"We have a great one-two punch with both the boys and girls, with Monica Rivera and Shania Luna for the girls, and Nathan Kowalski and Sergio Hernandez on the boys side," said Gonzalez. "Our 3, 4, 5 on both teams are pretty solid and we're getting stronger."
He then introduced his new assistant coach, here by way of United High School.
"Hugo Sanchez ran four years at TAMIU and four years at United. He's knowledgable about the sport, knowledgable about racing. He understands what kids are going through during a race,” said Gonzalez. “He's a wealth of knowledge."
The Eagles have dealt with Sanchez in the past and are now glad to have him on their team.
Gonzalez explained why Eagle Pass chose to bypass the Texas A&M Corpus Christi meet this weekend for College Station.
"They invested thousands of dollars on this course [at Texas A&M.] Their [A&M Consolidated] regional cross country championship is run on this course,” said Gonzalez. “Some of our former runners; Martin Lopez, Hector Alvarez, Saul Vasquez, they've all run on that course. They tell me, 'Coach, that's a beautiful course. Expect fast times and competition is going to be great.' Kingwood is going to be there, they're ranked in the top five in the state, so we can't wait to run with those horses up there."
These teams of course are perennial state qualifying programs, so what better time to meet up with these teams than at a pre-district warmup like the A&M Invitational.
When asked what his expectations are for this season, Gonzalez had the following to add, "At this year's district meet, obviously we're there to compete. We're going to go for the district title again, we are the defending District Champs, and we have a target on our backs and they're coming after us. Yes we want to win it, but is it a deal breaker if we don't? No, because the following meet is the regional meet and any coach will say, 'I'll take a third at district and a state berth,' so yes, we are training through the district meet and we're not going to peak until regionals. Hopefully we'll come out victorious."
In reference to the Dual Meet last Thursday, Gonzalez said the team used it as a workout.
"It turned out to be a dual meet between us and Winn. It was real calm, a relaxed atmosphere. There was a little bit of a breeze. We tried to run fast mile repeats here,” said Gonzalez. “It's a new format, a relay, a two-man six-mile relay, and Coach Garza and I are using it as a six-mile workout to get in some fast work."
