Eastwood's Noah Garcia caps quick rise with bronze medal at UIL state

AUSTIN — Eastwood High's Noah Garcia does everything quickly, which is a prime trait for a runner of any sort.

A year ago as a freshman, he started running track seriously for the first time. As a sophomore, he became one of the better runners in the nation, one of the very best sophomores.

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Eastwood's Noah Garcia leads the fifth lap of the 3,200 meters at the Class 6A UIL Track and Field Championships at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin, ahead of Denton Guyer's Ruel Newberry and Southlake Carroll's Caden Leonard

His meteoric rise continued Saturday when he took bronze at the Class 6A UIL Track and Field Championships, repeating the 1-2-3 finish from the Region I-6A meet behind Southlake Carroll senior Caden Leonard and Denton Guyer sophomore Ruel Newberry.

His 8:53.74 was three seconds off the regional race from two weeks ago, but was still blazing fast and laid a trail to the future.

"My first time coming to state," Garcia said. "I remember watching it last year and I didn't think I'd be here this year, so it was pretty cool. It feels good, especially as a sophomore. I just started running track last year, taking it seriously, so this is a surprise."

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While Garcia was third at regionals and came to Austin as a wild card, his seed time was 14 seconds faster than fourth in the field and form held in this race, as it often does in a 3,200. Garcia spent most of the race in third, surged to the lead to push the field on the fifth and sixth laps, then settled back into third.

"I like taking the lead for a little bit during races, it feels good," Garcia said.