UIL 3A Girls 4x100m
Taylor Nunez got the baton in fourth place for the Randolph
girls 4x100m relay team, but she accelerated quickly to overtake Gladewater, Bushland
and finally Fairfield to lead her team to a second straight State Title.
In the early going of the race it was Fairfield behind Madox
Mitchael who got off to a great start and were in first place at the first exchange.
They held their lead until Randolph ran them down on the home stretch.
Randolph opened with Jaela Smith and followed
with Cai Rogers and Jourdann Cathro before handing off to Nunez. Their time of
47.27 was slightly slower than their winning time from a year ago.
UIL 3A Girls 4x200m
Fairfield entered the 3A Girls 4x200m relay with the best
time from Regionals and they made it stick as the battled Gunter throughout in
an exciting race.
Gunter handed off first behind a great start by Elle Whitteker, but Fairfield reached the second exchange in the lead thanks to a
great leg by high jump champion Shadasia Brackens. Avery Thaler extended
Fairfield's lead heading into the final exchange and NaKayla Conner made it
stand up as she held off a late charge from Gunter's Ava Cantrell.
The Randolph relay team finished strong over
their last two legs to move into third place and position the team for an
overall team title.
UIL 3A Girls 4x400m
Shallowater repeated as the Girls 3A 4x400m relay champions
thanks to an outstanding final leg run by Makki Hart, the silver medalist in
the 400m.
Shallowater went back-and-forth with Gunter for nearly the
entire race with Randolph factoring in at different times. Shallowater and
Randolph got off to the best start but Shallowater took the lead for the first
time at the break-in point on the second leg due. Mia St. Clair kept them in
the lead going into the second exchange as she held off Sophia Bendet of
Randolph who minutes earlier had just won the 1600m.
On the third leg, Elle Whitteker reclaimed the lead for
Gunter and gave her squad the advantage heading into the last lap. Hart stayed a
few strides behind Gunter anchor Ava Cantrell until the final 100m where she
put on a final kick to fun by Cantrell and clock a 55.09 (unofficial) anchor
split.
