Smithson Valley's Jaxson Maynard runs the thrower's relay at last year's SV Ranger Relays
A new year means we are now less than a month away from the first outdoor track meets of the season. The San Antonio area track events have all been previewed and now is the time to switch to the field events. In watching a track meet there are two specific events that look amazing when they are performed well. The first is the triple jump where a great triple jumper looks like they are floating with no effort and the second is today's preview, the discus. When done correctly it appears like the implement is taking off and will never come down.
6A Boys
The expectation is that Steele's Abdon Mata will be the top discus thrower in 6A this year and he should contend for a State berth. He has a top throw of 171-2 and is the #2 returner in Region IV. Last year, six of the top eight and 11-of-16 at the Regional meet were seniors leaving it wide open this year.
After Mata, there are five returners who all threw the implement at least 150-feet last year. Reagan boasts Ryan Ramirez (157-10) and Hurst Tyler (150-3) in that group plus two others who could be in the mix, Hector Ucha and Alex Trevino. O'Connor's Waylon McKenzie made the Regional meet last year where he had a season best throw of 157-1. Josiah Green (Judson) and Lionel Scott (Johnson) are the other two who threw over 150'. One incoming freshman to follow is East Central's Jordan Pinones who is the brother of University of Texas thrower Michael Pinones.
6A Girls
Harlan's Alexis Owens has the top returning mark from last year with a throw of 123-3 and despite winning the Area meet she did not compete at the Regional meet. She will have some stiff competition for the top spot in the area with Johnson's Jera Salters breathing down her neck. As a freshman, Salters consistently threw over 100-feet and had a season best of 117-2 at the Area meet where she qualified for the Regional meet. I think they will battle of the top spot this year, but will have to deal with Harlingen's Jazmine Thompson at the Regional level.
After Owens and Salters there are five others who threw at least 100-feet. Judson's Samaria Barnett and Brandeis' Alexandria Boggan were each over 105-feet. Two others who just missed throwing 100-feet were Arrian Spratt of Marshall and Maya Maldonado of Harlan who were each freshman last year.
5A Boys
Smithson Valley senior Jaxson Maynard is the top returner after qualifying for the State meet with a throw of 172-1 at the Regional meet, but he will be challenged this year by rivals from Boerne Champion as well as his own teammates. Champion's Riley Wampler should provide the biggest challenge after throwing 167-8 last year even though he did not make it out of a loaded District 26-5A.
District 26-5A has seven of the top 10 returning 5A throwers. After Maynard and Wampler both Aiden Harris (Boerne Champion) and Dylan Gass (Smithson Valley) threw it over 150-feet last year and competed at Regionals. Pieper's Landon Ashpaugh, SV's Gavin Garcia and Wagner's Jerry Allen round out the district competition. Jonathan Burns of Medina Valley was a top-level competitor last year while Smithson Valley freshman Hans Scheff threw 167-3 over the summer in AAU competition.
5A Girls
The Canyon girls could dominate the division this year with three of the top four returners. Junior Peyton Wilson is the top overall returner after throwing 121-8 at the Regional meet after winning the District 26-5A title. Joining her at the top of the charts are Paige Bedgood and Kate Wommack who each threw the discus at least 108-feet as freshmen last year.
Siara Hardeman of Highlands joins Wilson as the only two returning Regional competitors. She had her season best performance of 110-11 at the Area meet and then finished off the season with a throw of 108-9 at Regionals. There are a total of nine girls who threw over 100-feet last year. Boerne Champion's Lorena Barreiro-Bidot and Smithson Valley's Lisabeth Steinhiser each threw over 106' and could compete for the top spot this year.
4A Boys
The 4A level was dominated by seniors last year with 11-of-14 Regional finalists graduating. However, there is one local returner and that is Pleasanton's Evan Guardiola who finished fifth and is the top overall returner in Region IV. He threw 149-6 as a sophomore last year and was over 145-feet at the District, Area and Regional meets.
Boerne has four returners who all threw over 120-feet last year including Braden Bays (133-4) and Keagan Fischer (129-4). La Vernia's Zack Crow and Devine's Karter Brown each threw over 140-feet one time last year but will need to be more consistent this year to challenge Guardiola.
4A Girls
Boerne's Avery Aaron and Fredericksburg's Reese Sagebiel should be the top local throwers this year. Aaron, a 2,000-point scorer on the basketball court, threw her best mark at the Regional meet last year where she finished seventh with a throw of 118-10. Sagebiel has a better top throw, 120-4, but only threw 109-3 at Regionals.
After Aaron and Sagebiel, there are only two others who eclipsed 100-feet last year, Madison Wright of Fredericksburg and Zae Limmer of Davenport. Wright and Limmer did not advance out of the loaded District 27-4A last year. District 27-4A will once again be a gauntlet with six girls having top marks of at least 98-feet.
3A Boys
Unlike most of the other levels, the 3A boys was dominated by underclassmen last year which means that 2024 could be a spectacular season. Poth boasts Aiden Reed and Larson Dziuk who each finished in the top-5 in the Region. Reed has the best returning throw of 154-6 while Dziuk is the top returning local from the Regional meet where he threw 141-7.
There is a clear delineation in the top four throwers this year in 3A. Joining Reed and Dziuk in the mix are Marion's Michael Purcell and Randolph's Samuel Oakland. Purcell threw 150-5 at the Area meet while Oakland has a best of 139-2. All four of the throwers finished in the top eight at the Regional meet. After the top group, Jourdanton has two throwers to follow in Jayden Skelton and Joseph Casarez.
3A Girls
The 3A girls are not as strong as the boys in the discus but there is still one who could make a bid for the State meet and that is Dakota San Miguel of Dilley. Last year, she threw 113-11 at her district meet and then finished seventh in the Region with a toss of 103-9. A good day could see her on the podium at Regionals this year. Cotulla's Sedelia Wilson is the only other returner who competed at Regionals and threw over 100-feet last year. Poth's Amelia Lyssy came up a half foot short of 100-feet.
After the top three, the next throwers to highlight are three who were freshmen last year. Addison Fischer of Karnes City threw 81-7, Martina Ytuarte of Lytle threw 79-8 and Kayle Guzman of Cotulla heaved the discus 79-1. Randolph's Elizabeth Bracamonte is better in the shot put but is among the top five returners in both events.
Other Boys
I am combining the private schools, smaller public schools and homeschool athletes into one group. There is a group of five returners who all threw over 140' and the top of the list is headlined by Michael Estrada of San Antonio Patriots. He was the Texas Homeschool State champion last year with a toss of 160-4 and he eclipsed 153-0 on five separate occasions.
Holy Cross has a pair of excellent discus throwers in Josue Lerma and Daniel Alonzo. Lerma had his best performance at the TAPPS Regional meet that he won with a throw of 155-9. Alonzo had a season best of 145-1 and finished higher than Lerma at the State meet. Lerma should be one of the favorites for the TAPPS 4A State title this year. Cannen Kyle of New Braunfels Christian Academy took fourth in TAPPS 3A and has a top mark of 143-6. Finally, Central Catholic's TAPPS 6A silver medalist Nicholas Hughes returns with his personal best of 148-11.
Other Girls
The top two returners in all of San Antonio are Sophia Grinstead of Bracken Christian and Cayla Albers of Falls City. Grinstead was the TAPPS 2A State champion as a sophomore with her toss of 125-3 and matched it with a title in the shot put. Albers finished fifth in UIL 2A with a best mark of 123-8 and she was also the State champ in the shot put.
There are five others who have throws of at least 100-feet. Bracken Christian's Jillian Land took fourth in TAPPS 2A and has a top throw of 107-9. Jenna Arguello of Holy Cross matched Land with a fourth place in TAPPS 4A with her toss of 109-6. Cornerstone's Emily Easton is right in the mix after throwing 108-8 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.