Van Horn’s Renee Rivera competes in Class 2A girls long jump Friday morning at the UIL track and field state championship at Mike A. Myers Stadium at The University of Texas at Austin.
By Justin Lee and Eric Blum
Used with permission of the
Odessa American
AUSTIN Renee Rivera smiled through the tears.
Van Horn’s decorated senior athlete didn’t see her career end the way she wanted on Friday.
But, at least, it ended where she wanted.
The former state gold medalist battled through an injury-plagued senior season to qualify for a return trip to the state meet in Austin, and Saturday, capped her decorated career there at the 2A girls long jump competition.
Rivera is a three-time gold medalist at the state meet, most recently winning gold in the girls 100-meter dash in 2A last season.
A hamstring injury slowed her off a winning pace on the track in the dash events this season — but she managed to make it to Austin in the long jump, and close her career on the big stage.
“It sucks, but it’s life,” Rivera said. “As long as I made it here and did my best — I tried to push through.”
Rivera bowed out with an eighth-place finish in the long jump.
Afterward, for Rivera it was just about “enjoying my last meet,” she said, blinking back tears in her eyes but while still flashing a smile on her face.
Sporting a brace over her injured hamstring, Rivera leapt 17-0.75 to finish off her career Saturday.
She won gold at the Region I-2A meet in April, jumping 17-11.75 — before she was forced to pull out of the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at regionals after she reinjured that hamstring.
Still, Rivera was grateful to find her ticket to state meet in the sands at long jump.
“I told her, I said, ‘The good Lord gave us another chance,'” Van Horn head track coach Luis Garcia said.
“We pull out of the 100 and 200, which is basically her specialty. And He let us in the long jump.”
When Rivera captured state gold in the 100-meter dash as a junior last season, she also won bronze in the long jump with a jump of 17-8.
As a sophomore, she won bronze in the 100-meter dash and earned another bronze as part of the Lady Eagles’ sprint relay team.
She was the opening leg for a Van Horn team that won gold in both the 400-meter relay and the 800-meter relay in the Class 1A-Division I her freshman year.
“I told her, ‘You didn’t win today, but you’ve left with three gold medals and three bronze, from the elite meet in basically the country,'” Garcia said.
“She’s that kind of kid — one of those kids that comes once in a while.”
Rivera’s jump of 17-11.75 at regionals would’ve been good enough to win state gold if she could have matched it Saturday, as Summer Grubbs of Gladewater Union Grove won the event with a mark of 17-10.25.
But it wasn’t to be for Rivera.
Still, Garcia said Rivera will leave as one of the best, most decorated athletes in the history of the Van Horn track and field program.
“I told her, ‘You’re a warrior, girl,'” Garcia said. “That’s something that a lot of people don’t have.
“She’s special.”
