Sports Updates from MISD athletic director

The Marfa High School girls softball team recently kicked off the 2023 season. Photo courtesy of Marfa ISD Athletics.

Softball

The Lady Shorthorns softball program picked up a win against the Wink Wildcats behind the arm of senior pitcher Aundrea Garcia, with a 19-5 score. Garcia allowed two earned runs and three unearned runs for the Horns, while Marfa’s offense protected their lead with runners getting on base during every inning and batters 1-9 getting on base on multiple occasions. Lead-off batter Ava Flores went 4-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs, Garcia was 4-4 with two doubles, Raven Martinez 3-4 with five stolen bases, Alexis Gonzales and Charlize Martinez went 3-4 with three RBIs apiece. The team now heads to Midland Saturday morning for a 9 a.m. matchup against Midland TLCA at MUGS Field.

Track

Marfa’s track team showed a strong performance Saturday at the Fort Stockton Comanche Relays, while battling the wind and cold elements. The Shorthorn coaches stated that although the team did show grit at their opening meet of the season, the team will show tremendous strides in the next few weeks ahead of the district championship meet in April.  Aundrea Garcia (first place in the 800-meter run 2:44.66) and Nathan Pena (first place in the shot put) were Marfa’s lone gold medalists. The 4×100-meter women’s relay composed of Ava Flores, Maryfer Martinez, Lesly Torres and Raven Martinez placed third with a time of 57:04. Jack Marquez placed third in the division II shot put. The Horns now head to Sanderson for the Rio Grande Relays with middle school competing on Thursday and high school on Friday. Meet schedules can be found on the Marfa Shorthorn Page.

Jack Marquez will compete in a regional powerlifting meet this week. Photo courtesy of Marfa ISD Athletics.

Marquez competes at regional powerlifting meet Thursday with a chance at qualifying for state

For the second straight year, Jack Annalise Marquez heads to the regional powerlifting meet, but this year, with a stronger mindset and focused goal of qualifying for state. The 177-pound junior is competing in the 181-pound division and is currently ranked fourth in a region where the top two lifters qualify for the state meet.

In a recent school interview, Marquez stated she feels nervous and excited about this upcoming meet, but her personal expectations are to at least get a personal record at this meet or even break the 900-pound lift mark. Coach Jessie Pena stated, “Marquez has put herself in a great position to do something special at regionals. Her work ethic is incredible and she’s extremely coachable and self-motivated and we hope she can achieve what she deserves this week at Shamrock.” 

When asked what her strategy will be for this big meet, Marquez said “I’ll have to make sure I get enough warm-up lifts, and most importantly, I need to get my best warm-up music ready before I lift to pump me up. Slipknot and Ozzy Osbourne are usually what get me going. When I go to lift, I’m going to start with a ‘safe weight’ I know I can get in order to make sure I don’t bomb out and after that, I will push myself to the highest weight possible.” 

Golf 

The Marfa Shorthorn golf team hosts the Marfa Invitational Tournament Monday, March 6, 2023, at the Marfa Municipal Golf Course. Girls and Boys will tee off at 9 a.m.