Lions, Lady Lions advance to Area Meet

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

Outrunning severe weather to complete the District 27-5A Track and Field meet in Kerrville last week, the Lions and Lady Lions gave strong performances, bringing home not only a handful of District Championships, but several personal bests, to boot.

Senior Tarius Dawson stepped up as a leader for t

he team as they sought out their third-place District finish.

Dawson struck gold in the Triple Jump, with a mark of 43’11”. He also ran with Isjalea Greene, Dewane Ellison and Fernando Castillo for a gold medal in the 800-meter relay (1:29.89). He finished his performance with a second-place time of 15.33 in the 110-meter hurdles.

He will advance to next week’s Area Meet in all three events.

Lion Junior Chris Hernandez was also among the heroes on the day, advancing in four of the five events in which he competed.

Though he finished the day without a District Championship, the field phenom brought home two gold and two bronze medals. He claimed the silver in the Triple Jump, finishing just behind Dawson with a mark of 43’9.5”.

His 51.93 second time in the 400-meter run was enough to earn in second place on the track, as well. He took the bronze in both the Long Jump (20’6”) and the High Jump (5’10”).

Continuing on a season of success, the 4×100-meter relay team of Greene, Darius Jones, Ellison and Castillo also made the platform with a first-place time of 42.94.

Castillo earned an individual District Championship with a time of 22.16 in the 200-meter run.

Jones and Greene also added individual points to the Lions’ total score. Jones made a mark of 45’2.25” in the Shot Put to earn fourth place, while Greene’s 11.33 time in the100-meter run was also good for fourth place. Further, Jones took fifth in the 100-meter run with a final time of 11.43 seconds.

Senior distance runner Taylor Stephens closed his high school career with a fifth-place finish in the 3,200-meter run, logging a time of 10:37.14, and the 4×400-meter relay team, Sabass Amaya, Logan Clinger, Griffin Conway and Hernandez placed fifth with a time of 3:35.89.

Willy Henderson and Roland Hutchinson rounded out the Lions’ 113 team points, with Henderson taking sixth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.97) and Hutchinson placing sixth (11.54) in the 100-meter run.

Slated against tough competition, the Varsity Lady Lions earned 59 points for a fifth place finish. The field was dominated by Boerne-Champion, with 128 points, and Kerrville Tivy, who scored 123.

Junior Shanice Manning once again dominated the sprints in the Girls’ District 27-5A Meet. Manning defended her District Championships in the 100-meter and 200-meter runs, earning first place in the 100-meter with a time of 12.34, and offering up a 25.71 time in the 200-meter.

Alexandra Howard also brought home a pair of medals, taking silver in the discus, with a powerful throw of 100’3”, and bronze in the Shot Put with a distance of 33’2”.

Teammate Destinee Brown followed up in the shot put, with a throw measuring 32’6”.

Natalie Grimm continued her tradition of strong performances, taking third in the Pole Vault with a mark of 10’9”. Xavia Thompson earned bronze in the 100-meter run, logging a time of 13.07 seconds, and Cristal Trejo made the platform with a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter run (5:26.89).

Trejo also brought in points for her fifth place finish in the 3,200-meter run, loggig a time of 12:33.21.

Sarah Hughey placed sixth in the High Jump, with a mark of 5’0”, and the relay team consisting of Madison Estrada, Thompson, Hughey and Kastazia Thomas closed out scoring with a sixth place finish (1:51.09) in the 800-meter relays.

The top four performers in each event have earned a bid to the Area Qualifiers this week at the Judson Rutledge Stadium. Those who advance will continue to the Regional Qualifiers on May 1-2 at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio.

Check next week’s Post-Register for results from the Area Meet, and schedules for the Regional Qualifiers.