SAN ANTONIO — UTSA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox on Wednesday announced that the program has signed state champion sprinter Jose Garcia of Harlingen High School. He will join the Roadrunners beginning with the 2021-22 season.
Garcia made national headlines in May when he raced to a time of 10.00 seconds to win the Texas Class 6A 100 meters at Myers Stadium in Austin. His time was aided by a 5.4-meters-per-second tailwind and not eligible for records, but it stands as the third-fastest time ever recorded under any conditions by a prep athlete in the country and the fastest ever clocked at the UIL state meet, eclipsing Matthew Boling's 10.13 from 2019.
Garcia also finished second in the 200m at the state meet with a wind-legal time of 20.59, the 10th-fastest time in Texas high school history, and he ran on the seventh-place 4x100m relay squad that set a Rio Grande Valley prep record of 41.13.
Also an accomplished jumper, he claimed the 6A silver medal in the long jump with a leap of 24-1 and helped lead the Cardinals to a fourth-place finish in the team standings. He received a Texas House of Representatives Resolution that honored his performance at the state meet.
"We are extremely thrilled to sign and keep one of the best junior sprint prospects in the world here in South Texas," Fox said. "Jose had an incredible spring and now ranks as one of the top sprinters in the history of high school track and field in this country with all that he accomplished. We are looking forward to seeing him run many more fast times as a Roadrunner and we can't wait to position him for a successful collegiate career on and off the track."
Named the 2021 Texas Track & Field Coaches Association 5A-6A Boys Track Athlete of the Year, Garcia grabbed four gold medals at the Region IV-6A meet in April. He swept the 100m and 200m, won the long jump and helped the 4x100m relay cross first at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio.
Garcia won the 100m (10.36), 200m (21.41) and long jump (23-11.75) and anchored the 4x1 to victory at the 2021 District 32-6A meet. He also claimed gold in all three events, including a personal-best long jump of 24-6.25, and helped the 4x1 to first place at the area meet in April.
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