From Duke and Duchess to King & Queen

Royals
Alex “Hondo” Garcia and Angeline Cruz were crowned King Queen of Homecoming 2019, having ran together and winning Duke & Duchess since their freshman year.
(Photo by TJ Tijerina)

By FREDDY JIMENEZ
Special to the NEWS

Through the magic of friendship, Angeline Cruz and Alex “Hondo” Garcia, Jr. are this year’s Homecoming Queen and King, an accomplishment much deserved after running together for the entirety of their high school career.

Garcia and Cruz are both seniors at San Benito High School, sharing with the NEWS that they have been winning Homecoming royalty as Duke and Duchess for the last three years. Now, on their fourth and Senior year of high school, the students have finally won Homecoming King and Queen.

According to Garcia, the two students first decided to compete together their freshman year when he was going to run but lacked a partner, and by association came to know Cruz.

“Her mom was a teacher I had and we started talking and we became friends and eventually started running together,” said Garcia.

Cruz added, “My mom told me about a boy in her class who didn’t have anyone to run with. I was a little shy at first, but we then became friends and decided to run.”

“Yeah, we made a promise to stay running together until senior year,” said both Cruz and Garcia.

Despite this, the two students say they are not a romantic couple, but rather best friends.

On what has allowed the students to win, Garcia said “It’s about how we present ourselves to the people. We’re social and friendly.”

Sharing his appreciation, Garcia acknowledges his friends’ loyalty voting for him all these years, as well as thanking the student body for trusting in him. He also wishes to thank his parents, Fatima Huerta and Alex Garcia, “for being there with me every step of the way.”

Cruz also wished to “give a shout out to the Class of 2020 and to my mom, Clarissa Guerra and my dad Tom Cruz.”

Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. To read the full story featuring photos of the pair since freshman year, click here or make sure to grab a copy of the Nov. 8-14, 2019 issue of the NEWS.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2019/11/08/from-duke-and-duchess-to-king-queen/

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