A, Franklin’s 4×100 meter team of Beau Sparks, Julian Mars, Gerald Williams and Jordan Morales ran a 41.42 en route to a fifth place finish in the state meet.

Here's @EpfranklinTf's 4×100 meters at #UILState. At the risk of getting flamed by track Twitter, I am almost certain (and so is his coach Lennie Brooks) that @Beausparks5 ran a sub-10 second split on the first leg. I've slowed it down dozens of times. pic.twitter.com/R74qjg8bI3
— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaverTV) May 14, 2023

In Class 1A, Van Horn had a huge day with just four total competitors. The Eagles took home second place in the overall team standings with 48 points, trailing only state champion Paducah’s 60 points.

Van Horn’s four-man team of Elijah Gaines, Bryce Virdell, Cy Garcia and Caleb Hinojos was a four-man wrecking crew. The quartet teamed up for silver medals in both the 4×100 meters and the 4×200 meter relays.

Van Horn will finish the 1A #UILState meet with 48 points, which could secure them second place as a team at state. It's especially impressive because they have literally 4 kids competing.

1 gold, 2 silvers and a bronze from 4 guys today. Here's senior Bryce Virdell: pic.twitter.com/OBEjFI5rjJ
— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaverTV) May 13, 2023

Gaines repeated as the state champion in the 1A high jump, while Virdell secured a bronze medal in the long jump.

“Competing with only four people on the team is an accomplishment on its own. Getting two silvers, a gold and a bronze is insane. There’s nothing better than that feeling,” said Virdell.

Over three days at the state meet, 11 total medals were won by nine different Borderland athletes.