Photo of Deanthony Anderson
A week in February without any meets was weird for me and I am sure it was strange for everyone else. Thankfully, this past week the weather was great and there were meets galore all over the place. I think I counted 15 meets where local teams competed and it led to some amazing performances.
The Best Thing I Saw
It is difficult to narrow down the best thing I saw this week since I was able to make it out to both the Northside Meet #3 and the Smithson Valley Ranger Relays. At Gustafson Stadium on Thursday night it was not so much something I saw, but rather something that I felt. The anticipation of Harlan's Tate Taylor stepping into the starting blocks in the 100m was just different. It seemed like every athlete and every spectator in the stadium became laser-focused on the event, something that does not usually happen until a Regional final. Taylor followed through by doing his part. Despite stumbling out of the blocks, he quickly got up to top speed and showed why he is one of the top sprinters in the nation.
At the Ranger Relays, Smithson Valley's Brady Solansky and McAllen's Dana Rojas Vazquez renewed a rivalry that began during the cross country season. Solansky knocked off Rojas Vazquez at the Regional meet, but lost to her at the State meet. This time, DRV pushed the pace in the 3200m right from the start with Solansky and Savanah Moya of New Braunfels slotting in behind her. As the laps ticked away it was eventually just Rojas Vazquez and Solansky vying for the win. Solansky made her move with 450m remaining and ran away from Rojas Vazquez to win by nine seconds in 10:45.56. It was a nice precursor to what will surely be a matchup again at the Regional meet.
Complete recaps appeared earlier in the week on tx.milesplit.com.
Texas Girls Performer of the Week Nominees
Both Brady Solansky and Randolph's Taylor Nunez were nominated for the Texas Girls Performer of the Week by Milesplit. Solansky not only won the 3200m in 10:45.56, but also defeated the group of All-State cross country runners in the 1600m with a time of 4:57.66. She finished off her day by running a 59s split for the winning 4x400m relay team.
Nunez could be nominated for the Performer of the Week nearly every week it seems like. She opened her season with a statement at the Floresville Jack Randall Relays. She won the long jump with a leap of 19-8 and then ran 11.32 to win the 100m and 23.90 to win the 200m. She also ran a leg on the winning 4x400m relay team. Her 100m time is currently the top time in the State in any classification.
Gold Medal Girl
Jay's Shyniece Davis had a banner evening at the Edgewood ISD Meet on Wednesday. She won all five events that she competed in. She opened with field event victories in the long jump (17-0) and triple jump (34-2). She backed it up with her performance on the track where she is strongest. She won the 400m in a hand-held time of 57.18 and finished off her meet by winning the 200m in 25.43. She was also part of the winning 4x100m relay team. It is possible that she could advance to the Regional meet in all five events.
Mile Relay Starts to Heat Up
The top 4x400m relay teams started to make an appearance this week. The Smithson Valley girls have had great 1600m relay teams for over a decade and on Saturday they showed that they will be in State medal contention again this year. The quartet of Izabella Sutherland, Avianna Miller, Brady Solansky and Mia Perez ran 3:52.14. Sutherland led off with a 57.56 split and Perez closed with a 56.16 split despite finishing the 1600m just minutes earlier.
At Judson's Ron Faught relays, Johnson, Judson and Wagner all ran fantastic times. Johnson took second to Killeen Shoemaker with a time of 3:18.92 behind their team of Yashiyah Griffin, Samuel Draper, Abdou Ndiaye and Austin Anderson. Judson posted a time of 3:20.00 and Wagner came in at 3:21.59, the top 5A time in the area so far this year.
Another team that has been running well this year is Wimberley's group of Dane Dugger, Ethan Talley, Nolan Waida and Benji Olmedo-Barraco. They won the Canyon Lake Hawk Relays in 3:23.55 which was down two seconds from the victory at the Comal ISD Relays two weeks earlier.
The Wright Stuff
Lutheran junior Andrew Wright took only one meet to show that he has taken the next step forward in his progress. At the San Antonio Christian meet he set new personal records in the 100m (10.47), 200m (21.38) and 400m (48.03). In each race he was unchallenged. He won the 100m by over 0.75s, the 200m by nearly 2 seconds and the 400m by almost 4 seconds. He is currently ranked first in the San Antonio metro area in all three events.
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).
Carson LaCombe, Pieper, 200m, 22.52 Joaquin Flores, Pieper, 1600m, 4:37.15
Logan Tennell, Pieper, Pole Vault, 13-3
Kahdyn Freeman, Pieper, Long Jump, 22-8
Pieper Boys, 4x100m (Caleb Sumpter, Michael Ajagbe, Isaiah Champagne, Malachi Thornton), 42.05
Pieper Boys, 4x200m (Caleb Sumpter, Tyler LaCombe, Isaiah Champagne, Michael Ajagbe), 1:30.26
Hailey Tomlinson, Pieper, Long Jump, 17-0.5
Aniyah Gill, Pieper, 800m, 2:16.77
Sadie Larson, Pieper, 3200m, 11:35.89
Kassia Kozarski, Steele, 3200m, 11:07.59
Justin McKinney, Davenport, High Jump, 6-4
Kendall Fallon, Davenport, 800m, 2:26.47
Avianna Miller, Smithson Valley, Triple Jump, 38-6
Andrew Wright, Lutheran, 100m, 10.47
Andrew Wright, Lutheran, 200m, 21.38
Andrew Wright, Lutheran, 200m, 48.03