Tarpons Muscle Their Way to State Tarpon Linemen Place at State Competition July 14, 2009 By EJ Holland, tarponfever.net Port Isabel Tarpon linemen Johnny Delgado and Aurie Silva competed in the Texas Lineman Challenge State Competition in Duncanville last week (July 8). The Tarpons as a team competed in the Regional meet at Edinburg on June 13th but did not qualify for state as a team; however Delgado and Silva were selected to the state competition as individuals. Within the team competition, individuals have the opportunity to advance to state even if their team doesn’t qualify, and that’s exactly what Delgado and Silva did. The Texas Lineman Challenge is an organization that gives athletes a way to develop speed, strength and endurance during their time away from school. Linemen compete in 6 different events including the sand bag load, farmers walk, sled drag, sled pull, medicine ball throw, and bench press. There were approximately 60 competitors at the state meet from all classifications. “I felt energized and that I needed to step it up against competition from outside of the valley,” said Silva. In the Sandbag Load competitors must navigate through a figure 8 course and drop 10 sandbags in an empty square. Silva finished with a respectable time of 32.9 seconds while Delgado finished with a time 50.9 seconds due to scratching 6 times. In the Farmers Walk, competitors must carry 2 bars weighing a total of 135 pounds a distance of 25 yards. Delgado fared better with a time of 13.6 seconds while Silva finished in 24.4 seconds. In the Sled Drag, competitors are strapped to sled and have to drag it a distance of 25 yards. Both competitors finished with excellent times as Silva managed a time of 6.3 seconds while Delgado managed to get a time of 6.6 seconds. In the Sled Pull, competitors must pull a sled using a rope and the hand over hand method. Delgado finished with a time of 12 seconds while Silva finished with a time of 12.5 seconds. In the Medicine Ball Throw, competitors have two opportunities to throw a 16 pound medicine ball as far as they could. Delgado’s best throw was 24 feet 10 inches while Silva’s best throw was 21 feet 0 inches. In the Bench Press, competitors rep 205 pounds as many times as they can. Delgado concluded the competition with 10 reps while Silva concluded with 7 reps. Of all the events, Delgado said the sandbag load was the most difficult because “It took the most endurance and it combined speed, quickness, strength, and accuracy.” Silva finished 12th overall at the competition but was not satisfied with his place, “I’m not satisfied with my place because I want to be the best out there, hopefully I can be 1st one day.” Silva will definitely have the opportunity to finish 1st one day considering he is only a sophomore. Delgado finished 13th overall at the competition and was also not satisfied, “It was a good place, but I’m going to keep working harder to get a better place next year.” Delgado is a junior and is confident he will return to state next year. “It was fun competing with guys outside of the valley, and I look forward to doing it again next year both as an individual and as a team,” stated Delgado. Juan Hernandez, who competed as a teammate of Delgado and Silva in the Regional competition, was very proud and said, “They both worked hard and did a good job of representing Port Isabel, they deserve it.”