San Antonio Quarter-Milers

6A Boys

The vast majority of top 400-meter runners in the region were seniors last year which means it should be a wide-open event this year. There are no returners in the area who broke 50 seconds, but eight boys went under 52 seconds. Reagan boasts the top two in Joshua Torres (50.30) and Carnell Weatherspoon (51.00).

This is not an extremely strong or experienced group on paper with only the Reagan duo and Elijah Hernandez of Harlan advancing past the district meet phase last year. Despite this fact, I expect by the end of the year that I will be writing about a few strong 400-meter runners in the area.

6A Girls

Unlike the 6A boys, the 6A girls are a deep and strong group. Clemens senior Ariana Sutton is the first name on the list and it is only fitting for a two-time State medalist who is the defending Region champion in 54.53. The next runner on the list is Brennan's Caila Lyons who had a fantastic freshman year and even qualified for the State Cross Country meet this fall. Lyons was a State medalist in the 800 meters last year and will attempt to pull off the difficult double this Spring.

Rounding out the top five returning runners are three runners who all broke 60 seconds; Josephine Zink (Reagan), Marvaiseangel Dowdy (Brandeis) and Morghan Neely (Taft). Overall, there are 10 other returners who cracked 63 seconds in 2022, including three from Judson.

5A Boys

With Smithson Valley dropping down to 5A this year it gives the San Antonio Metro area five of the top eight returners boys in the entire Region. Landen Drake (Veterans Memorial), AJ Breault (Smithson Valley) and Ben Blomqvist (Champion) each broke 51 seconds last year and are ranked 1-2-4, respectively in Region 4.

Smithson Valley has a total of four returners who have clocked at least a 52.04, but one of them is Freddie Dubose who is still recovering from a football injury in the fall. SV's Xander Miller and Southwest Legacy's Anthony Zapata are ranked in the top seven in the 400 and also in the top three in the 800 which will make it interesting to see if either one decides to try to advance in both events.

5A Girls

Two newcomers to 5A immediately become the top two 400-meter runners in the area, Smithson Valley's Jazmyn Singh and Wagner's Harmoniey Rector. Singh is a two-time 6A State medalist in the event and is the top 5A runner in the entire state. Rector has run a 57.28 and is clearly the second-best runner in the area.

Another Smithson Valley runner, Favour Uduji, will not be found on any of the individual event lists but she consistently ran 57-second 4x400 splits last year. Madisson Perez (Southwest) and Nyima Williamson (Veterans Memorial) each nearly broke 61 seconds last year. Perez qualified for the Regional meet in both the 400 and 800 last year and took fourth in the District in cross country this Fall. Williamson is also one of the top long jumpers in the area with a personal best of 17-7.

4A Boys

Pleasanton's Jayden Palacios twice ran 48.5 last year as a sophomore and enters the year as the clear-cut top dog in the area. He was the State bronze medalist each of the last two years and will be looking to add a different color medal in 2023. He will also compete for a Regional title in the 200 meters.

Joining Palacios as the top 400 runners around are La Vernia's Colton Schmid and Wimberley's Nathan Brooks, who is also a top 100 and 200-meter runner. The rest of the deep group of 400 runners in the area includes six athletes from Boerne, including Bode Brown who returns as the #5 runner in the area.

4A Girls

There are three girls who are knocking on the door of the 60-second barrier in the 400 meters in the area. Davenport's Rylee Reisdorph posted the fastest time of 1:00.09 last year while Tyler Miles of La Vernia was a State qualifier. Fredericksburg's Ava Stuewe was a District champion with a time of 1:00.60.

Wimberley has three strong returning runners and should have an excellent 4x400 relay team. Canyon Lake also has two excellent quarter-milers in Ayren Lightfoot and Hannah Hammer, who is also a top 800-meter runner.

3A Boys

The top end of the 3A boys 400 meters; Brendan Smith (Great Hearts Northern Oaks), Braylen Brown (Randolph) and Esai Lozano (Dilley) all are among the better 200-meter runners in the area. Smith is easily the top returner with a time of 50.32 and no one else is within two seconds of him. In addition, he is one of the best long jumpers in the area.

Gabriel Silansky from Poth is the second-ranked returning 400 runner and he is a top-level triple jumper. Marion's Chase Hallmark is a well-rounded athlete who ranks among the top long and triple jumpers in addition to his 400-meter performance. He will be looking to improve his consistency in all three events in the Spring.

3A Girls

Randolph continues to dominate the 3A girls' events. Taylor Nunez is rated as the top runner in a third straight event, but she only ran the 400 once in 2022 and will not likely focus on it in 2023. Her teammate, Jaela Smith, is a dual threat in the 400 and 800 meters, an event she medaled in at the State meet. Another Ro-Hawk, Sophia Bendet is the #4 returner but is a top returner in the 800 and 3200 meters and took fourth at the State Championship cross country meet.

Cole has a good group of quarter-milers led by Na Villegas Garcia who has run a 1:00.58. Garcia's teammates Dakota Gaston and Gabrielle Cunningham give Cole a good chance to have a great 4x400 relay team. Lytle's Calyssa Sevier and Moriah Gomez Lytle are two of the top seven runners in the area.

Other Boys

I am combining the private schools, smaller public schools and home school athletes into one group. Central Catholic and Antonian dominate the "Other Boys" category in the 400. The Buttons are led by Isai Prezas who finished third at the TAPPS State Championships last year and Cristian Villarreal who slates in as the fifth fastest returner. Antonian has Todd Worth who ran a 51.56 the one time he ran the event last year but is a stud at the 800 and 1600 level winning a gold and silver in the events at the State meet.

Antonian also has four other runners who run between 52.89 and 53.56 giving them a potentially outstanding 4x400 relay team. TMI's Carter McCray is the next best of the bunch after posting a time of 50.42 last year to take third in the State. He also was the long jump State Champion.

Other Girls

The San Antonio area has strong State contenders at a variety of different levels of TAPPS and small public schools. Maeve Sullivan of John Paul II was a State Champion last year and has the top returning time in the "Other Girls" category of 1:00.07. Elaina Craven of Fredericksburg Heritage and Megan Guerra of San Antonio Atonement should both be very competitive at the State level this year.

A runner to note in this group is Isabella Godoy of Boerne Gevena who ran a 1:00.59 the one time she ran the 400 last year. She is the reigning TAPPS 5A champion in both the 800 and 1600 meters so it seems unlikely that she would attempt the 400. The top small public school quarter-miler is Falls City's Chloe Cavalier who finished third in Region 4-2A and broke 62 seconds last year.

* Please note that all times are taken from the MileSplit website. There is always a possibility that someone I mentioned no longer competes for the school they did last year or that they are even competing in track and field anymore. These articles are just a very early preview of the upcoming season.