Alice runner Aubrey Garcia places 10th at regional meet

Aubrey Garcia gave Alice and Jim Wells County a clear regional track marker by finishing 10th in the 3200-meter run at the UIL 5A Regional Track Meet. The Alice Independent School District senior still had the 1600-meter run ahead of her, another chance to turn a strong regional appearance into a deeper push toward Austin and the state meet.

That 10th-place finish mattered because it came in the middle of UIL’s official qualifying round, where 5A athletes from across Texas were chasing a spot in Austin. Garcia, listed by Athletic.net as a Class of 2026 runner for Alice Coyotes HS in Alice, Texas, was competing against a broad field at a level that rarely gives local runners much margin. In distance racing, the difference between staying with the pack and fading late often comes down to pacing, endurance and the ability to close hard when legs start to burn.

Garcia’s result also added to the local story because it reflected more than one race. Alice ISD recognized her hard work and dedication over the past four years, a detail that turns her regional finish into a career snapshot for teammates, classmates and Coyotes fans who have watched her progress through the program. Her track record shows that growth clearly. She posted outdoor bests of 2:27.25 in the 800 meters, 5:13.33 in the 1600 meters and 11:34.95 in the 3200 meters during 2025. Her personal best in the 1600 came at the UIL 5A Area 29-30 Meet on April 10, 2025, while her 3200 personal best of 11:32.82 dates to March 2, 2024.

That background is why the next race matters. The 1600-meter run asks for a sharper rhythm and a faster finishing kick than the 3200, and Garcia already has the kind of middle-distance speed that can make the shorter race her best route forward. With UIL regional meets held in the May 1-3 window and the state meet scheduled for Austin on May 14-16, Garcia was entering the final stretch of the spring season with a chance to convert regional experience into a bigger breakthrough.

For Alice ISD, a 10th-place regional finish is more than a line in a results sheet. It shows that a Coyotes runner is competing on the state’s biggest high school track stage and remains close enough to a larger milestone that one stronger race could change the season’s ending.