Photo of Angel Brefo (Midlothian Heritage)
UIL Track and Field State Championships
5A Girls 100m
Lamar Fulshear's Alyssa Jones won a hard-fought battle with
Ryhan Balous of McKinney North and Angel Brefo of Midlothian Heritage in the
UIL 5A girls 100m. Jones got off to a good start out of the blocks, but Balous
and Brefo were able to match her. The trio came to the line nearly together,
but Jones had just enough to pick up the win in 11.59.
Balous took second place in 11.63 and Brefo was third in
11.65. Overall, the top five runners were only separated by 0.16 seconds.
This was Jones' second career individual State title and
fourth overall, joining her 200m title, 4x200m relay and 4x400m relay titles
from last year when she ran for Smithson Valley.
Balous picked up her second medal of the meet. The silver medal in the 100m will join her gold medal in the long jump.
UIL 5A Girls 400m
Angel Brefo of Midlothian Heritage was the runner-up in the
UIL 5A Girls 400m in 2023 as a freshman and she came back in 2024 to grab the
gold medal. She took control of the race from the outset from her lane #7 position
and never allowed her challengers to get close as she ran a huge personal best
of 53.41.
The race had six girls who entered with season
bests under 55 seconds and it proved to be a fast race. Hallsville's LaMaiya Henderson made the switch from 100m-200m to 200m-400m sprinter this year and it
paid off with a runner-up finish in 54.18. Smithson Valley's Jazmyn Singh has
been a four-year State qualifier in the 400m at the 6A level for two years and
at the 5A level for her last two years and she picked up her first career
individual event medal with a time of 54.41.
5A Girls 200m
In a race that promised to be good, Lancaster's Saniyah Miller delivered in a big way in her win in the UIL 5A Girls 200m. Miller held
off the 2023 State champion and runner-up and crossed the finish line in 23.52.
Miller was out of the blocks quickly and did not let Fulshear's Alyssa Jones
run her down. Jones finished in second place in 23.71 after winning the 100m
earlier in the meet. LaMaiya Henderson of Hallsville had to settle for the bronze medal with her time
of 23.97 to go along with the silver she won in the 400m.
Killeen's Aaliyah Barnes ran a close fourth place with her time of 24.02 which was one spot better than she finished in 2023.
