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Despite a false start the first time around, the 6A Boys regrouped and wasted no time getting things going on the second attempt. All the competitors got off to a good start and things were too close to call halfway to the finish. College Park's Connor Washington and Harlingen's Jose Garcia crossed the line in a photo finish. Washington put himself on the line as he dove towards the finish.
After the suspense and the wait for the results to be posted, Garcia edged Washington by a thousandth of a second. The score board initially said Garcia turned in a time of 9.998 and Washington ran a 9.999. It was later officially adjusted to 10.00, which would have been a new state record, but with a wind aid of +5.7mph, it will not count in the record books for wind legal conditions. Coming in third was De'Montray Callis of Alief Taylor with a time of 10.16 no athlete in the field ran above a 10.4.
Garcia is the first sprinter from South Texas to capture a UIL 6A sprint championship, and the first to win a sprint title in a long time. It's also the same race he previously finished ninth in two years ago in his last attempt on this track. Now, he earned the opportunity to walk the opposite direction than his previous 100m race at the state meet and head towards the awards podium where he climbed to the top of it. What I did was stay calm throughout my race and drive phase as my coach says and just be confident in what I do. This was an exciting meet for me, just for all the hard work, all the pay off, and all of the sacrifices I've done to get here."
Earlier in the day, Garcia competed in the long jump where he won the silver medal, finishing second to Austin Westlake sophomore Ashton Torns. At the end of the evening, Garcia returned to compete in his third individual event, the 200m. He finished second to Washington with his 20.59 PR and a US No. 3 ranking.
As far as putting Harlingen and the RGV on the map for sprints and jumping events, Garcia says, " I'm really proud of myself, my coaches and my fans and everyone who supported me and came down here. It's a great honor especially with sacrifices and for the young kids who want to be in my shoes, I want them to see that anything is possible - keep moving, there are a lot of sacrifices along the road. Just keep your composure and anything can happen honestly."
6A BOYS 100 METER DASH FINALS
PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H#
1 Jose Garcia 12 Harlingen High 10.00 5.7 1
2 Connor Washington 12 The Woodlands College Park 10.00 5.7 1
3 De'montray Callis 12 Alief Taylor 10.16 5.7 1
4 Omari Walker 12 McKinney 10.16 5.7 1
5 Trevion Mccalla 12 Atascocita 10.18 5.7 1
6 Nazzio Jack-john 12 San Antonio Roosevelt 10.23 5.7 1
7 Ashton Torns 10 Austin Westlake 10.27 5.7 1
8 Logan Popelka 11 Wylie High 10.38 5.7 1
9 Michael Sturdivant 12 Lewisville Marcus 10.39 5.7 1
