An excellent track meet was cut
short by lightning on Thursday night. The Northeast Invitational held at Heroes
Stadium was rolling along with many athletes showing they are ready for the
championship season coming up in two weeks when a lightning alert stopped the
meet after the first heat of the varsity boys 200m.
Despite the meet being called with the 1600m and 4x400m remaining it was chock full of outstanding performances. There were four meet records set starting with Joshua Jackson of Clemens jumping out of his shoes and flying 24-1.5 in the long jump. On the track, Boerne Champion super star Elizabeth Leachman cruised through the 800m in 2:10.74 and Reagan's Isabella Dagrosa set records in both the 100mH (14.16) and the 300mH (43.62).
Reagan won the girls meet with 167 points while Champion was second with 121 points and Churchill was third with 63 points. The Rattlers won three of the six field events including a 1-2-3 finish in the high jump behind Mackenzie Dagrosa (5-8), Aryiel Sherman (5-2) and Divine Ajuzie (5-0). Isabella Dagrosa took gold in the long jump as she narrowly won with a mark of 18-0.75. Erin Martin of Boerne Champion jumped 17-11.75 and Jay's Shyniece Davis went 17-9. Mariana Salazar took the final field gold for Reagan with a toss of 36-1.75 in the shot put.
Clark's Rachel Nwankwo and Champion's Peyton Smith each won their events with season best marks. Nwankwo went 37-11.5 in the triple jump while Sherman took second with a leap of 37-5.5. Smith cleared 12-0 in the pole vault for the first time this season. The final field event was won by Churchill's Nia De Luna who threw 100-8 in the discus and Lila Chilton of Reagan was second with a throw of 99-9.
On the track, it appears that Clark's Jade Perez is rounding into form. She held off a pair of top runners in Kynley Albright of Boerne Champion and Virginia Lessner of LEE en route to winning the 3200m in 11:37.20. She edged out Albright right at the end who finished second in 11:37.28 and Lessner was third in 11:49.03.
The Reagan sprint relays dominated both the 4x100m and 4x200m relays. Kiana Douglas, Romina Reyes, Katie Burnett and Nnenna Opara ran 47.51 in the 4x100m and they subbed out Burnett for Mackenzie Dagrosa in the 4x200m and ran 1:42.90. Isabella Dagrosa had the team's other two gold medals on the track in both hurdle events. LEE's Kendall Jones also ran quite well in the hurdles taking second in the 100mH with a time of 15.58 and she was second in the 300mH with a time of 46.28.
Victoria Arowosegbe of Clemens was the only other double-winner in the meet. She won the 100m in 12.55 and the 200m in 25.46. In each case she was able to hold off Shyniece Davis who ran 12.67 in the 100m and 25.66 in the 200m. Davis also grabbed a gold medal in the 400m which she won in 58.33.
In addition to winning the 800m, Leachman ran the 400m in 1:02.37 and finished in third place. She was scheduled to run the 1600m, but weather prevented it from happening.
Reagan also won the boys meet with 135 points while Boerne Champion was second with 132 and Clemens was third with 112. The final results may have been different had the 200m, 1600m and 4x400m been finished.
Reagan won two field events and Champion won three but the best performance may have been Joshua Jackson's victory in the long jump for Clemens. Jackson, a junior, had never gone farther than 22-feet in the past but it all came together on his massive jump of 24-1.5. He topped off his day by also winning the 100m in a season best time of 10.97.
Reagan's Sam Abati posted another win in the pole vault clearing 17-0 for the fourth time this season and nearly had 17-9. Ryan Ramirez won the other field gold for the Rattlers with a throw of 159-9 in the discus to win a tough competition that included Boerne Champion's Riley Wampler who was second with a toss of 150-2.
Wampler added another runner-up finish in the shot put with a throw of 48-2 and his teammate, Nico Lopez, won with a heave of 48-9.75. In the triple jump, Hayden Brace took gold for the Chargers with a mark of 45-2 while Jay's Zack Mota was second with a leap of 42-9. Brace was also second in the long jump with a distance of 22-4.75. Champion's final gold in the field came from Briggs Jones in the high jump. He cleared 6-2 for the win.
Charles Houck of Boerne Champion ran an outstanding last two laps in the 3200m to hold off Reagan's Luke Munoz and LEE's Arlo Gonzales. Houck finished in 9:37.13 while Munoz clocked 9:39.77 and Gonzales posted a time of 9:40.63. The Chargers also won the 4x200m in 1:28.58 behind the quartet of Landon Heckman, Sawyer Bolli, Brace and Jamarri Bowie. Reagan took second in the race with a solid time of 1:28.96.
The Rattlers won a hotly contested 4x100m relay. The team of Cole Pryor, Joseph Baruwa, William Calk and Rayshun Hurt won in 42.36 while Clemens crossed in 42.49 and Champion was third in 42.64. Derek Davisson gave Reagan a big performance in the hurdles against tough competition from Jackson Jones of Clemens. Davisson won the 110mH in 15.39 and then took gold in the 300mH in 40.94. In each case he beat Jones by less than a tenth of a second. The duo should see each other again at the Area meet.
The 800m was a fun race to watch. Churchill's Alejandro Rosales pushed the pace right from the start and came through the 400m in approximately 54 seconds. He was able to hold off Champion's Luis Tovar to win in a time of 1:54.84. Tovar came in second in 1:55.27 and his teammate, Caleb Dehart, was third in 1:58.66.
Clemens showed their strength in the 400m as Roman Samaniego ran a personal best 51.04 to take the win and Bloomfield Yarbrough was second in 51.89.