SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - It was a
sparse week for track action around the area with many teams off as they
prepared for their District meets and weather knocking out some other meets.
Antonian and San Antonio Christian were each able to host their meets and the
big meet of the week was the District 27-4A championships in Navarro.
Recapping District 27-4A
It was the Fredericksburg girls overwhelming the competition with 212 points, doubling up second place Wimberley (105) and third place Canyon Lake (97). Meanwhile, the boys title went to Davenport in a tightly contested title finish. They finished with 155 points while Wimberley was second with 136 points and Boerne was third with 100 points. Davenport secured the victory prior to the 4x400m relay due to Darion Brown's win in the 200m and Christian Pena's victory in the 1600m at the end of the meet.
The Fredericksburg girls won eight of the meet events. Cameran Whiting brought home three gold medals in the 100m hurdles (14.78), 300m hurdles (45.76) and as part of the winning 4x100m relay team. Ann Claire Cop was another big reason the Battlin' Billies were so dominant as she won the 3200m (11:42.89) and 1600m (5:20.70) while also advancing to the Area meet in the 400m thanks to a fourth-place finish. The third individual double winner was Ava Stuewe who took the 400m in 58.35 ahead of Canyon Lake's Ayren Lightfoot who ran a personal record of 58.86. Stuewe also won a tightly contested triple jump with a mark of 36-10.75.
The top performers from the non-Fredericksburg teams included Tori Adams of Boerne, Alencia Lentz of Canyon Lake and Emily Thames of Wimberley. Adams easily won the discus with a throw of 127-7 and the shot put with a mark of 43-2.5. Lentz continued to be outstanding in the pole vault winning with a clearance of 13-2. Lentz also advanced to the Area meet in the 4x400m relay as her squad came in second in a time of 4:03.53. The 4x400m may have been the best race of the meet as Wimberley won in 4:03.15 and Fredericksburg was third in 4:03.79. Thames was part of Wimberley's winning 4x400m and 4x200m relay teams while taking the long jump title with a leap of 18-8.
In the men's meet there were only two who won a pair of individual titles, Christian Pena of Davenport and Gabriel Wray of Wimberley. Pena opened the meet by winning the 3200m in 10:12.81 and then he finished by winning the 1600m in 4:39.18. Wray had some huge jumps en route to winning the long jump (23-3.5) and the triple jump (47-5.75). He was also part of the winning 4x200m relay team that clocked a 1:30.37.
In addition to Pena, the Davenport boys were led by Darion Brown. He won the aforementioned 200m race (21.84), anchored the winning 4x100m relay team and was second in the long jump (22-4.5). Cal Taylor also produced a lot of points for the winners by taking the 800m in 2:01.48 and nabbing second place in the ultra-competitive 400m (51.91). It was his teammate, Jaylin Morrow, who won the 400m in 51.79 and part of a top four that were all within 0.27 seconds of each other.
Boerne's Kaiden Fischer and Fredericksburg's Gary Seidenberger had great performances. Fischer won the discus with a toss of 139-7 and was second in the shot put with a throw of 47-4.5 Meanwhile, Seidenberger set a personal record in his 110m hurdle victory of 14.64.
School Records
I am on Twitter @ShaneMeling or you can email me at shanemeling@gmail.com with any new school records.
James Voss, Brandeis, 110 hurdles, 14.16 at Texas Relays
Harlan Girls, 4x400 relay, 3:58.72 at Texas Relays (Ashley Neve, Patricia Hermoso, Mylieah Guy, Iyanna Webb)
Mya Robinson, Taft, 100 hurdles, 14.81 at NISD Meet #5
Around the City
Antonian Prep hosted the Don Hoover Invitational this past week. The hosts had a pair of nice performances from Mason Wokoma and Todd Worth. Wokoma won the 800m in 1:57.20 just ahead of Christopher Chan from St. Mary's Hall who ran a 1:57.80. Worth does not normally run the 400m but took a chance at it and clocked an impressive 50.30 to win the race.
The Randolph boys and girls relay teams looked outstanding. The boys 4x200m relay won in a time of 1:29.40 and the 4x400m team came through with an outstanding 3:27.90. The girls cruised to wins in the 4x100m (47.30) and 4x200m (1:46.10). Randolph's superstar Taylor Nunez won the long jump with a leap of 19-1 and then ran her first open 400m of the season and won in a time of 55.80.
The second San Antonio Christian Invitational was also held last week. I seem to write about Aiden Martinez of Great Hearts Monte Vista every week and he is making me write about him again this week after he won the 110m hurdles (15.07), the 300m hurdles (40.71) and the triple jump (43-5.5). Isabella Godoy of the Geneva School of Boerne was a double winner. She won the 400m in 1:00.52 and then won the 800m by nearly 19 seconds in 2:20.91. Finally, Incarnate Word's Gianna Hilliard won both the long jump (16-10) and triple jump (34-11).
District Meet Projections
I will be looking at the 5A and 6A Districts in the San Antonio Metro area and making my predictions. I am going to be listing my projected team results along with my MVP and Wild Card choices for each meet.
District 27-6A Boys
Projected Order: New Braunfels, Steele, Judson, Clemens, East Central, San Marcos.
MVP: Kenneth Lott, Steele
Wild Card: Joshua Minton, New Braunfels. He had never cleared higher than 6-4 in the high jump in his career and went 6-8 at his last meet. Can he continue to reach such heights?
Thoughts: It is hard for me not to pick the Judson boys. I always expect them to have athletes show up at the District meet and start winning events. If the Unicorns can win it would be a huge accomplishment for their program.
District 27-6A Girls
Projected Order: Judson, Steele, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Clemens, East Central
MVP: Alexis Jessie, Judson
Wild Card: Ariana Sutton, Clemens. She always performs her best during the championship season and it appears that she will get the chance to run both the 200m and 400m. She is the clear-cut favorite in the 400m and will give Jessie all she can handle in the 200m.
Thoughts: Unlike the boys meet, this one is cut-and-dried in favor of Judson with no real challengers.
District 28-6A Boys
Projected Order: Reagan, Brandeis, Roosevelt, Johnson, Churchill, LEE, Clark, Madison, Marshall
MVP: Rafe Clendenin, Brandeis
Wild Card: How Reagan decides to employ their plethora of outstanding distance runners is going to be the most interesting thing about this meet.
Thoughts: The Reagan boys have been dominant this year and will run away with the title due to their depth and quality. Brandeis is slotted in as the runners-up, but they may be the second best 6A team in the entire city.
District 28-6A Girls
Projected Order: Reagan, Brandeis, Johnson, Churchill, Madison, Clark, LEE, Marshall, Roosevelt
MVP: Isabella Dagrosa, Reagan
Wild Card: Mackenzie Dagrosa, Reagan. She has been brought along slowly due to an injury a couple months ago, but I expect her to be unleashed and she could win three individual events if entered.
Thoughts: I expect Reagan to win the title again, but Brandeis and Johnson both have strong squads that should advance a lot of athletes to the Area meet.
District 29-6A Boys
Projected Order: Brennan, O'Connor, Taft, Harlan, Sotomayor, Jay, Warren, Stevens, Holmes, Health Careers
MVP: Kyree Wilson, Brennan
Wild Card: If Armando Acevedo of Brennan goes out of his mind and high jumps 7-feet he will automatically become the MVP of the meet in my opinion.
Thoughts: Brennan should easily win the meet but the battle for second place between O'Connor, Taft and Harlan will be outstanding. Sotomayor's Elijah Hernandez will be attempting the difficult double of winning the 400m and 800m for the first-year program.
District 29-6A Girls
Projected Order: Harlan, Brennan, O'Connor, Sotomayor, Taft, Stevens, Warren, Jay, Health Careers, Holmes
Co-MVP: Caila Lyons, Brennan and Iyanna Webb, Harlan
Wild Card: I know I picked Lyons as a co-MVP, but she is the biggest Wild Card because it will be interesting what events she is in. She is currently the top seed in the 400m, 800m and 1600m.
Thoughts: Harlan is slightly better than Brennan but if a couple of the results get flipped it could make a big difference in the final results.
District 26-5A Boys
Projected Order: Boerne Champion, Smithson Valley, Canyon, Seguin, Wagner, Veterans Memorial, Kerrville Tivy, Pieper
MVP: Ben Blomqvist, Boerne Champion
Wild Card: Blomqvist is not only the MVP, but also the Wild Card since we do not know what events he will be entered in. I cannot wait to see how he is deployed. Another option for this is Smithson Valley's Freddie Dubose who has been running relays but has not run an individual race. Despite tearing his ACL during the football season, he would immediately be a top contender in the 200m or 400m.
Thoughts: Right now, the Chargers are heavy favorites but Canyon and Smithson Valley each have a number of Regional contenders in their lineups.
District 26-5A Girls
Projected Order: Smithson Valley, Boerne Champion, Canyon, Seguin, Wagner, Kerrville Tivy, Pieper, Veterans Memorial
MVP: Elizabeth Leachman, Boerne Champion (This was my toughest MVP selection to make)
Wild Card: Five of the top seven long jumpers in the entire Region are in this district. That means an 18-foot long jumper will not advance to the Area meet.
Thoughts: The Rangers and Chargers are likely the two best 5A teams in the entire Region and if a few results shift during the meet it easily could be Boerne Champion raising the trophy.
District 27-5A Boys
Projected Order: Alamo Heights, MacArthur, Brackenridge, Edison, Highlands, Jefferson, Sam Houston, Burbank, Lanier
MVP: Mike Terry, Alamo Heights
Wild Card: Leo Bowen of Alamo Heights is the #2 pole vaulter in the entire State regardless of division and needs to be mentioned.
Thoughts: Alamo Heights is far and away the best team in the district. Mike Terry could potentially win four individual events.
District 27-5A Girls
Projected Order: Alamo Heights, Sam Houston, Brackenridge, MacArthur, Highlands, Lanier, Edison, Burbank, Jefferson
MVP: Melody Espinoza, Brackenridge
Wild Card: It will be exciting to see if Brackenridge twin sister, Melody and Marissa Espinoza can go 1-2 in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m.
Thoughts: Alamo Heights has the best all-around team. Sam Houston will dominate the sprints while Brackenridge will own the distance events, but Alamo Heights should score quality points in every event.
District 28-5A Boys
Projected Order: Medina Valley, Southwest, Winn, South San, Southwest Legacy, Harlandale, Southside, McCollum
MVP: Anthony Zapata, Southwest Legacy
Wild Card: Carter Hewitt, Medina Valley. He will be entered in a lot of events and could accumulate the most individual points in the meet.
Thoughts: Medina Valley is easily the best team but there are a number of excellent individuals who could lay down some great performances.
District 28-5A Girls
Projected Order: Medina Valley, Southwest Legacy, Southwest, Southside, Winn, South San, Harlandale, McCollum
MVP: Aneesa Sheppard, Southside
Wild Card: One thing to watch for is following along to see how many events Medina Valley can sweep the top three spots and I have them slated to win all three relays.
Thoughts: This is no contest with Medina Valley the heaviest favorite of any 5A or 6A program in the San Antonio area.
Previewing the Week
I will be headed out to the District 28-6A meet at Heroes Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday. I have seen both the Reagan and Brandeis teams at multiple meets this year and their boys and girls are both ready great championship season runs this year.