LJHS track teams leave district foes in the dust

Four LJHS teams earn district championships

By Alonzo Garza
POST-REGISTER

The District Track Meet hosted by Lockhart Junior High School last week was an incredible success all the way around. Not only was it run efficiently, keeping all of the track and field events on a timely schedule, the track meet staff and volunteers also managed to do everything a

track and field event is supposed to do with a wonderful grace under pressure despite the added stress of rain.
That”s right rain, and plenty of it. Buckets full of rain poured down on all the junior high school students participating in the track meet. Some of them had fun dancing and singing in the rain as it poured down, while others shivered under umbrellas waiting for their events. They all dealt with the rain fairly well and absolutely nothing could deter them from proudly representing their respective schools and competing against each other with all the zeal they could muster in wet uniforms.
In case you missed it, it rained on Thursday, March 29. The downpour only added more moisture to the already-drenched stadium and fields around Lockhart. It had rained the night before and continued raining throughout the day, but the LHS Athletic Office assured me the meet would begin promptly at 3:30 p.m., as scheduled. Apparently, the only thing that can stop a sports event around here is the threat of lightning.
Lockhart Junior High completely dominated the district meet. They did as well as they could have. The LJHS teams competed against great junior high teams and won many of the races and events. Thanks to LeAnn Sibley for the following information on the girls track results

Seventh Grade Girls.
The Seventh Grade Girls” team finished their season strong. They were able to leave their competition in the dust during the two days of events on March 28 and 29. Their team compiled 233 team points, an outstanding number, any way you look at it. San Marcos” Miller Junior High was the second-highest scoring team with only 83 team points leaving little doubt in anyone”s mind as to who was clearly the winning team.
Winning district medals for their team in shot put were Christine Spinks with a second place medal and Brandi Brown with a fifth place medal. Julie Tate earned fourth place medal and Corina Briseno took sixth place for discus. Rachel Herbert won first place in high jump and Victoria Peterson got fifth. Roslind McKinney took first place in the long jump and Cindy Partida placed sixth. In the triple jump, Partida earned first place, Elizabeth Thomas took third and Jarin Hazelett Jarin Hazelett got fifth. Isis Johnson won a first place medal for the pole vault, while Hazelett placed fourth and Yobana Solano came in fifth. Erica Islas took second place in the mile and a half race. She also came in first in the 800-meter run, just ahead of Cierra Castillo, who came in third. Carmen Murphy earned second in the 100-meter dash, Alexandria Carter came in third and Sabrina Williams placed fifth. Johnson came in first again in the 100-meter hurdles and Cindy Partida placed second.
Samantha Cowan earned a first place medal in the 400-meter dash. In the 300 hurdles, Partida came in first, Brittney Weiss second and Herbert sixth. McKinney earned another first place medal in the 200-meter dash. In the mile run Jeneca Cates came in third and Elizabeth Browning took fifth. Carter, Partida, McKinney and Schroeder came in first in the sprint relay. Carter, Johnson, McKinney and Schroeder placed first in the 800 relays. Herbert, Murphy, Cowan, Schroeder came in second in the mile relay.

Eighth Grade Girls
According to Sibley, the Eighth Grade Girls” team also performed well as they played host for the district meet.
“Their goal was to defend the district title they won as seventh graders and although many of the names were different, the outcome was the same as they pulled off another championship,” she said. “They entered the meet knowing only their best performances would bring home a title since district rival Barton had been hot on their trail throughout this track season.”
The team pulled together and put in one gutsy performance after another. The Eighth Grade Girls” team won by compiling a team total of 198 points while Barton trailed behind with 122 team points.
Bringing home district medals for the team were as follows:
In Shot Put, Gabby Galvan got first place, Amber Robbins took fourth place and Tory Hill placed fifth place. In Discus, Galvan earned first place, Robbins took second and Hill took third. Nicole Matteson took fifth place in the High Jump and third place in the Triple Jump. The mile-and-one-half saw Perales come in second, Karsyn Stark third and Victoria Espinosa fourth. In the 800 meter run Ashley Boykin got first place, Alissa Casteel took second place and Olivia Gibeaux placed third. Cassie Arredondo came in second in the 100-meter dash. In the 100-meter hurdles, Matteson took first place, Meredith Olivares got second and Veronica Escobedo got third. In the 400-meter dash, Casteel got third place and Gibeaux got fifth. In the 300 hurdles, Olivares earned second place and Shelby Kennedy got third place. Boykin got first place and Perales got second place in the Mile Run. Matteson, Arredondo, Kennedy and Escobedo came in third in the Sprint Relays. Arredondo, Olivares, Kennedy and Escobedo came in fourth in the 800 Relays. And finally, Espinosa, Boykin, Casteel and Perales earned a second place medal for the Mile Relay.
Congratulations to all the seventh and eighth girls who participated in the district track meet.
I also want to thank Coach Stonecipher for getting me the following information on the Seventh and Eighth Grade Boys” team results.
“I am so proud of all of our young men,” Stonecipher said. “The Seventh Grade boys won every track meet they entered and the Eighth grade boys won district scoring over 200 points. I feel they worked extremely hard and competed well. They can be proud of their accomplishments, I am.”

Seventh Grade Boys
The Seventh Grade team did remarkably well in their events. As a team they earned a grand total of 175 points. The closest school behind them was San Marcos” Goodnight Junior High with 128 team points. The LJHS Seventh Grade team came in fourth with 26 points in the field events and got first place with 149 points in the track events.
Individual results are as follows: Zach Martinez got a fifth place medal for the Shot Put event. Nate Moore placed sixth in the high jump. In the Triple Jump, Devonte Hedspeth placed fourth and Joseph Bell placed fifth. Bell got a first place medal for the Pole Vault while Junior Garcia got third and Stevie Laube got sixth in the same event. In the 2400 meter run, Kahlil Karl came in second, Joseph Anchando came in third and Cody Datesman came in fifth. In the 800 meter run, Lockhart took first, second and third with Bobby Dihn coming in first, Caleb Peters second and Kahlil Karl third. In the 100-meter dash, Dequan Hedspeth took first place and Chris Benavides came in fifth. In the 400-meter dash Dihn came in second and Chris Jackson third. In the 200-meter dash Dequan Hedspeth came in fifth. In the 110 hurdles Joseph Bell placed second, Junior Garcia third and Bo Kinsey came in sixth. In the 300 hurdles, DeVonte Hedspeth came in third and Junior Garcia fifth. In the 1600 meter run Lockhart took second, third and fourth with Datesman second, Anchando third and Moore fourth. In the 200 relay Jackson, Martinez, Post and Guerrero took second place. In the 100 relay Hedspeth, Guerrero, Benavides and Hedspeth took third place. And finally in the 400 relay Guerrero, Martinez, Jackson and Dinh took third place.

Eighth Grade Boys
The Eighth Grade Boys” team completely dominated the track meet outscoring all other teams with a grand total of 201.5 team points. It was an outstanding performance by the eighth graders. The closest any other team got to them was Dahlstrom with 116 team points.
It is no surprise that the LJHS eighth graders earned the first place honor for both the track and field events. They earned 116 points in the track events and 85.5 points in the field events. Individual results are as follows: In Shot Put, Landon Kelly placed first, Jay-Alan Baltierra placed third and Javier Alarcon placed fourth. In the Discus, Alarcon took second, Kelly placed fourth and Baltierra earned sixth. Brooks Pittman won a first place medal in the High Jump and a second place medal in the Long Jump. Nick Leija got a third place medal in the Long Jump. In the Triple Jump, MacKenzie O”Neal placed third and Leija placed fourth. In the Pole Vault, Landon Rivera won first, Kevin Silva second and Brock Bowen fifth. In the 2400 meter run, Kyle Medina came in second and Dylan Plummer came in third. In the 800 meter run, Pittman came in first, Silva placed second and O”Neal, fifth. George Deleon came in sixth in the 100-meter dash. Josh Silva took fifth place in the 110 hurdles. In the 400-meter dash, Pittman came in first and Leija took sixth. In the 300 hurdles Kevin Silva won the first place medal. In the 200-meter dash, Pittman placed first and Moses Ramirez placed fourth. In the 1600-meter run, Plummer came in second. In the 200 relay, Leija, McCree, Ramirez and Deleon placed third. In the 100 relay, Wimberley, Ramirez, O”Neal and Deleon came in fourth. And finally, in the 400 relay, Silva, McCree, Leija and Lillian came in second place.
Congratulations to all the boys for working so hard on winning the district track meet. The LJHS coaches were visibly pleased with the performances of their teams and obviously proud of all the wins. It was a great night for Lockhart and the junior high.
I could see that the high school coaches were taking mental notes of certain students as they excelled in their specific events and races throughout the day. They were already scouting for new runners for the high school teams.
Congratulations to all the coaches, teachers, staff and volunteers for making the track meet an outstanding success.
agarza@post-register.com