Pioneer Athlete of the Week Fabian Perez hasn’t just won nine of the 10 long distance races he’s competed in this season for the Panthers track team.

The junior is a clear cut above the competition in 4A District 2.

Perez holds the fastest mile time by 14 seconds in the Panthers’ district and has the best mark in the 3,200-meter run by 18 seconds.

The dual sport athlete continued his successful season at the San Angelo Relays on March 25-26, claiming his ninth and 10th gold medal of the season on the track in the 1,600 and the 3,200.

Perez was one of three gold-medal winners for the Panthers in Division II, which had 18 teams competing in it. Junior Zane Hodges and senior Caleb Garcia joined Perez as champions.

The trio led the Panthers to a runner-up finish in Division II as a team with 113 points. Dumas won the division with 129 points and Lake View placed third with 84 points.

Hodges won his second triple jump title in as many outings this season with a leap of 43 feet 1 ¼ inches – an improvement of 1 foot 2 ¼ inches from the week prior.

Caleb Garcia claimed a gold medal in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet 9 inches. The senior edged Dumas’ Emmanuel Ibanez in the event by ¼ of an inch.

Miguel Trejo, Hodges, Garcia, and the Panthers’ 800 relay team (Trejo, Caleb Garcia, Marco Garcia, Aryan Hernandez) claimed silvers medals. Dominic Aguilar ran with the 800 relay team during Friday’s prelims.

Trejo earned a second-place finish in the 200 (23.71), Hodges placed second in the 300 hurdles (40.4), and Caleb Garcia finished in second in the triple jump (41 8 ¼).

Elijah Escajeda threw a season-best 132 feet 8 inches in the discus and earned a bronze medal with the performance.

The Panthers 400 relay (Trejo, Hernandez, Caleb Garcia, (alternate Aguilar ran Friday) Marco Garcia) took third place with a time of 44.96 seconds.

Jackson shows elite level talent for Prowlers

Sophomore Ali Jackson went toe to toe with some of the best competition in West Texas at last week’s San Angelo Relays.

Jackson crossed the finish line in first place in the 800-meter run in a time of 2 minutes 25.24 seconds. The mark was a five second improvement from her time a week prior at the Fightin’ Bucks Relays in Alpine.

The underclassman added a bronze medal in the 400-meter dash (1:02).

Leslie Esquivel and Yaneli Caballero tallied team points for the Prowlers, finishing sixth and seventh respectively in the 1,600 and high jump.

Esquivel finished the mile in 6:07 and Caballero cleared 4 feet 8 inches in the high jump.

The Fort Stockton track teams will compete next at the Tribe Relays in Seminole on April 1.