San Antonio News and Notes for Week #10

The Best Thing I Saw

I saw a lot of things that I considered for the best thing I saw this week, but I'm going to limit it to just two. The first thing that popped into my head was support that the Reagan teams gave to their 4x400m relay squads. In the final four races of the meet, the entire Reagan squad was camped in the stands on the backstretch and chanted their runners name for each race and you could see the pick me up it gave to each of their athletes.

The second thing I saw that impressed me was the performance of Brandeis' Lokey Aguero-Munoz. The senior was everywhere for the Broncos. On the first day of action, he opened up his meet by winning the high jump with a clearance of 6-4. Next, he won the long jump with a leap of 22-3.5 despite not being the top seed. In the triple jump, he found himself behind Johnson's Ty Hawkins who had jumped over 44-feet until his fifth jump of the day, a huge mark of 46-5, #3 in the Region. The three wins were amazing and then he qualified seventh in the 200m to advance to finals. On the second day, he picked up third place finish in the 4x100m relay and then qualified third in the 200m meaning he has a potential of five events to compete in at the Area meet.

Recapping District 29-6A

The Brennan Bears won the District 29-6A boys title with 184 points easily lapping the field. Harlan was second with 100 points and O'Connor was third with 93. I was correct on Brenann winning the title and I had a happy miss about the most valuable performer. I chose Kyree Wilson of Brennan who had a solid meet taking third in the 110m hurdles and first in the 300m hurdles, but I have to go with his teammate, Armando Acevedo, as the meet MVP. Acevedo tied a meet record by clearing 7-0 in the high jump and added a win in the triple jump for good measure. He became the fourth member of the 7-foot club in the State with his clearance.

The other highlights from the meet start with Devin Gills of Brennan and Elijah Hernandez of Sotomayor. Gills won tightly contested races in the 100m and 200m and ran the first leg on the winning 4x200m relay team. Hernandez was able to pull off the 400m-800m double, an impressive feat. He ran 48.53 in the 400m and 1:57.45 in the 800m. In the distance races Brennan's Zac Miller and Holmes' Vincent Garza went 1-2 in the both the mile and 2-mile with each winning one race. Taft's Malik White continued his strong season in the 110m hurdles beating Wilson and hitting the tape in 14.41. In the field events, it was Waylon McKenzie in the discus and Briley Brown in the shot put taking home the gold medals for O'Connor.

In the girls meet, my top three team choices all proved to be correct with Harlan winning and Brennan and O'Connor in second and third, respectively. My MVP prediction was Caila Lyons of Brennan and she certainly did not disappoint with wins in the 400m (55.79) and 800m (2:14.35) and anchored the silver medal 4x400m relay team. I think I had the right idea but will have to change my selection to Harlan's Iyanna Webb. Webb won the long jump (19-3.5) and triple jump (38-3) on the first day and then came back to win the 300m hurdles (44.42), get second in the 100m hurdles (14.88) and anchored the winning 4x400m relay team, a total of 43 points!

The 400m was the best race of the meet. In addition to Lyons, it was Shyniece Davis of Jay running a 56.28, Iyanna Dixon of Sotomayor running 56.77 and Morghan Neely of Taft clocking 58.15. Araceli Ford (O'Connor) and Brooklyn Crow (Taft) traded gold and silver medals in the mile and 2-mile. Meanwhile, the only person to prevent Webb from getting five gold medals was Taft's Mya Robinson who edged her out in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.82. Harlan's Alexis Owens was a double winner in the throws with marks of 128-7 in the discus and 36-3.5 in the shot put.

District 28-6A Recap

I have already written many words on the District 28-6A meet. I just wanted to give an update my predictions. I had the top three picks correct in both the boys and girls meets with Reagan, Brandeis and Roosevelt finishing as the top three boys teams and Reagan, Brandeis and Johnson finishing as the top three girls teams. It was the seventh straight district title for the Reagan girls. I had picked Brandeis' Rafe Clendenin as the meet MVP and he won both throwing events, but I have to go with his teammate Lokey Aguero-Munoz as the MVP as his 40-point performance. On the girls side, I picked Reagan's Isabella Dagrosa and she ended up with three individual titles and a relay title to earn the meet MVP honors.

Recapping District 27-6A

The closest meet in the area was the District 27-6A boys that ended up being decided by four points. New Braunfels trailed Steele by eight points going into the 4x400m relay and the Unicorns pulled out a second place finish and 16 points while the Knights took fifth place to earn just four points. New Braunfels won with 149 points, Steele had 145 and Judson was third with 111 matching my prediction. I picked Kenneth Lott of Steele as my MVP choice, but I think the MVP's of the meet have to be the New Braunfels distance trio of Ethan Stutts, Connor Rocha and Dillon Gormley who swept both the mile and two-mile for a total of 48 points, nearly a third of the team's winning total in just two events.

Lott may have not been the MVP of the meet, but he still had a big impact. He was second in the 110m hurdles, won the long jump and took fourth in the high jump. State contenders Michael Pinones (East Central) in the shot put and Exavion Harris (San Marcos) in the triple jump each took care of business with strong performances. Judson had individual winners in the 100m (Jeremiah Jones) and 200m (Armon Couch) while East Central won the 400m (Rico Carpenter) and 800m (Dorian Mayorga-Holloway). Steele's William Davis was excellent with a winning time of 14.23 in the 110m hurdles and a strong second in the 300m hurdles (38.98). Jacob Redding of New Braunfels won the 300m hurdles with a time of 38.96 and was second in the high jump to teammate Joshua Minton. Steele's Dontae Carter had a great runner-up finish in the triple jump with a leap of 46-3.25. Pinones led a strong throws competition with a 63-feet shot put.

The Judson girls easily won with 218 points ahead of Steele (127) and New Braunfels (107) equaling my pre-meet thoughts. I chose Alexis Jessie of Judson as my pre-meet MVP and she earned the title. She racked up wins in the 200m (25.06), triple jump (39-9) and both sprint relays as well as nabbing second in the long jump.

There were multiple double winners in the meet. Destiny Hernandez of East Central won both the 1600m in 5:22.70 and 3200m in 11:38.58. Judson's Dayja'nae Pettit took home titles in the 100m hurdles (15.78) and 300m hurdles (45.79) each time defeating teammate Maria Flores to go 1-2. The Judson 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams are each ranked #1 in the Region after winning. Gia Booth of Judson was a double winner in the shot put (39-5.25) and discus (122-11). The final double winner was Ayleceia Pierson of San Marcos who took gold in the high jump (5-2) and long jump (18-2.25).

District 26-5A Recap

The District 26-5A boys meet went according to plan with Boerne Champion winning with 219 points followed by Smithson Valley and Canyon matching my pre-meet selection. I picked Champion's Ben Blomqvist as my MVP and he had a good meet scoring in four events, including a win in the high jump, but I will have to go with his teammate, Brock Lewis who won the 110m hurdles (15.25) and 300m hurdles (39.58) and a second-place finish on the 4x400m relay team. It was a close call, but I think Lewis' performances were slightly better than Blomqvist and a few others who had outstanding meets.

While Boerne Champion overwhelmed with numbers, there were many other superb performances from other schools. Smithson Valley senior Jahirey Calais won the 100m (11.10) and 200m (22.17) while also running the lead leg on the second place 4x100m relay team. Seguin won the 4x100m relay in 41.54 and the two teams are ranked 1-2 in the Region. Canyon's Nathan Aguilar, #1 in the Region in the 800m, won both the 800m (1:56.63) and 1600m (4:24.01). The 400m was a fabulous race with five runners under 50 seconds including Smithson Valley's AJ Breault (48.06) and Freddie Dubose (48.28) taking first and second, respectively. The discus was another thrilling event with SV and Champion each getting two throwers over 150-feet with Jaxson Maynard of the Rangers eventually winning with a throw of 158-5. I need to also mention Champion's Brooks Jones who won the pole vault with a 14-0 clearance and nabbed second in the high jump.

While they are only 5A, I think that the Boerne Champion and Smithson Valley girls teams are the two best teams in the area. I had SV winning the district title, but it was the Chargers pulling out a 10-point victory with the Lady Rangers in second and Canyon in third. I had picked Elizabeth Leachman of Champion to be the MVP and she was great in winning the 3200m in 10:22.41, which is top 25 nationally and the #1 5A time in the State. She was a double winner at the meet after winning the 1600m in 4:55.82. However, I have to change my pick to Smithson Valley's Alyssa Jones who was dynamic with four gold medals. She won the long jump with a mark of 19-4.5 and the 200m in 24.39 (24.09 in prelims) while running legs on the winning 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams that rank near the top in the State.

Seguin's Daisha Shular nearly matched Jones by winning the 100m (12.13), taking second in the long jump (19-3) and nabbing a pair of third places finishes in the 4x100m and 4x200m relays. Smithson Valley's Jazmyn Singh (400m), Mia Perez (800m), Ella Pickron (pole vault) and Zada Zimmerman (100m hurdles) each won an individual event. Champion won individual titles in the 300m hurdles (Addison Hankins) and shot put (Hailee Goodwin). Canyon's Grace Conley won the triple jump with a leap of 37-7 and she ranks first in the Region.

Recapping District 27-5A

The Alamo Heights boys ran away with the district title finishing ahead of MacArthur and Edison. I got Alamo Heights and MacArthur correct but was wrong about Edison. I also had Mike Terry winning the MVP and I feel good about that after he won the 100m and 400m and was second in the 200m and high jump.

In addition to Terry, Rett Andersen won the long jump and triple jump and as a team they won all three relays. Sam Houston's Jaeden Servantez had an excellent meet finishing second in the 100m and defeating Terry in the 200m. Jefferson's superstar distance runner Henok Hagos did not disappoint as he won both the 1600m (4:23.51) and 3200m (9:26.91) against tough competition from the likes of Nolan Keenan and Joseph White of Alamo Heights. Edison's one individual title came from Jase Rodriguez thanks to his discus throw of 133-11. In the hurdle events it was Alamo Heights freshman Jack Hollimon who won the 110m hurdles and Khenedy Jackson of Highlands won the 300m hurdles in 41.95. Leo Bowen, one of the top pole vaulters in the State, won the event with a simple 13-0 clearance.

The girls meet was much closer than I originally thought. Alamo Heights won with 144 points, just 16 ahead of MacArthur and 27 ahead of Brackenridge. My pre-meet prediction was that Melody Espinoza of Brackenridge would be the MVP. Melody won the 800m, 1600m and 3200m running times of 2:22.09, 5:10.85 and 11:19.08, respectively. Even more impressive was that Melody and her sister, Marissa, went 1-2 in each event earning 54 points.

The only other multiple event winner at the meet was Brackenridge's Alasia Brown. She won the long jump (17-4.5), triple jump (34-11.75) and 300m hurdles (48.48) and she was also second in the 100m hurdles (17.71). Sam Houston dominated the sprints winning the 4x100m and 4x200m relays while getting individual wins from Dimushae Chase Simmons in the 100m and Jadae Freeman in the 200m. Despite winning the meet, Alamo Heights only won the 4x400m relay, the high jump (Laney Crowell) and pole vault (Victoria Baker).

District 28-5A Recap

Medina Valley won the District 28-5A meet handily with 194 points while Southwest was second with 122 and South San was third with 84. I picked the first two positions but missed on South San. I predicted that Anthony Zapata of Southwest Legacy would be the meet MVP. Zapata lived up to the billing by winning the 3200m on the first day in 9:28.37 and the 800m in 1:56.71 and 1600m in 4:26.50 on the second day. He won all three races in comfortable fashion.

Carter Hewitt was Medina Valley's top performer at the meet. He won the 100m in 11.16 and the long jump with a leap of 21-10. He ran the anchor leg on the winning 4x100m relay team and was second in the 200m. Southwest's Angel Quintero won the 200m in 22.32 and was runner-up to Hewitt in the 100m. South San picked up some big points in the 400m and 110m hurdles. Joshua Salas and Antonio Ramos took first and second in the 400m and then Elegant Thompson won the 110m hurdles in 16.42. Southwest's Hipolito Salazar was the winner in the discus with a toss 158-5 and nabbed second in the shot put. Southwest also took the top two spots in the triple jump behind Ronjay Johnson and Dieh-Michael Butler-Fields.

In the girls meet, Medina Valley racked up 271 points more than triple of any other team. Southwest Legacy was second and Southwest was third making me 3-for-3 on my predictions. I had Southside's Aneesa Sheppard being the MVP. Looking closely at the results and it shows she won the long jump (17-0.5) and triple jump (36-3.75) and she was on all three relays teams that earned a pair of second place finishes and one fourth place putting her in potentially five events at the Area meet.

Medina Valley dominated the meet sending three competitors on to the Area meet in the 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles and discus in addition to winning all three relays. MV's Elia Evans won the 100m and 200m by more than half a second in each race. Southwest's Madisson Perez and Southwest Legacy's Alicia Galvez hooked up in a pair of epic finishes. Perez won the 800m by 0.03 over Galvez in 2:21.61 while Galvez won the 1600m by 0.06 in 5:26.43. Rosalie Hernandez of Medina Valley won both hurdle events.

School Records

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

Mya Robinson, Taft, 300 hurdles, 46.53 at District 29-6A

Armando Acevedo, Brennan, high jump, 7-0 at District 29-6A

Iyanna Dixon, Sotomayor, 400, 56.77 at District 29-6A

Mahogany Pierce, Brennan, long jump, 17-9 at District 29-6A

Caila Lyons, Brennan, 400, 55.79 at District 29-6A

Alyssa Jones, Smithson Valley, 200, 24.09 at District 26-5A

Elijah Hernandez, Brennan, 400, 48.53 at District 29-6A

AJ Breault, Smithson Valley, 400, 48.6 at District 26-5A

Ethan Malesich, Brandeis, 800, 1:54.49 at District 28-6A

Samuel Abati, Reagan, pole vault, 15-10 at District 28-6A

Zac Miller, Brennan, 1600, 4:31.93 at District 29-6A

Around the City

I did not do any small school predictions but wanted to give some recaps. In District 28-4A it was the La Vernia boys who won with 226 points and they were followed by Gonzales (118), Cuero (115) and YMLA (110). YMLA's Jeremiah Conaway picked up 28 points and he won the triple jump. La Vernia was led by Davyeon Burch who won both the 100m and 200m. They ended up winning every individual race except for the hurdles. In the throws it was YMLA picking up big points behind Aaron Pinckney who won the discus and was second in the shot put. His teammate, Trevin Demby won the shot put.

The District 28-4A girls title went to Cuero with 189 points and La Vernia was right behind with 182 points and Gonzales was third with 140 points. Kennedy's Treasure Vallerie led all athletes with 34 points. She won the 400m in a time of 58.94, won the 200m, took second in the 100m and fourth in the high jump. Katie Dallas of La Vernia pulled off yeoman's work by winning the 800m, 1600m and 3200m. Finally, LV's Zoe Breitsprecher cleared 10-6 in the pole vault for the win.

In District 29-4A, it was the Pearsall boys who won with 137 points and they were followed by Pleasanton (112) and Floresville (93). Curtis Saenz won the 100m and 200m for Pearsall and anchored the winning 4x100m relay team. Uvalde's Jack Collins had a strong meet winning both the 800m and 1600m. There were a couple nice field performances with Gavino Gutierrez of Pearsall winning the shot put with a 48-6 toss, Evan Guardiola of Pleasanton won the discus with a mark of 149-6.5 and Pearsall's Jose Ramirez won the triple jump with a leap of 42-7.5.

Devine won the District 29-4A girls meet with 168 points while Pleasanton was second and Uvalde was third. Devine's Avery Cruz won the 200m and the triple jump with a distance of 35-0. Jalene Hodges of Carrizo Springs took the 400m and 800m while Floresville's Alyssa Quinones won the 1600m and 3200m. Jezzie Leal of Pearsall won the 100m hurdles and dominated the high jump with a clearance of 5-5.

The District 26-3A boys saw Randolph win with 202 points and they were followed by Marion (127) and Great Hearts Northern Oaks (113). Austin Young of Randolph had a big meet winning the 100m and long jump (21-11) while running legs on the winning 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams. Great Hearts Northern Oaks had two runners pick up a bunch of points. Isai Moran won the 800m, 1600m and 3200m while Brendan Smith was first in the 400m, second in the 200m. Randolph's Parker Cabra and Great Hearts Monte Vista's Aiden Martinez went 1-2 in both hurdle events with each getting one victory and Martinez also was second in the triple jump.

The girls District 26-3A meet can be summed up with one name, Taylor Nunez of Randolph. She led the Ro-Hawks to a runaway District title by winning the 100m (11.76), 200m (24.19), and long jump (20-0.25) and she anchored the winning 4x100m relay (48.59). Nunez was not the only star for Randolph as Sophia Bendet won the 800m (2:17.05) and 1600m (5:11.77). Cole's Maddison Kitson had a nice meet winning the triple jump and 300m hurdles while taking third in the long jump. Marion had two pole vaulters go over 10-feet with Maggie Rudisaile winning at 10-6. Randolph finished with 249 points while Cole was second with 142 points and Marion was third with 104 points.

Previewing the Week