Wrapping Up the Region IV-5A/6A Championship

Prior to the start of the meet on Friday officials were already trying to make moves to avoid the weather by setting the start time for 8 a.m. and moving the field events to Saturday. Moving the field events to Saturday was the right move because the weather was bright and sunny, but Friday's running events faced difficult conditions. First, the 3200m were moved back to 11 a.m. after thunderstorms came through the area and the 5A girls were able to complete their race before more lightning flashed. It was determined that the meet would restart at 3 p.m. The events ran without delay starting at 3 p.m., but the wind and chilly conditions affected the runners.

One of the big things that affected the team title races was the hand offs in all three relays. The Reagan girls and Wagner girls both had handoffs that dramatically slowed them down and kept them from winning. The 5A boys team title between Liberty Hill and Smithson Valley had both teams losing 16-20 points in the relays. Liberty Hill had a poor exchange in the 4x100m while Smithson Valley dropped the baton leading into the exchange zone in the 4x200m. Even the 4x400m relay was not immune. The Medina Valley girls ran the fastest time in the prelims, but also dropped a baton which set them nearly 100m behind the leaders. The chaos in the relays was only part of an exciting two days.

5A Girls Team Title

Heading into Saturday it looked like Leander Rouse, McAllen, Pieper and Smithson Valley would battle it out for the Region title. However, McAllen rode its relay teams to a third consecutive team title. They won all three relays and won the team title with 78 points while Rouse was second with 53 points and Smithson Valley was third with 52 points.

McAllen opened the running finals trailing in the 4x100m relay, but they were able to take advantage of Wagner's poor final handoff and Sophia Flores ran down the rest of the teams in front of her to win in 47.90 as they edged out both Rouse (47.97) and Pieper (48.00). In the 4x200m relay McAllen went with the same team that won the 4x100m; Vanessa Rocha, Ava Barreda, Ecklyn Vaden and Flores and got the same result. They won in 1:40.55 while Rouse followed in second place at 1:41.20. Individually, Flores finished third in the 200m (24.86) and Sophia Simpson earned a point in the 3200m and she clinched team title with her third-place performance in the 1600m when she ran 5:01.14. Amelia Humphreys took fourth in the 300mh (46.63) and Yaneli Rocha finished sixth in the 800m.

McAllen closed out the meet by winning the 4x400m relay in 3:51.65. Yaneli Rocha, Barreda, Humphreys and Vanessa Rocha ran the four legs to complete the relay sweep. Leander was second in 3:52.36 and Rouse ran 3:54.84 for third place to secure their runner-up team performance.

Leander Rouse scored most of their points in the relays getting runner-up performances in the 4x100m and 4x200m and a third-place finish in the 4x400m relay. Hallie Heitzmann qualified for the State meet in the 400m after running 57.03 to finish behind Jay's Duprasia Beets. Heitzmann anchored their 4x400m team and ran the second leg on the 4x100m along with Shae Campbell, Briana Goodly and Landri Smit.

Unlike McAllen and Rouse, Smithson Valley scored nearly all their points from individual events. Their only relay points came with a fifth-place finish in the 4x200m. Individually, Lilly Koenig led the way by winning the 3200m in 10:47.82 as she accelerated past Jessica De Leon (Harlingen South) over the final 300m. She came back on Saturday and finished third in the 800m with a time of 2:13.57 behind Presley Merkens (Boerne) and Savanah Moya (New Braunfels) who each ran in the 2:12's. Koenig closed out her meet by taking control of the 1600m from the start. She led the entire race and won in 4:54.57 while Moya sprinted for the runner-up spot, 4:59.29. In the discus, SV got a surprise when Piper Moeller tossed a big personal best of 130-0 to take runner-up honors to Macee Walters (Liberty Hill). Aliya Murphy added a fourth-place finish when she cleared 5-0 in the high jump. Sofia Mitschke won her first Regional title with a clearance of 13-0 in the pole vault.

5A Girls Top Individuals

-          Shyla Boydstun swept both hurdle events for Pieper. She won the 100mh in 13.90 and the 300mh in 43.80 and anchored the third place 4x100m relay team.

-          Juliana Syroney (Boerne Champion) and Duprasia Beets (Jay) each qualified for the State meet in two events. Syroney won the 200m in 24.50, just ahead of Beets who crossed the line in 24.52. Beets claimed the 400m title in 54.82 as she won by over two seconds. Syroney was runner-up in the 100m as she out-leaned Camryn Wilson (Liberty Hill) at the finish line.

-          Macee Walters, a Liberty Hill freshman, won the discus with a huge throw of 142-9 and came in second in the shot put with a toss of 41-2.25.

-          Gregory-Portland's Kaitlyn Kilgore won her third straight Region title in the shot put after throwing 42-4.75.

5A Boys Team Title

Liberty Hill and Smithson Valley entered the meet as the clear #1 and #2 teams in the Region. Liberty Hill was dealt a big loss in the 4x100m when they finished fifth and Jack Pitchford suffered an injury that kept him out of the 100m where he was seeded second. By the time the 4x400m relay came around, LH led the Rangers by 16 points and both teams were in the race.

In the final race of the meet, Smithson Valley needed to win and behind the quartet of Isaiah Regge, Gavin Williams, Andreas Miller and Noah Johnson that is exactly what they did. They set a new meet record with a time of 3:14.82 and they needed it since McAllen also broke the meet record with their time of 3:15.38. Liberty Hill hung on for fifth place which meant the two teams tied for the Regional title with 60 points apiece. Pieper claimed third place with 40 points,

In addition to their 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams, Liberty Hill was led by Preston Benefield on the track. He was second in the 200m (21.46) and third in the 100m (10.68). Zander Radziwon nabbed fifth place in the 3200m and Chase Moederzoon earned a point in the 800m. In the field events, Justin Bordelon and Jett Harrison went 2-3 in the throwing events. Bordelon was second in the discus with a toss of 186-2 and Harrison was third (169-6) and they switched spots in the shot put. Harrison threw 64-7.25 while Bordelon topped out at 62-10.75. Dj Seaborn scored in both the long jump (sixth) and triple jump where he finished third with a mark of 47-7.5.

In addition to winning the 4x400m relay, Smithson Valley was second in the 4x100m as Schaeden Davis, Hunter Haug, Noah Johnson and Liam Magee finished second in 41.45 to finish behind Cedar Park who won in 41.26. The 400m was a fruitful event with Gavin Williams winning in a meet record time of 47.80 and Johnson took third in 48.10. Hans Scheff scored in both throwing events finishing fourth in the shot put and discus.

5A Boys Top Individuals

-          Kingston Brown (New Braunfels) proved to be the top sprinter in the Region taking gold in the 100m (10.58) and 200m (21.16).

-          Channon Davis (Wagner) set a new meet record in the 800m. He pushed the pace early hitting the 400m in 53s and then he was able to hold off all challengers to win in 1:52.64.

-          Jack Hollimon (Alamo Heights) shattered the meet record in the 300mh with a time of 37.34. He tied the meet record in the 110mh (14.13) in the prelims and was on his way to winning in the finals when he hit the last hurdle and fell.

-          Brody Garcia (CC Veterans Memorial) was the only high jumper to clear over 6-2 and he set a new meet mark with his 6-11.25 clearance.

-          Pieper's Michael Ajagbe and Kahdyn Freeman swept the triple jump and Ajagbe broke the meet record with a 49-10 mark.

-          Jackson Kerth (Tivy) was a double-winner taking the discus (189-1) and shot put (64-9.25).

-          Ryder Harrison (Gregory-Portland) broke the meet record with a 16-6 clearance in the pole vault.

6A Girls Team Title

Heading into the weekend there were many teams that had dreams of laying claim to the Regional title. Midway through the running event finals it looked like it would be Steele or Laredo United claiming the title, but in the end it was Lake Travis who hung close to the leaders and then got a surprise performance in the 4x400m relay where Penelope McAshan, Hope Rieder, Lyla Tiantawach and Arie Thomas claimed runner-up honors in 3:55.50 after entering the meet ranked sixth. The 4x400m result pushed LT past both Steele and United to clinch the title. They finished with 63 points while Steele was second (58) and Laredo United was third (54).

In addition to running the anchor leg on the Lake Travis 4x400m relay team, Arie Thomas finished third in the 100mh (14.52) and she was second in the 300mh (43.31). She also was fourth in the long jump with a mark of 18-6.25 and Delilah Garcia added another point in the event. In between Thomas' two hurdle events, the LT 4x200m relay team of Karly Ble, Makaila Charles, Tiffany Kessler and Hope Rieder nabbed fourth place. Rieder added a third place finish in the 200m (24.77). Mia Griffin earned the team four points with her 38-4 shot put and Julia Fouilloud-Hofmann punched her ticket to State with a triple jump of 38-10.25 to earn second place. Brooke Birchall scored their final points of the meet by finishing fifth in the discus.

The Steele Lady Knights also outscored their projections. The biggest surprise came from sprinter Lauren Dobbins who picked the perfect time to run her fastest time of the season. She was fourth in the 100m prelims but then ran down everyone in the finals to win in 11.91. She picked up a second gold medal running the anchor leg of the winning 4x200m relay team with Jaliyah Holland, Caydence Jackson and Nia Reed. They won in 1:38.87. The same quartet edged out Johnson by 0.001s to finish second in the 4x100m and secure a spot at the State meet. They scored in both hurdle events with Trinity Onugha taking fourth in the 100mh (14.55) and Keira Reyna was third in the 300mh (43.44). Anaiya Wood scored two points in the triple jump (37-1.75).

Laredo United had a great day on the track. Their quartet of Karyme Calderon, Amiyah Villasenor, Aimee Luna and Raine Perez won the 4x100m in 47.03. They picked up four more points in the 4x200m. In addition to being on both relay teams Villasenor won the long jump with a leap of 19-1.25. Villasenor picked up a third gold medal when she led off the winning 4x400m team that clocked a 3:52.78. Alayzza Fonseca, Alexandra Villarreal and Adriana Samaniego ran the other three legs.

6A Girls Top Individuals

-          Jenesis Cordero (Judson) shined brightly winning the 400m in 55.07 and she followed that up by winning the 200m in 24.20.

-          Stony Point's Sophia Lopez racked up three individual titles. She opened the meet by winning the 3200m in 10:46.79. She followed it up by winning the 800m (2:11.51) and 1600m (4:53.73).

-          Cristina Garcia (Laredo Alexander) set a new meet record en route to winning the 100mh in 13.88. She also added the 300mh crown with a winning time of 42.51.

-          Cyani Ingram (Madison) won the shot put title for a second straight year with her toss of 42-0.75.

6A Boys Team Title

San Antonio Johnson entered the meet as the favorites and they held up their end of the bargain scoring 80 points, more than any of the other Regional champions at Heroes Stadium. Lake Travis put up a valiant effort and were actually tied with Johnson heading into the 4x400m relay, but the Jaguars were able to cap off their title with a 3:13.54 meet record performance. Brennan and Stony Point each scored 58 points to tie for third place.

Johnson started the meet a little slowly getting four points from their 4x100m relay, another four points from Angel Olmo in the 800m after running 1:54.66 and Rayshun Hurt got clipped at the finish line in the 100m and finished third in 10.70. The Jaguars nabbed another bronze medal in the 4x200m with Chris Tijerina, Justus Jeffery, Briggs Bailey and Jayden Lea narrowly missing the State meet with their time of 1:26.48. They followed the 4x200m with Abdou Ndiaye finishing fourth in the 400m (47.56) and Austin Anderson won the 300mh in 37.79. During this time, they were accumulating points in the field events with Cameron McDuffie taking third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump and Joshua McNeil uncorked a personal record throw to take the shot put title with a mark of 59-6. That set the stage for the 4x400m team of Yashiyah Griffin, Ndiaye, Lea and Braelyn Allen.

The Lake Travis 4x100m relay team of Luca Antoun, Abram Reagan, Michael Griffin and Travis Cox set a new meet record with their winning time of 40.73. Griffin, Antoun, Cox and Keller McClanahan finished fourth in the 4x200m relay and then Reagan dominated the 400m setting a new meet record of 45.82 in the process. McClanahan added four points in the 110mh (14.34) while Lucas Kranz scored in both the 3200m and 1600m. Their 4x400m team ran 3:15.80, but it was only good enough for fourth place. In the field events, Nicholas Stauffacher took third in the discus (167-2), Alex Jacob was fifth in the high jump (6-6) and Max Joslin was fourth in the pole vault (14-6).

Brennan scored nearly all of their points in the relays with the 4x100m of Jayshawn Mitchell, Elijah Venegas, Micai Thompson and Dorian Gray finished second in 41.46, the 4x200m team of Mitchell, Nicholas Oliver, Thompson and Venegas were second (1:26.35) and the 4x400m team finished in third place. Individually, Michael Davis took fifth in the 400m (48.18) while Quentin Jones won the triple jump (47-6.5) and was fifth in the pole vault (14-6). The most impressive thing for Jones was that the two events were going on at the same time.

Stony Point was similar to Brennan. Their 4x100m team nabbed third place (41.53) while their 4x200m team of Zamir Chebou-Webb, Carson Weise, Kimari Barnes and Errick Prince won the race in 1:25.94 and their 4x400m team of Chebou-Webb, Weise, Prince and Jackson West were runner-up in the 4x400m relay. West was also the individual champion in the 200m running a time of 21.26.

6A Boys Top Individuals

-          Samuel Ackerman (Reagan) won an exciting 800m race in 1:52.90 while Rory Seale Yonnone (Austin) and Sean Gonzalez (Clemens) both broke 1:54.

-          Round Rock teammates Andrew Esparza and Leo Brasil swept the 1600m and Esparza was also the 3200m champion in 9:09.52.

-          Christian Dupree (Clemens) came back from a broken leg during the football season to qualify for the State meet in the high jump for a second straight season.