San Antonio News and Notes for Week #8

Mar 26, 2024

Photo of Aubrey Milam from the 2023 UIL State Meet

For many teams this was their final normal regular season week. The Texas Relays are coming up this weekend which means many teams will be sending split squads to different places while others are taking the week off to prepare for district meets that start next week. If the regular season is any preview for championship season this could be one for the record books in San Antonio.

The Best Thing I Saw

I attended the Northeast Invitational at Heroes Stadium this past week and saw some outstanding performances like Elizabeth Leachman running a 2:10.74 in the 800m for Boerne Champion and Reagan's Sam Abati clearing 17-0 in the pole vault for the fourth time this year. However, the best thing I saw this week was something that I did not actually see with my own eyes, but since I was in the stadium I will count it. Clemens junior Joshua Jackson has been long jumping in the high 21's and low 22's this year until Thursday when he uncorked a 24-1.5 leap! For reference, the San Antonio area had zero 24-foot long jumpers last year and it is over a foot longer than anyone else in the city this year.

Mano y Mano

NISD hosted an outstanding meet last week called the Alamo Relays and it featured the top two boys in the 100m and 200m this year, Tate Taylor of Harlan and Nick Ross. In each case Taylor came out on top running 10.77 in the 100m and 21.07 in the 200m while Ross was right behind in 10.90 in the 100m and 21.52 in the 200m. It was Taylor's fastest time of the season in the 200m. The two runners should get used to running against each other because they are ranked 1-2 in the Region in both events and will go head-to-head at the district, area and regional levels before they could both qualify for the State meet.

That's Why It's Called Track AND Field

There are many athletes who are outstanding in multiple track or multiple field events, but there are a few that are truly stars on the track and in the field. The names that pop into my head are Dilley's Dorian Aranda, Ty Webb of Churchill, Joshua Jackson of Clemens, Camden Derricoatte of Stockdale, Isabella Dagrosa and Mackenzie Dagrosa of Reagan, Iyanna Webb of Harlan, Shyniece Davis of Jay, Taylor Nunez of Randolph, Nyima Williamson of Veterans Memorial, and Daisha Shular of Seguin to name a few. I am sure I have missed some people but each of these has at least one outstanding track and one outstanding field event they contribute to their teams every week. For an unknown reason, it seems like there are more girls pulling double-duty this year than boys, but I am sure that is something that goes back and forth each year.

Keeping a Low Profile

Brandeis senior Hayden Scott has not raced nearly as many races as he did last year, but it appears he is rounding into form for a great finish to the season. He has run the 800m more than any previous year and posted a personal record time of 1:55.64 at the Smithson Valley Ranger Relays at the start of March. Since then, he has dropped a solid time of 4:17.91 in the 1600m at the Texas Distance Festival and then he ran a 9:21.78 in the 3200m this week at the Alamo Relays which was the second fastest 2-mile time of his career. It will be interesting to see what events he runs at the District meet this year.

Sprint Relays

It was a really good weekend for sprint relays in Texas with the Humble Atascocita boys breaking the national high school record in the 4x100m relay but they were not the only ones running fast. Around the San Antonio area the Seguin boys 4x100m team of Kayden Holz, Nik Henry, Ocean Moreno and Elliott Weaver nearly broke 41 seconds with a time of 41.08 while Brennan set a new school record with a time of 41.66. In the 4x200m, the Wagner boys ran 1:27.74 at the Candy Tanner Relays and Seguin ran 1:27.79 at the Matador Relays. The two teams will see a lot of each other since they are both in District 26-5A. The Reagan girls continue to hold the top spot in the area in both the 4x100m and 4x200m with times of 47.04 and 1:38.84, respectively. They won both events this weekend at the Northeast Invitational. Smithson Valley's girls are #2 in the 4x100m with a top time of 47.56 while the Harlan girls ran a season best in the 4x200m this week of 1:40.70 putting them #2 in the area.

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).

Fredericksburg Girls, DMR, 12:46.77 (Ann Claire Cop, Ava Stuewe, Rilyn Grona, Taylor Grona)
Fredericksburg Girls, 4x800m, 9:52.91 (Madalyn Kovar, Rilyn Grona, Ann Claire Cop, Taylor Grona)
Arlen Hanle, Wimberley, 3200m, 9:53.97
Maddie Reagan, Davenport, 3200m, 11:37.44
Joshua Jackson, Clemens, Long Jump, 24-1.5
Aubrey Fallon, Davenport, Shot Put, 32-0
Gianni Evans-Williams, Davenport, Triple Jump, 44-8.5
Brennan Boys, 4x100m, 41.66 (Clifton McBride, Micai Thompson, Devin Gills, Omar Finney-Harding)
Justice Boston, Steele, Long Jump, 18-9.5
Giselle Gonzalez, Providence, 800m, 2:22.46
Elijah Hernandez, Sotomayor, 400m, 47.96
Ja'Dan Keiler, Taft, 300mH, 38.05
Kinlee Lawlis, Bandera, 200m, 24.95

Around the City

The Pieper boys won the Wimberley Texan Relays behind a great performance from hurdler Isaiah Champagne. He won the 110mH in 15.85 and the 300mH in 40.68. The Warriors are very deep in the triple jump this year and went 1-2 behind Kahdyn Freeman (43-9) and Rashard Dunbar (43-6). Wimberley's Arlen Hanle had his best meet of the year taking the 3200m in a school record time of 9:53.97 and then he won the 1600m in 4:33.86.

The Wimberley girls were able to hold serve in their own meet getting another strong performance from Baylee Gold who won the 100mH and triple jump. Laney Hennessee gave them a gold medal in the long jump with a mark of 18-3. Canyon Lake's Cadence Patterson has been great all year and it was no different on Thursday as she won the 800m (2:18.87) and 1600m (5:04.64) while her teammate Ayren Lightfoot ran well in the 400m (57.74) and 200m (25.58). Pieper's Caroline Peterson won the high jump again with a clearance of 5-6. The Canyon Lake and Wimberley 4x400m relay teams had a showdown with the Hawks winning in 4:02.91 while Wimberley finished in 4:03.72.

Fredericksburg swept both the boys and girls titles at the Charlie Dobbs Antler Relays. The 3200m ended up being a great race on the boys side with Antonian freshman John Boland winning in 9:51.13 but Antonian's Todd Worth (9:53.67), Davenport's Eli Bliss (9:54.38), Boerne's Carsten Bain (9:54.64) and Aaron Garcia (9:55.33) of Boerne were all close behind him. Uvalde's Jack Collins ran well in both the 800m (1:57.42) and 1600m (4:29.45). Antonian closed out the meet with a 3:24.40 in the 4x400. In the field events, Blanco's Reggie Johnson threw 50-2 in the shot put and 155-3 in the discus.

The Fredericksburg girls received strong performances from Ann Claire Cop and their two throwers, Madison Wright and Reese Sagebiel. Cop won the 3200m in 11:30.52 and then the 1600m in 5:18.32. Wright won the shot put with a toss of 39-7 and was second with a throw of 104-3 in the discus. Sagebiel switched places with her taking second in the shot put (36-9) and first in the discus (119-10). Uvalde's Analeigha Najera ran a strong 100m winning in 12.67.

Judson hosted their Candy Tanner relays on Thursday and it produced some excellent results. Jakob Gilbreth of New Braunfels posted an unusual double by winning the 100m in 10.72 and the 400m in 49.18. Wagner's Donavan Lang led his team's sprinting crew with a victory in the 200m in 21.84, part of a 1-2-3 finish for his squad. Wagner also won the 4x100m in 42.21 and the 4x200m in 1:27.74. Taft might have the top two hurdlers in the area this year. Malik White won the 110mH in 14.43 and ran a great time of 38.40 in the 300mH, but he could not beat teammate Ja'Dan Keiler who ran 38.05 to set a new school record. Keiler was also second in the 110mH with a time of 14.75. Judson's Josiah Harris was no slouch in the 300's clocking a time of 39.02.

Nyima Williamson of Veterans Memorial had another great performance at the Candy Tanner Relays winning the long jump with a leap of 18-9.75 and running a 25.34 in the 200m. Taft freshman Daniela Shelfo was a double winner in the 400m (58.81) and 800m (2:22.08). Paige Beeghley of New Braunfels has been very consistent this year in the pole vault even though I have not written much about her, but she cleared 11-0 to take the victory.

At the Poth Pirate Relays it was Goliad taking both team titles, but there were still many quality performances from local athletes. Dilley's Dorian Aranda continued his multi-event success winning the 100m (10.79), 200m (22.18), long jump (22-7) and triple jump (44-4.5). San Antonio Christian's Adrian Rule ran two nice races winning the 1600m in 4:24.94 and the 3200m in 9:40.21. Finally, the Poth throwing duo of Larson Dziuk and Aiden Reed picked up big points. Dziuk threw the discus 157-4 while Reed went 155-11 and 50-3.75 in the shot put.

Brooklyn Albert led the Poth girls by taking three gold medals in the 800m (2:19.83), 1600m (5:11.84) and 3200m (11:14.00). Falls City's Cayla Albers appears to be gearing up for her championship season with a solid day throwing 127-10 in the discus and 37-3.5 in the shot put. The Falls City relay teams have been on fire all year and it was no different on Thursday as they took second in the 4x100m (49.87), first in the 4x200m (1:44.52) and first in the 4x400m (4:05.48). Kenley Wiatrek and Keandra Johnson run on all three relays while Camber Pipes and Chloe Cavalier are on two of the teams.

The Randolph Ro-Hawks Relays were cut short due to weather so they did not have the 1600m, 4x400m or any field events posted in their final results. However, Jaeden Servantez of Sam Houston won the 100m and 200m for the boys and Aiden Martinez of Great Hearts Monte Vista ran excellent times in the 110mH (14.93) and 300mH (40.27). Randolph's Sophia Bendet ran the fastest 800m time in the area this year with a 2:10.43 while Taylor Nunez crossed the line in the 200m in 24.17. Marion's Maggie Luna had a strong day running 12.80 in the 100m and 26.49 in the 200m.

At the Alamo Relays the Brennan boys edged out Harlan by four points to take the team title. I have already mentioned some of the great performances by Tate Taylor, Nick Ross and Hayden Scott at the meet. Sotomayor's Elijah Hernandez lowered his own school record in the 400m with a time of 47.96. Brennan's Zac Miller has been running well all season and it was no different on Saturday with times of 4:23.62 in the 1600m and 9:34.33 in the 3200m. Javyn Dolton of Brennan separated himself as the top triple jumper in the area with a bound of 46-8.5 and then he added a win in the long jump with a mark of 21-4. Johnson's Thomas Bucks has been easily the #2 pole vaulter in the area this year and cleared 15-6.

The Johnson girls have been putting together a strong season this year and they won the Alamo Relays with 125 points while Harlan was second with 109. Harlan's Iyanna Webb was the big scorer in the meet with gold medals in the 100mH (15.16), long jump (19-6) and triple jump (41-10) while adding a silver in the 300mH (45.75). The 100m, 200m and 400m all featured close races with some of the best runners in the area. Harlan's Toryn Taylor won the 100m in 12.23 while Kalia Abernathy of Stevens was second in 12.31. In the 200m, it was Madisun Sparks of Johnson winning in 25.39 while her teammate, Jordan Peters, was second in 25.47. The 400m saw two of the three best girls in the entire city go at it with London Graham of Brandeis winning in 55.96 and Brennan's Caila Lyons coming across in 56.31. Lyons also won the 800m in 2:16.87.

Seguin's Matador Relays featured a tie for the top team in the boys division with Dripping Springs and Steele each accumulating 143 points. The Seguin sprinters were quite impressive with Nik Henry winning the 100m in 10.67, Ocean Moreno won the 200m in 21.78 and they swept the 4x100m and 4x200m relays posting super times of 41.08 and 1:27.79. Noah Fernandez of Central Catholic pulled off a tough double winning the 400m and 800m, including a nice time of 1:57.46 in the half-mile. The discus proved to be a great event with Michael Estrada of San Antonio Patriots winning with a throw of 170-9 while Abdon Mata of Steele went 159-9.5 and Nick Hughes of Central Catholic reached 155-1.75. Estrada also won the shot put with a throw of 58-6.75.

The Judson girls won the Matador Relays by four points over Steele in what might have been a preview of the District 27-6A meet in a week. Lockhart had a pair of athletes run well in Rakaia Walker and Jade Selmon. Walker ran 12.17 in the 100m finals in addition to her 11.98 in the prelims and 25.02 in the 200m while Selmon broke 15 seconds in the 100mH with a time of 14.99. Steele appears to be loaded in the jumps with Justice Boston and Anaiya Wood. Boston went 18-9.5 in the long jump and 39-5.75 in the triple jump and Wood also went 39-1.5 in the triple jump. Mikayla Kidney of the San Antonio Patriots ran 12.70 in the 100m prelims and then won the discus with a throw of 119-4.

There were a couple other meets that local teams traveled to this past week as well. Southwest's Mayra Medina won the 800m (2:23.28) and was second in the 400m (1:01.97) at the Chatter Allen Relays in Corpus Christi. At the Charles Austin Relays in San Marcos Smithson Valley's Mia Perez won the 800m (2:15.77) and 1600m (5:10.38) while Ella Pickron cleared 12-0 in the pole vault. Cannen Kyle of New Braunfels Christian Academy threw the shot put 52-3.5 and Kinlee Lawliss of Bandera lowered her own school record in the 200m with a time of 24.95.

Looking Forward

The big meet this weekend is the Texas Relays where many of the top local athletes will be competing. For those looking for meets closer to home Clemens and SAISD are hosting meets on Wednesday while New Braunfels, Randolph and NISD have Thursday meets. The District meet schedule begins next Tuesday with District 29-6A at Gustafson while the majority of the district meets are on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

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

Araceli Ford, O'Connor, UIW

Anthony Zapata, Southwest Legacy, UIW

Sam Abati, Reagan, Texas