AHS Boys, Girls Finish 2nd at District 4-5A Track Meet; CHS Girls Solid 3rd

By LANCE FLEMING
Abilene ISD Communications

Abilene High School distance standout Andruw Villa, hurdler Josh Melson, and Cooper’s outstanding jumper Jazlyn Hatcher were all multi-event winners at the District 4-5A meet, which concluded Thursday at the Shotwell Annex.

The Abilene High boys and girls each finished second in the team chase behind Lubbock Cooper, which repeated as team champions in both the boys’ and girls’ title races.

The Pirates just edged the Eagles to win the boys’ team championship, 178-172 with Wylie finishing third (73 points), Lubbock Monterey fourth (72), Cooper fifth (55), Lubbock Coronado sixth (54), and Lubbock High seventh (16).

On the girls’ side, Lubbock Cooper scored 141 points to defend its title, topping runner-up Abilene High, which finished with 112 points. Cooper was a close third with 104 points, followed by fourth-place Lubbock Monterey (76), Wylie (74), Lubbock Coronado (64), and Lubbock High (48).

 

The top four athletes in each event at the district meet qualified for next Friday’s Area meet, which will be run at Lowery Field in Lubbock. The AHS boys qualified 10 athletes in 10 events and three relays for the meet. The AHS girls qualified eight athletes in nine events and three relays, while the Cooper girls qualified seven athletes in six events and one relay. The Cooper boys qualified one athlete in four events and two relays for the area meet.

The Area championship will pit athletes from District 3-5A (Amarillo, Amarillo Caprock, Amarillo Palo Duro, Amarillo Tascosa, and Plainview) against athletes from District 4-5A. The top four finishers in an event at Area will qualify for the Region I-5A meet on April 19-20 at Lowery Field in Lubbock. Region I is comprised of Districts 1 and 2 (El Paso area), 3 and 4 (Panhandle and Abilene), and 5-8 (Metroplex). The top two finishers in each event at the Region I-5A championship meet will advance to the State championship meet, May 3-4, at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

Villa captured District 4-5A championships in the 800 meters, 1600 meters, and 3200 meters, while Melson won the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Villa won the 800 meters with a school-record time of 2:00.71, won the 1600 meters in 4:40.68, and captured the 3200 meters with a time of 10:15.24 to barely beat teammate John Alcantar, who finished in 10:15.91.

Melson won the 110 hurdles with a personal-best mark of 14.82 and then had another personal-best in the 300-meter hurdles, winning the event with a time of 40.18. Abilene High’s 4×100 relay team (Bryson Perez, Jaden Jackson, Brayden Henry, and Ryland Bradford) won the event with a time of 41.86. The 4×200 team (Jackson, Dae’Evian Rapp, Henry, and Bradford) finished second, but a set a school record with a time of 1:27.39 to finish just behind Lubbock Cooper (1:27.16).

Abilene High’s Logan Smith captured the Eagles’ other individual district championship, winning the pole vault with a personal record mark of 14 feet, 0.0 inches.

Cooper’s Jaylen Parker had an outstanding meet, qualifying for the Area meet in the 100 meters (third in 10.98), 200 meters (second in 22.23), 4×100 relay (anchor-leg on the fourth-place team in 43.21 seconds), and the long jump and triple jump. He won the district championship in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 22-7.50 and then finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 43-3.25.

The Cooper girls had several outstanding individual performances, led by sprinter Anne-Lie Waite, hurdler Samarah Green, and Hatcher in two jumping events.

Waite won the district title in the 100 meters with a personal-best time of 12.18 and then finished second in the 200 meters in 24.77. She also ran the leadoff leg on Cooper’s district-championship 4×100 relay team (48.38), combining with teammates Samarah Green, Hatcher, and Daushanaye Murray to cruise past second-place Lubbock Cooper (49.19).

Hatcher won a pair of district championships in the long jump (personal-best 19-5.0), easily outclassing the rest of the field and taking the title by almost two feet over runner-up Kynlee Phillips from Lubbock Cooper (17-5.25). Hatcher then went on to win the triple jump with another personal-best mark (37-6.75), beating teammate Asharee Davis, who was second with a. mark of 36-7.50). Hatcher ran the third leg on Cooper’s district championship 4×100 relay team. Green won the 300-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 44.28 and ran the second leg on the 4×100 relay team.

While the Abilene High girls didn’t have an individual district champion, they did post four second-place finishes, one second-place relay finish, and two third-place relay finishes, racking up points with solid depth. Junior distance standout Zoe Vann was second in the 800 and 1600-meter races and ran on the third-place 4×400 relay team. Mason Murray was second in the 3200 meters, while Adriana Peeples was second in the 300-meter hurdles. AHS scored 39 points in the three longest-distance runs of the meet to help it push to a runner-up spot in the team race.

Below is a list of Abilene ISD athletes who qualified for the Area meet:

Abilene High Boys
100 meters – 4. Ryland Bradford, 10.99
200 meters – 4. Brayden Henry, 22.73
400 meters – 4. Jackson Howle, 51.00
800 meters – 1. Andruw Villa, 2:00.71; 2. Karter Batten, 2:02.20
1600 meters – 1. Andruw Villa, 4:40.68; 2. Aiden Seekins, 4:40.87; 4. John Alcantar, 4:41.76
3200 meters – 1. Andruw Villa, 10:15.24; 2. John Alcantar, 10:15.91; 4. Aiden Seekins, 10:19.93
110 hurdles – 1. Josh Melson, 14.82
300 hurdles – 1. Josh Meson, 40.18
4×100 relay – 1. Abilene High, 41.86 (Bryson Perez, Jaden Jackson, Brayden Henry, Ryland Bradford)
4×200 relay – 2. Abilene High, 1:27.39 (Jaden Jackson, Dae’Evian Rapp, Brayden Henry, Ryland Bradford)
4×400 relay – 2. Abilene High, 3:24.98 (Jackson Howle, Karter Batten, Dae’Evian Rapp, Jacob Cortinaz)
Pole Vault – 1. Logan Smith, 14-0.00
Long Jump – 2. Jaden Jackson, 22-4.50; 4. Brayden Henry, 21-9.00

Cooper Boys
100 meters – 3. Jaylen Parker, 10.98
200 meters – 2. Jaylen Parker, 22.23
4×100 relay – 4. Cooper, 32.21 (Cahmauri Titus, Christian Rico, Peyton Ewing, Jaylen Parker)
4×400 relay – 3. Cooper, 3:26.70 (Christian Rico, Karson Martinez, Peyton Ewing, Zavian Alexander)
Long Jump – 1. Jaylen Parker, 22-7.50
Triple Jump – 2. Jaylen Parker, 32-3.25

Abilene High Girls
100 meters – 3. Malia Williams, 12.66
400 meters – 4. Elizah Willis, 1:03.10
800 meters – 2. Zoe Vann, 2:19.25
1600 meters – 2. Zoe Vann, 5:20.54; 3. Marin Murray, 5:23.31; 4. Mason Murray, 5:25.98
3200 meters – 2. Mason Murray, 11:38.68; 3. Marin Murray, 11:52.90
100 hurdles – 4. Adriahna Peeples, 16.22
300 hurdles – 2. Adriahna Peeples, 46.39
4×100 relay – 3. Abilene High, 49.94 (Germanie Williams, Kenzie Reyna, Harmonie Colomb, Malia Williams)
4×200 relay – 4. Abilene High, 1:50.0 (Alexus Rodriguez, Kenzie Reyna, Harmonie Colomb, Malia Williams)
4×400 relay – 3. Abilene High, 4:10.81 (Alizah Willis, Zoe Vann, Aubrey Duran, Adriahna Peeples)
Pole Vault – 3. Jocelyn Smith, 9-6.00
Triple Jump – 4. Brieyonna Reed, 35-7.75

Cooper Girls
100 meters – 1. Anne-Lie Waite, 12.18
200 meters – 2. Anne-Lie Waite, 24.77; 3. Payton Ellis, 26.71
800 meters – 4. Lila Murillo, 2:26.44
300 hurdles – 1. Samarah Green, 44.28
4×100 relay – 1. Cooper, 48.38 (Anne-Lie Waite, Samarah Green, Jazlyn Hatcher, Daushanaye Murray)
Long Jump – 1. Jazlyn Hatcher, 19-5.00; 3. Asharee Davis, 17-3.25; 4. Payton Ellis, 17-1.25
Triple Jump – 1. Jazlyn Hatcher, 37-6.75; 2. Asharee Davis, 36-7.50