Liberty relay team, Arbor View sprinter among region champions

Liberty sprinters coach Jason Lam knew he could have a special 400-meter relay team before the season started.

All it required was a bit of persuasion. And a lot of practice.

The Patriots’ David Leathers, Tyeese Blackman, Rudy Distrito and Cervantes White won the Sunrise Region boys championship in 42.84 seconds at Basic High on Saturday to clinch a berth in Reno for the Class 4A state track meet.

Liberty finished third in the region with 124 points. Coronado won with 142 points, and Las Vegas was second with 126. Bishop Gorman won the Sunset Region title.

“This team came out of nowhere,” said White, the anchor. “It surprised us actually, and we just ran with it to be as best as possible.”

White, a Division I football recruit, did not plan to participate in track this season. But Lam convinced him the sport would improve his speed and explosiveness.

White also qualified for state with a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash and emerged as Liberty’s top sprinter.

“When we got Cervantes, when he came on the team, I knew it was a wrap,” Lam said. “The beautiful thing about it is, he fell in love with the sport. When they fall in love with the sport, it makes it so much easier to coach them.”

Arbor View sprinter eyes state

Arbor View senior Hannah Esparza started her varsity career as a soccer player. She’ll finish it as a runner in Reno next weekend.

Esparza won the 400-meter dash in 56.49 seconds to claim the Sunset Region girls championship and a trip to the Class 4A state meet.

Centennial won the region title with 188 points, followed by Sierra Vista with 85. Coronado claimed the Sunrise Region title.

“It’s not that I set goals for myself, whether I do or I don’t, I’m still going to be putting my all into the track,” Esparza said. “You don’t really know.”

Esparza didn’t know she was going to be a runner when high school started, either.

She played soccer as a sophomore and used track to rehabilitate an injury. But she grew to love track more than soccer and quit to run year-round.

“Slowly, that love for the track shifted and took over,” Aggies coach Melanie Johnston said. “She’s always been a kid that would focus. She never got caught up on the side, the riffraff. She always helped keep people focused.”

Esparza gradually built a lead in the first 300 meters and used a strong kick to hold off Endya Scott of Canyon Springs.

“This is my race, I have a certain love for it,” said Esparza, who is signed to run the 400 at the University of San Francisco. “I just stuck with it.”

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Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.