Alexander Nava is now a part of sports history in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Weslaco East junior is officially a state champion.

Nava took home the gold medal from the boys 5A cross country state meet this past weekend, with the wildcats finished as state runners-up as a team.

The Valley native knows there may have been those who underestimated him heading into the state meet, but he quickly proved any doubters wrong his legendary performance.

"I wasn't really expected to do that well, so I wasn't coming in with high expectations," he said. "After coming into that last stretch, I took a little glance back and saw that I had enough comfortable space… It's good to surprise myself."

Nava's father and Weslaco East cross country head coach Juan Nava knows his son's performance was fueled by his drive and passion to win.

"He hates losing more than he loves winning," Coach Nava said. "When he got second place at region, I could already tell. I know his competitiveness. When I saw his eyes, he was really upset, and I knew that he was going to give it his all at State. He used that fire."

The first steps of Nava's journey began far before the start of Saturday's race in round rock.

"I started running when I was four years old," he said. "It's been a dream to win state, not just in high school but also in summer track which is what I was doing at the time."

"He was that little kid, running around, trying to work on his speed," Nava's father and coach added. "Since age 4, we've had this dream."

Nava is hoping his state title isn't just something that brings him attention but brings attention to all the student athletes in the 956.

"I think winning state here in cross country, it also shines for the other sports for colleges to look down here to see what the Valley has to offer when it comes to athletes," he said.

Nava's racing days are far from over.

No matter what he accomplishes next, his name is now written into Weslaco East history and Valley sports history in permanent golden ink.