San Antonio News and Notes

Mar 06, 2024

Brennan's Caila Lyons set a school record in the 1600m this week.

As the calendar switched from February to March it was the busiest weekend of the season for San Antonio track teams. There were multiple schools that split their squads to send some athletes to one meet and others to another meet. It was also a week that started to clarify who are the actual State contenders in the area and it has me excited for the rest of the season.

The Best Thing I Saw

This week I was unable to make it out to a meet so it will be a little different note in this section. There is no one thing that sticks out but the best thing I saw this week was the amount of outstanding results I came across this week as I was perusing the results. Every meet I checked out had multiple "Wow" performances which bodes well for the championship season. The District and Regional meets should be amazing this year.

Taking Down the Competition

Reagan's Samuel Abati is putting together a senior season to remember. The University of Texas signee is the only pole vaulter in the State to clear 17-feet this year and he has done it at three of four meets this year. His lowest clearance was 16-6. He went 17-6 on February 24 at the Katy ISD Bubba Fife Relays which his top mark. This week, he went to the Texas A&M Bluebonnet Invitational and dominated a loaded competition. He cleared 17-2.75 and defeated eight others who went at least 15-feet. Abati is currently ranked #1 in the nation and has a chance to be the first Texas high schooler to clear 18-feet since Branson Ellis of Tyler Legacy went 18-3.25 at the 2018 State meet.

Small School Stars

There are a few schools that are on the outskirts of San Antonio that I don't get to cover as much, but I did want to highlight a few athletes that will be State contenders at the small school level this year. Stockdale's Camden Derricoatte was a 2A State finalist in the 110mH last year and is well on his way this year again. He won the Karnes City Badger Relays 110mH, 300mH and long jump this week. He owns season bests of 14.87 in the 110mH, 40.35 in the 300mH, 21-4 in the long jump and 43-5 in the triple jump giving him an opportunity to qualify for the State meet in four individual events.

Poth always has top level athletes and this year is no different. Aiden Reed and Larson Dziuk are both ranked in the top-5 in the State in the discus. This past week, they each threw the discus over 154-feet. Brooklyn Albert leads the Poth girls team and she won the 1600m in 5:22.23 and 3200m in 11:10.01 this past week putting in the top-5 in the State in both events.

Leading the Region

It is about the halfway point of the regular season and time to take a look at the Region IV leaders. In 3A, the Randolph boys and girls are at the top. The Ro-Hawk boys have the top mark in seven different events and Austin Young is individually leading the 100m, long jump and triple jump. Great Hearts Monte Vista leads in two events while Great Hearts Northern Oaks leads in one event. The Randolph girls also lead in seven events with Taylor Nunez and Sophia Bendet leading two apiece. Marion has the top mark in two events and Poth has one top mark.

At the 4A level, there are no local boys leaders, but the girls have solid representation. Canyon Lake's Cadence Patterson leads the 1600m and 3200m. In the field events, Kendall Lemm of Boerne, Zoe Breitsprecher of La Vernia and Madison Wright of Fredericksburg all have top marks. I would expect the Fredericksburg girls team to start showing up more in the rankings since the basketball season is now over.

At the 5A level, the top rankings are divided among many schools. Seguin, Southwest Legacy and Boerne Champion all lead in two events on the boys side while Smithson Valley has one top mark. Boerne Champion, Seguin and Smithson Valley all lead two girls event while Pieper and Veterans Memorial each lead in one event. All five of the girls teams reside in the same district.

The San Antonio area dominates the 6A boys leading 10 of the events with seven different schools involved. Reagan, Taft and Warren each lead two events while Brandeis, Brennan, O'Connor and Steele all lead one event. The San Antonio girls also lead 10 events, but Reagan leads seven of them with Isabella Dagrosa holding top marks in the 100mH, 300mH and long jump. Brandeis, Brennan and Harlan each lead one event.

Who's #1

Warren's Nick Ross and Harlan's Tate Taylor are on a collision course to determine the top sprinter in the area. Fortunately, fans will get to see the go head-to-head at the District 29-6A meet as well as Area and Regional meets before potentially one more chance at the State meet. Ross laid down the gauntlet with his performance at the Central Catholic Invitational where he ran a 10.52 in the 100m and a 21.37 in the 200m. Taylor responded this week with a 10.45 in 100m at the Ron Faught Relays. He has a top time of 21.61 in the 200m. The duo rank 1-2 in both events in the Region this year. It will be interesting to see if they both get to run the two individual events during the post season or if their teams will want them to run two relays instead.

Freshman Phenoms

My experience with high school track and field has shown me that it is not uncommon for a freshman girl to burst on the scene and immediately be really good, but it is less common with freshman boys. This year, Brandeis' Ben Tealer is turning that notion on its head. This week he ran a 48.24 in the 400m, 1:56.75 in the 800m and triple jumped 41-2. Two other boys that are showing out are throwers Kaleb Ned of Stevens and Jordan Pinones of East Central.

The top freshman girl this season is also from Brandeis, London Graham. She has been awesome in four different individual events; 100m (12.23), 200m (24.36), 400m (56.50) and long jump (18-0). There will be some tough decisions to make on what running events she competes in during the championship season. Savanah Moya of New Braunfels is another freshman who is making waves in the distance events. She owns season bests of 2:17.01 in the 800m, 5:09.73 in the 1600m and 11:19.83 in the 3200m.

There was one more freshman who really stood out this week, Smithson Valley's Izabella Sutherland. She is a member of the SV girls soccer team that is leading District 26-5A and she has contributed five goals to the season. On Saturday, she ran a 59.59 in the 400m, 2:20.12 in the 800m and high jumped 5-2.

School Records

In this section, I want to highlight the new school records that were set during the week. I need coaches to please let me know when you have a new record set. Either email me at shanemeling@gmail.com or message at me @ShaneMeling on X (Twitter).

Eli Perez, Floresville, 3200m, 10:01.38

Malik White, Taft, 300mH, 38.56

Taft Boys, 4x200m Relay, 1:28.56 (Malik White, David Aguirre, Cristian Mendoza, Ja'Dan Keiler)

Nyima Williamson, Veterans Memorial, Long Jump, 19-0.5

Sotomayor Boys, 4x400m Relay, 3:20.06

Sotomayor Boys, 4x100m Relay, 42.85

Zac Miller, Brennan, 3200m, 9:14.00

Caila Lyons, Brennan, 1600m, 5:12.22

Ryan Ramirez, Reagan, Discus, 164-4

Christopher Harris, Cornerstone, 800m, 1:53.04

Around the City

Medina Valley hosted a meet for the second straight week and this time both their boys and girls were meet champions. Churchill's Jake Hernandez and Ty Webb shined brightly on the track. Hernandez won the 110mH in 15.57 while Webb took the 100m in 10.91, a personal record. Webb has been more known for his long jump abilities, but he might be taking a step up in the sprints. He finished second to Marshall's Lance Brown in the long jump. Brown went 21-2 and has now eclipsed 21-feet in each of his last three meets.

Reesa Lowell and Kiyana Perez led the Medina Valley girls to the title. Lowell is a freshman who swept all three distance races. Her best distance appears to be the 1600m going forward this season. Perez continues to get better and better in the hurdle events. She won the 100mH in 14.89 and the 300mH in 47.84, both personal records, and then won the high jump with a 5-0 clearance. One more person to mention from the meet is Alasia Brown of Brackenridge who won the triple jump with a leap of 34-7.25.

A pair of local teams won the Smithville Tiger Relays. The Marion boys won with 170.5 points. They were led by thrower Michael Purcell who won the discus with a throw of 147-10 and was second in the shot put to teammate Justin Dehoyos. Dehoyos threw 44-4 and Purcell tossed the shot 43-8. Chase Hallmark was a double-winner in the triple jump (43-1) and long jump (20-1.5). Klarissa Frain was a double-winner for the champion Cole team. She took gold in both hurdle events.

The La Vernia boys won the Bandera Invitational thanks to a pair of outstanding relays. Their 4x100m team of Ty Carter, Keegan Hajek, Garrett Lamb and Aidan Duffek won in 43.87. The same quartet won the 4x200m relay in 1:32.46. Lytle's Johnny Rey Alvarez took gold in the 1600m (4:39.51) and 3200m (10:06.23) and he held off San Marcos freshman Tucker Jones in the 1600m by only .03 seconds.

The San Marcos girls were meet champions for the Bandera Invitational as well. Devine's Kylie Monreal had a nice meet winning the high jump (5-0) and taking second in the long jump (16-4) and 300mH (49.21). Bandera's Kinlee Lawlis won the 200m in 26.24 and was part of two winning relays teams, the 4x200m and 4x400m. The 4x200m team of Gabby Barrera, Jayla Blake, Sydney Moore and Lawlis ran 1:45.93 and the 4x400m team of Blake, Taytum Moeller, Lawlis and Jazlyn Dickerson ran 4:13.55.

San Antonio Christian hosted their annual event on Thursday and their boys were able to take the team title. Andrew Wright (Lutheran School) and Aiden Martinez (Great Hearts Monte Vista) were the big winners with three individual titles apiece. Wright won the 100m (10.99), 200m (22.09) and 400m (48.91). The 400m is likely his best event, but he is showing great short sprint speed as well. Martinez won the 110mH in 14.71 and the 300mH in 40.47 while also winning the triple jump with a mark of 40-6. Michael Estrada of the San Antonio Patriots won the shot put (54-7.5) and discus (164-0) with two outstanding marks while Josue Lerma of Holy Cross had a great toss in the discus of 157-7.

The San Antonio Patriots won the girls meet with help from Mikayla Kidney who won the 100m in 12.72. San Antonio Christian's Madi Schmitt ran well in taking the 1600m in 5:33.34 and the 3200m in 11:28.45. Madison Teague, a freshman from Northern Oaks, won the triple jump with a mark of 34-5.75.

The Smithson Valley Ranger Relays had more than their fair share of highlights. The Reagan boys won the meet without the help of Sam Abati who was winning the pole vault at the Texas A&M Bluebonnet Relays. The Reagan 4x100m team ran the fastest time in the city this year with their mark of 41.86. In the 4x200m, it was New Braunfels winning in 1:28.45 and the Rattlers were in second in 1:28.74. Hayden Scott of Brandeis showed he is in good form by winning the 800m (1:55.64) and 1600m (4:22.40). The meet may have had the best discus competition of the season with Boerne Champion's Riley Wampler (161-9), Reagan's Ryan Ramirez (164-4) and Smithson Valley's Jaxson Maynard (170-1) all throwing over 160-feet.

The SV girls won their own meet as their relay teams came to life for the first time this year. They won the 4x100m in 47.56 and the 4x400m relay in 3:54.84. Reagan's Dagrosa twins were their normal selves with Isabella winning the 100mH (14.20) and 300mH (41.95) and Mackenzie won the high jump with a 5-10 clearance while posting a solid time of 25.25 in the 200m. Brandeis' London Graham won the 200m in 24.36 and then outran SV's Jazmyn Singh to win the 400m in 56.50 while Singh crossed in 56.85. Canyon's Peyton Wilson continues to improve her marks in the discus and threw 132-5 to win. SV freshman Sofia Mitschke won the pole vault with a clearance of 11-6 to knock off teammate Ella Pickron and Champion's Peyton Smith who both cleared 11-0. Reagan's Aryiel Sherman cleared 5-6 in the high Jump to take second to her teammate.

Randolph traveled to the Tom Tom Relays in Yoakum this weekend and their boys were the meet champions while the girls finished in third place. The 1600m and 4x400m were not listed among the events completed. Austin Young won the long jump with a leap of 22-5 and he was second with a triple jump of 43-6. Their 4x100m relay team won in 43.51 and the 4x200m relay team won in 1:31.70. Taylor Nunez led the girls team with victories in the 100m (12.49) and long jump (19-11), the longest in San Antonio this year. Aubrey Milam took gold in the 3200m with a time of 11:35.77 while Sophia Bendet won the 800m in 2:16.01.

Judson hosted the Ron Faught Relays on Saturday and there were many outstanding performances. The Steele boys finished as runners-up to Killeen Shoemaker. Steele was led by Abdon Mata who won the shot put (48-10) and discus (161-3) and the Knights went 1-2-4 in the shot put. The Steele 4x100m relay tied with Harlan for second as both teams ran 41.68. Johnson picked up big points in the distance events as Michael Repper-Molina won the 800m in 1:58.42, Kyle Wunderli won the 1600m in 4:31.78 and Evan Packard was second in the 3200m in 9:56.60. Johnson also had Ty Hawkins win the triple jump with a leap of 44-0 and Thomas Bucks won the pole vault with a 15-6 clearance. Harlan's Tate Taylor won the 100m in 10.45 and Judson's Josiah Harris ran an outstanding time of 39.13 in the 300mH.

McAllen won the Ron Faught Relays girls meet with 130 points and Steele was runner-up with 125 points. Steele won all three relays with excellent times; 47.63 in the 4x100m, 1:42.08 in the 4x200m and 3:59.84 in the 4x400m. Justice Boston won the long jump (18-5) and triple jump (39-0.25) for the Knights as well. Victoria Arowosegbe of Clemens has been making a push to be considered among the top sprinters in the area and she won the 100m in 12.34 and 200m in 25.45. Alma Lazo-Cazares of O'Connor won the 400m in 58.71 and then took second in the 1600m in 5:23.24. Johnson's Taylor Fuentespina equaled the top pole vault mark in San Antonio this year with a winning jump of 12-0.

Multiple schools sent at least partial squads to the Border Olympics in Laredo and the Brennan boys brought back the top prize as meet champions. The Brennan quartet of Clifton McBride, Devin Gills, Micai Thompson and Omar Finney-Harding won the 4x100m in 41.91 to tie the meet record and they won the 4x200m in 1:27.91. McBride also won the 100m in 10.99. Wolfgang Thoener took first in the 800m for the Bears in 1:56.53 and Javyn Dolton nabbed gold in the triple jump with a leap of 44-5. Zac Miller added a win in the 3200m for Brennan with a school record time of 9:14.00. Sotomayor ran a great time in the 4x400m winning in 3:20.07. Their top 400m man is Elijah Hernandez who also won the open 400m in 49.14. Taft's Malik White won the 110mH in 14.32 and his teammate, Ja'Dan Keiler was second in the 300mH running 39.32.

In the girls division of the Border Olympics, the Brennan 4x200m relay team won in 1:44.24. Kalia Abernathy of Stevens was the only other winner taking the gold in the 100m in 12.46. Taft's Brooklyn Crow has been running extremely well this year and she took runner-up in both the 1600m (5:07.45) and 3200, (11:12.58). Kaelony King of Sotomayor picked up points in three individual events. She was second in the triple jump (34-8), fifth in the long jump (16-3) and third in the 200m (26.09).

Alamo Heights dominated the Edgewood Invitational winning both the boys and girls meets with over 200 points each. Michael Terry ran in his first meet of the year for Alamo Heights and won the 100m in a hand-held time of 10.69. Max Bacon of Alamo Heights and Jason Grant of LEE tied in the 110mH with a time of 15.06. Shyniece Davis of Jay won four individual events; 100m (12.09), 200m (26.43), 400m (1:00.11) and long jump (15-6). Sophia Zadel was the top point-getter for Alamo Heights after winning the high jump and triple jump and finishing second in the 300mH. LEE's Kendall Jones won the 100mH in 15.11.

The Southwest Legacy meet also featured hand-held times. Boerne won the boys meet while Clemens was the girls champion. Boerne's Logan Schram had an interesting double in winning the 100m and shot put. Boerne's Willie Freeman and Zane Castro of Health Careers had a great race in the 200m with Freeman edging out Castro, 22.06 to 22.08. The 110mH was another great race with Caleb Martinez of Clemens winning in 14.55 while Boerne's McCoy Bruce ran 14.72. Nyima Williamson of Veterans Memorial was the most impressive girl at the meet winning the 200m in 25.18 and long jump with a leap of 18-4.

Seguin traveled to the William D. Sirmon Invitational and had some nice sprint performances. Daisha Shular won the 100m in 12.34, 200m in 24.83 and the long jump with a leap of 18-0. Nikolas Henry won the 100m in 10.99 and the 200m in 22.40. In each case, the runners were going into the wind in the 100m. The Seguin boys also won the 4x200m in 1:29.10.

At the St Andrews SAS Relays, it was Lockhart winning both the boys and girls titles. Zeke Sanchez led the Lockhart boys with a victory in the 1600m running a strong time of 4:25.34. Cornerstone's Christopher Harris won the 800m in 1:53.04 and then anchored the winning 4x400m relay team to a 3:26.31 time. Davis McCray won the long jump for Cornerstone with a mark of 21-5.75. Jade Selmon was a double-winner for the Lockhart girls winning the 100mH and 300mH in 16.26 and 47.50, respectively. Her teammate, Kennedy Roland, took second in the high jump with a 5-4 clearance. Emily Easton of Cornerstone took gold in the shot put (37-7.75) and discus (106-11).

A few individuals from the area competed at the Texas A&M Bluebonnet Relays. In addition to Samuel Abati winning the pole vault Reagan's Gavin Chapa and Antonian's Mason Wokoma each ran well in the distance races. Chapa ran 1:57.39 in the 800m and then finished third in the 1600m with a time of 4:16.62. Wokoma finished the 800m in 1:55.59. Northern Oaks' Bella Haas ran the 800m in 2:19.70 and the 1600m in 5:12.64 on the girls side.

Looking Forward

This week both Harlandale and South San are scheduled to host meets on Wednesday and then Alamo Heights, Cornerstone, Falls City, La Vernia and Davenport have meets on Thursday. I plan to attend the Canyon Relays on Saturday as schools head into Spring Break.

Senior Signings

I would like to keep a running tally of all the track and field and cross country signings so please contact me if you notice someone is missing.

Ella Pickron, Smithson Valley, Colorado State

Erin Martin, Boerne Champion, West Texas A&M

Isabella Dagrosa, Reagan, Vanderbilt

Mackenzie Dagrosa, Reagan, Vanderbilt

Hayden Brace, Boerne Champion, USMA

Marcelo Parra, TMI, Princeton

Franco Parra, TMI, Princeton

Ben Blomqvist, Boerne Champion, Angelo State

Araceli Ford, O'Connor, UIW

Anthony Zapata, Southwest Legacy, UIW