Alice track teams advance to area after strong district meet, Garcia sets record

Aubrey Garcia turned in the performance that anchored Alice’s postseason push, and the Coyotes and Lady Coyotes left District 29-5A in Portland with multiple athletes moving on to area. In a meet where only the top four finishers in each event advanced, Alice High School turned a strong district showing into the next step of the UIL playoffs.

Garcia’s 3,200-meter run stood out as the kind of result that can change the tone of a program. The Alice High senior already owned the school record after running 11:32.81 at the Laredo Border Olympics, breaking Belinda Aguilar’s 11-year-old mark of 11:39.43 from 2013. That kind of progression matters in a sport where every second is measured and every place can determine whether a season keeps going. It also gave Alice a headline performance that reached beyond one meet, giving the distance program a marker the rest of District 29-5A had to chase.

The district meet, held April 9 and 10, served as the gateway to the next round of the UIL postseason. For Alice, the payoff was not just one record run but a broader advance for boys and girls athletes who earned area berths in their events. The result keeps Alice ISD represented deeper into the spring and gives the school another chance to build on a district meet that produced tangible postseason momentum.

That next round comes fast. Under UIL’s postseason calendar, area entries are due April 21, regional competition follows May 1-2, and the state meet is set for May 14-16 at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin. In practical terms, the move from district to area is the difference between a season ending in late April and one that can still reach the biggest stage in Texas high school track.

For Alice, the district meet delivered both. Garcia’s record-level work added to her standing as one of the area’s most closely watched distance runners, and the team’s group of qualifiers ensured the Coyotes and Lady Coyotes will keep competing while the postseason narrows. The road now runs through area, where another round of qualifying will decide who stays alive for regionals and, eventually, Austin.