The Waxahachie girls took home an Area Championship
Area meets were held throughout Dallas-Fort Worth and some of the top times in the state were posted during the past few days.
Regarding the action on the track and in the field, we have some of the top performances that qualify for the regional meet next week.
Here are some of the top performances to take note of.
Area Championship Results
STORIES OF THE DAY
Frisco Heritage boys won a third straight district title last week and on April 10, the Coyotes won a third straight area title at the UIL Area 11 & 12 meet with 114 points. As they look to advance as many as they can past the next round to the state meet, don't be surprised if Frisco Heritage is a major team factor in Austin.
USC signee Cordial Vann won a pair of events for Frisco Heritage at the UIL 5A Area 11 & 12 meet.
The senior won the 100-meter with a 10.11 -- which was a personal best. He also took first in the long jump, with a distance of 24-4. That was 2 feet, 3 inches longer than his mark which won him a district title.
Junior CJ Williams won the shot put and discus for the Coyotes. His throw of 64-8 in the shot put saw him ascend to second in the state. His previous best throw was 56-9 1/4 back on March 7.
He won the discus with 181-7, his second-best distance of the year.
Another team to watch at the next round is Waxahachie girls team.
For the second consequential meet in a row, they were able to come out on top of both the UIL 5A defending team champion Lancaster, and the back-to-back UIL 6A team champions Duncanville.
Their UIL 6A Area 11-12 Championship was a hard fought close battle that they were able to pull out 159 points > 155 points from Lancaster.
Does this mean that Waxahachie is a real threat for the state title? We'll soon find out as they try to advance as many as they can to Austin.
Their freshman duo of Reese Bartos and Jenna Moore were able to advance in all three distance events and went 1-2 in both the 1,600m and 3,200m. Aubani Brumsey and Bostyn Baskin both advanced in the 300H with Brumsley getting the win in 43.20
Jaydon Isham and Kamarie Hardeman were excellent in the throws for the Indians as Isham won the diccus and was second in shot behind Hardeman. Relays and the field events were strong point generators for Waxahachie as they advanced all three relays as well as athletes in every field events (pole vault, triple jump, long jump, and high jump).
CO-MVP OF THE DAY
Davian Groce, a highly recruited football player, made noise at the UIL 5A Area 11 & 12 meet on April 10.
The Frisco Lone Star junior ran 20.66, a new personal best, to win the race. That was tied for the third-best time in the state, a skyrocket jump from being 14th in the state heading into that meet.
Groce's previous best was 20.95, which came last week at districts.
He's a four-star recruit and is ranked the No. 3 athlete in the entire Class of 2026 by 274Sports.com. He has 29 offers and picked up football offers from Missouri, UTSA, Penn State and Central Florida last month.
Cooper Lutkenhaus, from Justin Northwest, has yet to lose a race this year and that streak stayed intact during the UIL 6A-Area 03 & 04 meet on April 10.
The sophomore ran a personal best in the 400, running 47.02 -- easily eclipsing his best time of 47.77 set on March 6 at the Aledo Bearcat Relays.
Lutkenhaus shaved more than 2 seconds off his district-winning time. It is now the 8th best time in the state this year.
The state leader in the 800 --1:48.57 -- won the area title with a time of 1:49.85.
FAST, BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH
The 800-meter run at the UIL 6A-Area 03 & 04 featured six runners in the top 20 of the state times -- but only four moved on.
Lutkenhaus won and behind him was Liam Bengtsson of Northwest Nelson (1:52.66), which is now the seventh fastest time in the state. Mansfield Legacy's Joshua Odums and Keller Central's Fletcher Draper were third and fourth, respectively, running 1:53.05 and 1:53.26.
Odums now is 10th in the state and Draper's time is 12th.
Collin Woodside of Mansfield and Lincoln Wright of Mansfield Legacy took fifth and sixth, respectively, and their times of 1:54.05 was good enough for 20th throughout the state but not enough to move onto regionals.
NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES
Brayden Williams, Duncanville: The senior, the fastest in the 100 in the state, posted another solid time at the UIL 6A Area 11&12 meet. He ran 10.38 to win the 100. It was his third win in a row in the event this season since taking second back on March 1.
Zion Isaiah Raheem Williams, Carrollton Smith: He qualified in the 100 and 200 but ran only the 100 at the UIL 5A Area 11&12 meet. He posted a career-best 10.16, just behind Vann's 10.11.
Jason Wade, Northwest Nelson: The senior won the 3,200-meter in UIL 6A-Area 03&04 meet on April 10, running 9:12.49, the 14th best in the state. He beat Southlake Carroll's Caden Leonard in the race. The run for Wade was a PR - after running a PR best last week at districts of 9:16.01, which got him fourth and the last spot to advance.
Kyen Purser, Midlothian: The senior added to his district title with an area title with a throw of 184-5. He still has the best distance in the state with his 201-8 he had the UIL 5A -District 15 meet last week.
Matthew Udemba, Colleyville Heritage: At the start of the year, he threw 160-9. At the UIL 5A Area 03 & 04 area meet, the senior threw 186-5 to take first place for the Panthers. It was a personal best and his seventh straight win this year.
Jeremiah Anderson Mansfield: After jumping 6-8 twice this year, the senior jumped 6-10 to take home first at the UIL 6A Area 03 & 04 meet. That is tied for the 8th-best jump in the state.
Bailey Johnson, Arlington Bowie: She took home the title in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the UIL 6A - Area 07 & 08 meet. She ran 11.40 in the 100, the 11th fastest time in the state this year.
Skylar Brazzell, Northwest Nelson: The Georgia signee ran a career-best 22.78 in the 200, taking first place in the UIL 6A Area 03 & 04 meet - which is the second-best time in the state. The senior won the 400 in 53.49.
Taryn Bailey, DeSoto: She set a new personal record in two of her last three attempts in the 800. At the UIL 6A Area 11 & 12 meet, the senior won with a time of 2:10.38 - the third-best time in the state.
Caitlyn Cavitt, Arlington Martin: The junior moves to regionals in two events. She was second in 100 and won the long jump - 20-4 - at the UIL 6A Area 07 & 08 meet. That long jump was a career-best and is tied for the third-best this season in the state.
Kaiden Black, Waxahachie: The junior broke a career best by more than three feet with a jump of 40-5.5 in the triple jump at the UIL 6A Area 11 & 12 meet. She moved from 12th to 7th in the state leaderboard with that leap.
Briana Davis, Red Oak: The Lady Hawks got a sweep from the sophomore in the UIL 5A Area 15 & 16 meet. She won the discus (144) and shot put (47-10.5) -- 2nd best in the state.
Layla Paschall, Forney: She took third in districts to move onto the UIL 6A Area 9 & 10 meet. While she placed third again in the area, she set a career-high with a jump of 12-9 - three inches higher than her previous best. The area meet featured the No. 2-ranked (Kira Bowman of Royse City) and No. 5-ranked (Brooklyn Nalley of Rockwall-Heath) as well, who both jumped more than 13 feet.