Texas Athletes Rule The Brooks PR Invitational

Sophia Bendet and Elin Latta compete in the girls one mile at the Brooks PR Invitational

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Girls 100m

Some of the top girls 100m sprinters took the track at the Brooks PR and five Texas girls including four from the Houston area were assigned lanes.

It was the UIL 6A state champion Mia Maxwell (Atascocita) who took the win home with a swift 11.04 win. That equaled her state meet run in Austin from last month and the +1.2 wind reading made it another legal run.

It was Mariah Maxwell (Atascocita), the twin sister of Mia who took runner-up. Mariah focused on the 200m this season where we saw her go undefeated and ending with a state championship. She finished with a 11.28 run in Seattle.

Four-time UIL 3A 100m state champion and Texas A&M signee Taylor Nunez (Universal City Randolph) finished third with a 11.44 run with Kylah Woods (Fort Bend Ridge Point) and London Jackson Bray (Katy) seventh in 11.55.

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Girls 400m

Two junior girls with multiple UIL 4A state championships competed in the Brooks PR 400m.

Angel Brefo (Midlothian Heritage) finished third with a time of 52.90. She entered winning the past two UIL 5A state titles with her runner-up performance from her freshman season. This run was just a little behind her 52.58 winning run last month.

Ashtyn Lewis (Iowa Colony), the two-time UIL 4a state champion and this year's UIL 5A runner-up behind Brefo was fourth place in Seattle. Her time of 53.27 placed her right behind Brefo like she finished last month when she rean 52.75.

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Girls One Mile

Sophia Bendet (Universal City Randolph), another state champion multiple times over competed this weekend in Seattle. She placed third in the 1,600m with a time of 4:41.82, coming right off of the Festival of Miles.

Also coming off the Festival of Miles was Elin Latta (South Texas Heat Homeschool). Latta ran a Texas state meet 4:36.74. She followed up with a 4:44.82 for fifth place at Brooks PR.

- - - Middle School - - -

Girls

Madisyn Scott - 4th in the 800m (Texas Thunder Track Club - 2:12.59)

Boys

Boys 100m

This season's boys 100m event has been owned by the Texas boys. The standard has been set and continues to be measured by the boys from within our borders.

Brayden Williams (Duncanville) was the UIL 6A runner-up this season, but was untouchable in this event. After a call-back, the second start saw Williams get his usual outstanding start and was able to finish strong to 10.22 win (+1.0).

Super frosh and two-sport star Dillon Mitchell (Sheldon C.E. King) finished third with a time of 10.32 with Nicholas Altheimer sixth with a time of 10.50.

Boys 400m

The boys 400m was another excellent even this season and the Brooks PR field reflected as much. Four of the lanes were filled with strong and fast Texas runners.

Elijah Ferguson (Katy Mayde Creek) who came in with a 45.46 personal best got out to his usual conservative start and turned on the jets at the halfway point. The Texas Tech commit's strategy nearly worked again as he caught all runners, except the winner Jaelen Hunter (CA) who narrowly held on 46.62 to Ferguson's 46.64.

Juniors Joshua Shelton (Pearland) and Charvis Tubbs (Humble) finished in third and fourth place. Shelton who ran 45.93 this season turned in a 47.17 and Tubbs who ran 46.19 this year crossed the line in 47.48.

Kansas State commit and Willis grad Heath Grant finished fifth with a time of 47.60. He was unable to really find a rhythm and couldn't get near the 46.37 mark he has reached at a point in the season.

Boys 800m

Yesterday, we wrote about Cooper Lutkenhaus winning the Brooks PR 800m for the second consecutive season. His win produced a new 800m National Record and meet record when he crossed the line in 1:46.26.

Related: Cooper Lutkenhaus Rewrites 800m National Record With 1:46.26

Luke Bone (Austin Stephen F. Austin) continued to show off his impressive racing as he crossed in fifth place. His time of 1:49.89 was his fifth 1:50 or under performance of the year; that is a type of running we've seldomly seen in Texas. He'll be heading to Texas Tech in the fall to continue his career.

Boys 110-meter hurdles

DeVonte Taylor II (Houston Episcopal) was able to show his prowess with a fourth place finish in the 110s. Taylor who proved this season that his hurdling, sprinting, and jumping combined made him one of the top athletes in the sport in Texas.

While his time of 13.70 was a bit off his 13.54 personal best from earlier in the year, it was a wind legal mark with only a +1.2 reading.

Nolan Bartley (Humble Atascocita), the runner-up at the UIL 6A state meet was also a far cry away from his 13.57 personal best from Austin. He finished sixth overall in a time of 14.02.

Boys Two-Mile

Caden Leonard (Southlake Carroll) has arguably been the best distance runner in the state of Texas for the past two seasons.  He has two UIL 6A cross country titles and just last month he added a second 1600m title and the 3200m state title. At Brooks, he notched another accomplishment by running 8:50.22 for a second place finish in the two-mile.

En route to the complete two miles, Leonard, the University of North Carolina commit went through the 3200m in 8:47.32. That is a new TX No. 4 performance covering the 3200m distance en route to the two-miles leaving him behind only fellow Carroll Dragon Colby Lowe (8:44.01-  2008), Ben Shearer (The Woodlands Christian - 8:45.83 - 2021), and Emmanuel Sgouros (Houston St. John's - 8:47.19)