Photo of Ryan Rush, New Braunfels
Last week was a bit of a breather for everyone with most schools in the area on Spring Break and only a couple of meets. The lack of meets did not take away from the quality of the action indoors and outdoors.
The Best Thing I Saw
My best thing this week is a little different than previous weeks, but I wanted to recognize all the athletes that competed on Saturday at the New Braunfels Unicorn Invitational. The wind was the story of the meet with near continuous 35 mile per hours winds that affected every event. The cross-wind action on the track meant that there was not much advantage gained anywhere on the track. The only event that was able to take advantage of the direction was really the pole vault where there were many season and all-time best marks set. Despite the wind, I still witnessed the athletes persevering through the difficult weather and coming away with excellent results.
Indoor Nationals Week
Nike and New Balance each hosted their indoor national meets this week and a few San Antonio area athletes made the trip up to the Northeast. The headline of the weekend was Harlan's Tate Taylor setting a national and meet record in the 200m at the Nike Indoor Nationals with his time of 20.46. He also took second place in the 60m with another fast time of 6.64. The junior's times stack up to some of the top U.S. athletes in recent history.
At New Balance Nationals three distance runners stood out. Randolph's Sophia Bendet finished in the top-5 in the 1600m with a time of 4:42.05. Freshman Elin Latta of South Texas Heat ran 4:46.82 in the 1600m and added a 3200m time of 10:28.90. Finally, Smithson Valley's Mia Perez posted times of 4:57.48 in the 1600m and 2:10.31 in the 800m. It was a personal best indoors or outdoors in the 1600m and nearly matched her best time in the 800m.
She Won't Stop
Another week and it was another big performance by Randolph's Taylor Nunez. She competed at the Davenport Wolves Relays on Thursday and posted the #1 long jump in the State with her mark of 20-3.5. She followed that on the track by turning a 10m deficit in the 4x100m into a 10m victory where the Ro-Hawks ran 47.53 and then she won the open 400m in 56.87. For the 3A level, she owns the #1 times in the 100m and 200m and obviously the top long jump. She also ranks #3 in the 400m although it would be a surprise to see her run that during championship season.
Are There State Titles in the Future?
I write about the Randolph and Smithson Valley girls teams a lot and both will be top contenders, if not the favorites, to win State titles this year. However, there is another local girls team that has similar aspirations, Falls City. At the 2A level, they currently have the #2-ranked 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams. This past week, they won both events at the Cole Cougar Relays with outstanding times of 48.96 and 1:45.09, respectively. In addition, they have Keandra Johnson who is top-ranked in the 100m, 400m and long jump. Her teammate, Kenley Wiatrek, ran a 26.51 in the 200m this week and vaulted up to #5 in 2A as well.
Breaking Records
The Davenport and Pieper track teams are both young varsity programs and each has had success almost immediately. I think both programs had individual State champions in their first year as a school. This year, both programs have been resetting their record books left and right. By my unofficial count, Davenport has broke school marks nine times this year and Pieper is up to 22 times that a record has been broken. Obviously, some events have had the record broken more than once this year, but it is still impressive to see both programs doing so well.
Flying High in the Vault
The pole vault competition at the New Braunfels Invitational was loaded. In the boy's event there were nine vaulters who cleared 13-6, including four from New Braunfels; Collin Sweet, Wade Hill, Ryan Rush and Gavin Starnes. Canyon's William Moffatt, Utopia's Jace Bennett and Luke Nichols of Clemens all cleared 15-6 and finished in that order due to misses. Bennett was the 1A State champion last year and eclipsed his gold medal mark from last year by nine inches. The other two vaulters who were almost after thoughts at the meet, but would place highly at most meets were Canyon's Benjamin Coronado and Brody Wich of Smithson Valley.
The girl's competition was nearly as deep as the boy's with eight vaulters clearing at least 10-feet. Once again, New Braunfels led the way with four vaulters clearing that height; Paige Beeghley, Deanna Wenzel, Sydney Garcia and Kendall Hoskins. Sofia Mitschke of Smithson Valley won with a 12-6 height while Canyon's Cassidy Henderson and Marion's Kaitlyn Rackley each went over 12-0. Henderson's teammate Jaden Stewart was the final athlete to clear 10-0. Rackley is now tied for first in 3A this year with her 12-0 mark.
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).
Clemens Boys, Distance Medley, 11:13.78 (Sean Gonzalez, Landen Kessel, Matthew Beatty, Jayce Love)
Luke Nichols, Clemens, Pole Vault, 15-6
Noah Folks, Harlan, Triple Jump, 46-5
Taveion Ford, Harlan, High Jump, 6-4
Jaylin Morrow, Davenport, 400m, 49.96
Kennedy Weaver, Davenport, Pole Vault, 10-0
Kyle Stautzenberger, Davenport, Pole Vault, 13-0
Brody Vestal, Davenport, Shot Put, 46-3.5
Wimberley Boys, 4x100m, 42.48 (Ethan Talley, Wesley Milam, Bryson Anderson, Nolan Waida)
Rashard Dunbar, Pieper, 400m, 52.49
Cash Lancaster, Pieper, 300mh, 40.06
Diego Flores, Pieper, 1600m, 4:34.89
Parker Hill, Pieper, Pole Vault, 13-6
Logan Tennell, Pieper, Pole Vault, 13-6
Kahdyn Freeman, Pieper, Long Jump, 23-2.5
Kahdyn Freeman, Pieper, Triple Jump, 47-2
Pieper Boys, 4x200m, 1:29.11 (Reese Mendez, Tyler LaCombe, David Bhoorasingh, Malachi Thornton)
Kendall Fallon, Davenport, 800m, 2:19.32
Around the City
The Pieper boys won the Davenport Wolves Relays on Thursday with Wimberley finishing in second and Davenport in third. Pieper's Kahdyn Freeman and Wimberley's Nolan Waida led a contingent of four jumpers who jumped farther than 22-feet in the long jump. Freeman won with a mark of 23-2.5 and he also won the triple jump with a huge jump of 47-2. Waida was second in both events jumping 22-7 and 45-1.5, respectively. Waida also won the 200m in 21.55. The 4x100m and 4x200m relays were each exciting races with Wimberley edging out Piper and Randolph in each race. Pieper freshman Cash Lancaster nearly broke 40s in the 300mh with his winning time of 40.06.
The Randolph girls won the Wolves Relays team title with distance stud Sophia Bendet. Taylor Nunez won a pair of individual events and Aubrey Milam took gold in the 1600m (5:13.59) and 3200m (11:39.11). Pieper's Aniyah Gill (2:19.25) held off Kendall Fallon (2:19.32) in a tightly contested 800m. Randolph won all three relays running 47.53 in the 4x100m, 1:44.45 in the 4x200m and 4:02.80 in the 4x400m.
At the Cole Cougar Relays, Uvalde's Devere Willis, Devine's Donovan Dixon and Poth's Aiden Reed each won multiple events. Willis won the 100m (10.89), 200m (22.96) and long jump (22-2). Dixon has been consistently running well in the 400m/800m double winning on Thursday in 51.22 and 1:59.40, respectively. Reed can make a claim as the top 3A thrower in Region IV this year and he won with marks of 54-7.5 in the shot put and 149-4.25 in the discus.
There were some superstar girls at the Cougar Relays as well with Kinlee Lawlis, Adisen Magill and Keandra Johnson shining the brightest. Bandera's Lawlis recently signed with Angelo State and showed why by winning the 100m (12.48) and 200m (25.26) while finishing second in the 400m (1:01.01) and long jump (17-5.5). Madill of Poth would seem to have a future as a heptathlete in college. She won the 100mh in 15.88 and the shot put with a throw of 36-2.75 while claiming second in the 300mh (46.60) and fifth in the long jump (16-4.5). Johnson posted season best marks in the 400m (58.96) and long jump (18-0) en route to winning both events. Jubilee Felder of San Antonio Patriots may have had the best one event performance of the meet with her winning jump of 5-8 in the high jump.
Be sure to check out the article about the New Braunfels Unicorn Invitational.
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.
Taylor Nunez, Randolph, Texas A&M
Sophia Bendet, Randolph, Texas A&M
Zailey Zimmerman, Smithson Valley, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Mia Perez, Smithson Valley, Texas
Thomas Bucks, Johnson, Penn
Zac Miller, Brennan, Houston
Christopher Harris, Cornerstone, UIW
Alicia Galvez, Southwest Legacy, Houston
Gavin Chapa, Reagan, Texas A&M
Maddie Meinke, Boerne Champion, Western Colorado
Mia Stewart, Madison, Southeastern Oklahoma
Luis Tovar, Boerne Champion, UIW
Michael Repper-Molina, Johnson, Boston University
Jade Perez, Clark, Adams State
Caroline Peterson, Pieper, Texas
Aiden Martinez, Great Hearts Monte Vista, Yale
Aiden Reed, Poth, SFA
Caila Lyons, Brennan, Iowa
Taylor Fuentespina, Johnson, Army
Eli Bliss, Davenport, Trinity
Jorge Vargas, McCollum, Our Lady of the Lake
Crissangel Avitua, Southside, Our Lady of the Lake
Daisha Shular, Seguin, East Carolina
Kelsay Edwards, Taft, Trinity
Kinlee Lawlis, Bandera, Angelo State
Jake Grullon, O'Connor, UIW
Katie Burnett, Reagan, New Orleans
What's Next
With less than three weeks to go before district meets, the schedule is back to normal this week. Judson ISD is hosting the Jimmy Dykes Relays and the Harlandale Relays are on Wednesday. The Charles Austin Classic in San Marcos, Cornerstone Christian Warrior Meet #2 and NEISD Invitational are all on Thursday. NISD is hosting the Don Hardin Alamo Relays and the 56th Fredericksburg Carlin Wicker Relays are scheduled for Saturday.