San Antonio News and Notes for Week #8

The Best Thing I Saw

I was at the NEISD Meet #3 this week at Heroes Stadium on Thursday evening. While we did not see many of the top athletes from those schools that did not mean there was any less coaching going on or less competition. It is refreshing to see athletes and coaches giving their all in an attempt to do their best. I always love seeing the reaction from the athletes and coaches when a personal record is achieved. It is part of what makes track and field so great.

In the meet, the person that caught my eye was Brandeis senior Ethan Malesich. He is a rare athlete who is competing in two sports simultaneously. He is an important part of the Broncos playoff soccer team as well as the team's top 800m runner. Two days prior to the meet, his team lost in the second round of the playoffs and then on Thursday, he won the 800 in 1:57.54. I talked with another athlete, Johnson's Reese Surratt, who is playing on the softball team and running track at the same time. I tip my hat to all the multi-sport athletes but am especially impressed with those in multiple sports at the same time.

School Records

I am on Twitter @ShaneMeling or you can email me at shanemeling@gmail.com with any new school records.

Sutton Davis, Clemens, Pole Vault, 14-7.25 at Clemens Invitational

Tori Adams, Boerne, Shot Put, 45-3 at Texas Relays

Leo Bowen, Alamo Heights, Pole Vault, 16-8.75 at Texas Relays

Christian Pena, Davenport, 3200m, 9:28.95 at Texas Relays

Hayden Scott, Brandeis, 1600m, 4:13.99 at Texas Relays

Alyssa Jones, Smithson Valley, 100m, 11.76 at Texas Relays

Kyree Wilson, Brennan, 110mH, 13.96 at Texas Relays

Smithson Valley girls, 4x200 Relay, 1:37.32 at Texas Relays (Jacquelyn Rolle, Favour Uduji, Jatorie Mobley, Alyssa Jones)

Reagan boys, 4x800 Relay, 7:47.41 at Texas Relays (Kanalu Wong, Rafael Hakim Montemayor, Gavin Chapa, Ethan Rodriguez)

Around the City

NISD hosted its fifth meet of the season at Gustafson Stadium on Thursday. Mike Terry of Alamo Heights put in a lot of work by winning the 100m (11.04), 200m (22.68) and 400m (50.71), a feat that is rarely attempted let alone accomplished. He won a 200m that may have been the closest race all season long as the top six boys all finished within 0.18 of each other. Boerne Champion's Riley Wampler has had an excellent season and he swept the throwing events with a 151-6 mark in the discus and a season best of 51-1.75 in the shot put. Harlan's Iyanna Webb had a busy week. In addition to competing at the Texas Relays, she won the 100m hurdles in 15.09, long jump (18-7) and triple jump (39-5). Finally, Sophia Zadel of Alamo Heights cleared 5-4 in the high jump and has shown that she can compete with the top 5A high jumpers in the Region.

The Clemens Relays is always a fun meet. It appears that Clemens senior Ariana Sutton, a multi-time State qualifier is rounding into form. On Thursday, she ran a season best time of 56.75 in the 400m and also won the 200m in 26.24. She is now ranked third in the Region in the 400m and has an all-time best of 54.53. Jadeyn Perez of Clark and Sanai Robinson of Warren, two of the better distance runners in the area hooked up in the 3200m with Perez nipping Robinson by a little over a second as both went under 11:45. Perez also won the 1600m while Robinson won the 800m. The two best performances on the boys side came from a pair of Clemens athletes. Pole Vaulter Sutton Davis has gone over 14-0 at least five times in the last two years and he finally got the school record with a clearance of 14-7.25. Travion Smith won the shot put with a throw of 51-4.

The Randolph Invitational did not include Taylor Nunez, more on her later, but did still bring some nice performances. Ro-Hawk sophomore Sophia Bendet pulled off a nice double in winning the 800m in 2:16.86 and the 1600m in 5:11.91. Jefferson's Henok Hagos won the 1600m in 4:31.73 and the 3200m in 9:32.42. he is the top 5A 3200m runner in the area this year. Xavier Garza of Holy Cross and Aiden Martinez of Great Hearts Monte Vista seem to show up at the same meets every week and this week they finished in a dead heat in the 300m hurdles in a time of 40.32.

Kerrville Tivy hosted the Charlie Dobbs Relays and it was a pair of hurdlers who stole the show. Tivy's own Millie Howerton had her best meet of the season winning the 100m hurdles in 14.82 and the 300m hurdles in 45.12. Coming in a close second in both races was Fredericksburg's Cameran Whiting who posted times of 14.83 and 45.52, respectively. Whiting is ranked #1 in the Region 4-4A in both events while Howerton is now third in Region 4-5A in the 100m hurdles and second in the 300m hurdles. A few others that stood out were Reggie Johnson of Blanco throwing the discus 150-9 and Aaron Pinckney of YMLA heaving the shot put 50-10. Fredericksburg's Ann Claire Cop also continued to look good winning the 1600m in 5:19.45 and the 3200m in 11:29.30.

Pieper hosted the Warrior Invitational last week. Pieper's Sadie Larson won the 800m in 2:23.48 and the 1600m in 5:26.35 while Davenport's Cal Taylor doubled up on the boys side in the 800m (2:01.05) and 400 (52.67). La Vernia's Lacey Matney won the JV girls 200m in a time that would have won the varsity meet, 26.10.

The Central Catholic Invite featured some of the top local athletes who missed out on an invitation to the Texas Relays. CC's Nathan Morales won the 1600m in 4:30.88 and the 3200m in 9:33.58 while South San's Joshua Salas continued his winning ways in the 400m with a time of 51.82. Kennedy's Treasure Vallerie ran a nice 200m winning in 26.03. Melody Espinoza and Marissa Espinoza went 1-2 in the mile and 2-mile again. Melody won both races in 5:12.12 and 11:19.07, respectively, with Marissa right behind her. Finally, Misari Seoane of Highlands won the discus with a toss of 115-6.

Judson ISD hosted the Thunderbird Relays on Wednesday last week. Judson's Gia Booth had her best meet of the season. She won the discus with a throw of 130-0 and the shot put with a mark of 39-2, both personal records. Alyssa Renney of Judson and Justice Boston of Steele pushed each other in the triple jump with Renney winning with a mark of 37-1 and Boston at 36-9. East Central's Destiny Hernandez swept the mile and 2-mile with times of 5:24.86 and 11:38.39, respectively.

The 95th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays

The Texas Relays deserves its own spot in the News and Notes. I apologize in advance for not highlighting every great performance. The two biggest winners from the area were probably Taylor Nunez of Randolph and Gerardo Mejia of Central Catholic. Nunez won the girls Division I 100m with a time of 11.53 and the overall girls long jump with a leap of 19-8. She also ran the anchor leg on the third place 4x100m relay team that included Cai Rogers, Jourdann Cathro and Jaela Smith. Mejia also picked up a pair of gold medals. He won the boys Division I 110m hurdles in a time of 13.71 after running a 13.60 in the prelims. Then, he led off the winning 4x100m relay team that ran a 41.83. His teammates were Cristian Villarreal, Jeremy Burch and Isai Prezas.

The high school portion of the meet opened with the 2000m steeplechase. Antonian's Todd Worth nabbed a third place finish with a time of 6:20.19. Following Worth in the distance events was Boerne Champion freshman Elizabeth Leachman taking fourth in the 1600m with a time of 4:52.46. TMI's Marcelo Parra ran an outstanding 3200m and was the runner up in a time of 9:00.95.

In addition to Nunez's performance in the long jump, there were other outstanding field performances. Rafe Clendenin of Brandeis grabbed the silver medal in the discus with a throw of 179-10. Boerne's Tori Adams was third in the shot put with a school record throw of 45-3. Michael Pinones of East Central did not hit his usual lofty heights in the shot put, but still got fourth with a throw of 61-9. Leo Bowen of Alamo Heights continued to raise the bar in the pole vault with a clearance of 16-8.75 and a third-place finish. Judson's Alexis Jessie narrowly missed the San Antonio City record in the triple jump with a fourth-place finish of 41-3.

Only Central Catholic had a winning relay team from the area, but there were some others who ran very well. The Smithson Valley girls 4x200m team continued to break their own school record with a time of 1:37.32 and a third place finish. The Reagan boys set a school record in the 4x800m relay taking second in 7:47.41. Last but not least, the Pleasanton boys 4x400m relay team of Sean Ramos, Daniel Coronado, Tim Klein and Jayden Palacios took third in the Division I race with a time of 3:22.94.

I know there are many athletes from the area who would have liked to have done better but the Texas Relays is always a great chance for them to learn how to handle a big meet situation with a lot of people watching. The order of the meet is different from any other they are at so they have to be able to focus and adjust to excel.

Previewing the Week

I am planning on covering the New Braunfels Unicorn Relays on Thursday this week. Currently, Canyon, Ingram Moore, New Braunfels, Alamo Heights, San Marcos, Clemens and Smithson Valley are registered to attend. It should be a highly competitive meets that showcases some of the best 5A and 6A teams in the area.