The Llano High School track and field athletes wowed the crowd with their finishes during their own Jacket Relays March 6.
The Lady Jackets won the junior varsity division with 160 points and finished tied for third in the varsity division with 93 points. The Yellow Jackets, head coach Ryan Priem said, "have to get healthy."
"When they do, I think we will see some drastic improvements," he said.
No group had a better showing than the program's throwers. Cole Kennedy, Konrad Zwicke and Peyton Parrish each set new personal records in the discus with Kennedy and Parrish winning gold medals and Zwicke earning silver.
Kennedy launched the discus 148 feet and 11 inches, while Zwicke had a mark of 131-9.5 and Mario Hernandez was sixth with a toss of 125-10.5.
Cason Stephenson earned silver medals for the Jackets in the discus and shot put, while Cambree Hoyt and Brooklin Cahoo finished in the top 5 in the shot put and Brissa Tristan was fourth in the discus for the Lady Jackets, all in the junior varsity divisions.
Discus coach Joe Kennedy explained their finishes.
"It's finding athletes and then teaching them how to throw – Peyton, with her background in dance, volleyball and basketball and all of our former football athletes, basketball athletes," he said. "It's a theory of finding the athlete first then teaching them how to throw, not the other way around. So sprinters, volleyball players, basketball players, obviously football players are all kids with very good feet and softball players; Emily (Clopton) also throws. She's only been doing this a little bit and she's already earning the points and medals, too, which is awesome."
In other field events, Addison Priem set a new personal best in the long jump with a leap of 15-5 to earn a medal for the Lady Jackets.
The triple jumpers and runners ran into a strong head wind that was blowing 25 mph. Ryan Priem believes jumping into that wind affected the athletes' marks, including Ciara Hays.
"I look for her to bounce back and improve greatly," he said. "Addison is doing well in the long jump. She is getting better each week and really each jump. She's been pretty consistent and that's what you want this time of the year. Her goal is to get to that 16-foot mark, and we hope she peaks at the right time."
Triple jumper Jose Sillas is within a foot of the district leaders. Not bad for an athlete who is still learning how to compete in the event.
"Jose is doing great in the triple jump," the coach said. "He's never done it before this year. So, he's still learning and getting comfortable with it."
On the track the Lady Jackets 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams also set season bests at the meet. The relays each feature the same runners — Kat Gomes, Hays, Addison Priem and Karlie Wyatt — who ran more than a second faster in the sprint relay and almost four seconds faster in the 800-meter relay.
That will be important as the district members all feature fast athletes.
Wyatt was competing in her first meet of the year, Priem said.
"It really helped us close the gap with the other teams in our district. (Wyatt) is nowhere near in 'track shape,'" he said. "I think if we continue to improve on our handoffs and continue to get in 'track shape' that when it comes to the district track meet, we will be able to give everyone a run for their money. We still have some work to do in the 4x200, but like I said, let's get to the district meet healthy and see what happens."
Middle-distance runner Townes Smith took bronze in the 1,600 and silver in the 3,200 meters, which is the result of what he's been doing in practices, the coach said.
"Townes has been running great in the 1600 and 3200. When you compare him to just our district, he is really good," he said. "Those points are going to be huge for us, and I look for him to continue to improve."
Llano competed at the Mason Relays March 12 instead of the Buffaloe Relays in Florence. Results weren't available by press time. The track program's next meet is at Blanco Thursday, March 27, before hosting the District 5-3A meet Tuesday and Wednesday, April 1-2.
RESULTS
Llano Yellow Jacket Relays
March 6
BOYS
Varsity, sixth with 48 points
200 – 7, R.J. Coplin, 24.43, 8, J.D. Friday, 24.44; 400 – 6, Chris Rodriguez, 56.12; 1,600 – 3, Townes Smith, 5:09.72;
3,200 – 2, Townes Smith, 11:10; 4x100 – 6, Llano (Kincade Rodriguez, R.J. Coplin, Luke Davis, J.D. Friday), 45.92; 4x200 – 5, Llano (J.D. Friday, Luke Davis, Kincade Rodriguez, R.J. Coplin), 1:37.13; 4x400 – 7, Llano (Gavin Hays, Chris Rodriguez, Luke Davis, John Light),3:49.19; triple jump – 5, Jose Sillas, 36-3; shot put – 3, Cole Kennedy, 43-3, 8, Konrad Zwicke, 40-2.5; discus – 1. Cole Kennedy, 148-11, 2, Konrad Zwicke, 131-9.5, 6, Mario Hernandez, 125-10.5
Junior varsity, fifth overall with 58.25 points
100 – 10, Dionicio Estrada, 13.21; 200 – 3, Christian Cortez-Danos, 25.40; 400 – 6, Caden White, 1:00.63, 7, Francisco Parravano, 1:00.90; 800 – 2, Dalton Newberg, 2:22.76; 110 hurdles – 4, Evan Beuke, 20.54, 9, Creighton Copeland, 22.82; 300 hurdles – 3, Evan Beuke, 47.49, 7, Creighton Copeland, 49.45, 8, Landon Magadance, 49.73; 4x100 – 4, Llano (Brady Kelly, Niko Arms, Isaiah Aguilar, Christian Cortez-Danos), 48.02; 4x200 – 5, Llano (Niko Arms, Isaiah Aguilar, Christian Cortez-Danos, Brady Kelly), 1:42.39; 4x400 – 5, Llano (Creighton Copeland, Francisco Parravano, Billy Guido, Caden White), 4:00.86; high jump – 6, Christian Cortez-Danos, 5-0; discus – 2, Cason Stephenson, 118-4, 6, Dionicio Estrada, 108-8.75; shot put – 2, Cason Stephenson, 38-7.5, 7, Elijah Macedo, 34-0
GIRLS
Varsity, tied for third with 93 points
200 – 7, Addison Priem, 28.91; 400 – 7, Hailey Lucas, 1:09.92; 800 – 1, Anna Machuga, 2:34.68; 1,600 – 1, Anna Machuga, 5:51.90, 7, Jordan Hussion, 6:22.47; 3,200 – 3, Jordan Hussion, 13:39; 4x100 – 4, Llano (Karlie Wyatt, Addison Priem, Ciara Hays, Kat Gomez), 52.94; 4x200 – 4, Llano (Kat Gomez, Karlie Wyatt, Addison Priem, Ciara Hays), 1:52.51; 4x400 – 3, Llano (Sydney Kuykendall, Kat Gomez, Hailey Lucas, Ciara Hays), 4:26.66; long jump – 2, Addison Priem, 15-5, 8, Enola Matlock, 13-7.5; triple jump – 2, Ciara Hays, 31-9, 4, Avery Kendrick, 30-10; high jump – 4, Anna Machuga, 4-10; shot put – 4, Peyton Parrish, 29-9; discus – 1, Peyton Parrish, 111-4, 6, Emilie Clopton, 94-3.25
Junior varsity, first overall with 160 points
100 – 3, Oktober Simpson, 14.61, 10, Abigail Cecil, 15.70; 200 – 2, Nova Oldham, 29.89, 4, Oktober Simpson, 30.75; 400 – 1, Emma Osbourn, 1:09.38, 5, Dulcie Lopez, 1:12.07; 800 – 1, Kinley Schulze, 2:45.99, 7, Dulcie Lopez, 2:55.98; 1,600 – 1, Kinley Schulze, 6:33.76, 2, Abby Macedo, 6:45.72; 3,200 – 1, Abby Macedo, 15:05; 100 hurdles – 2, Rylee Busby, 21.91, 4, Lanie Coplin, 22.48; 300 hurdles – 1, Sophia Passmore, 54.27, 7, Lanie Coplin, 1:03.79; 4x100 – 3, Llano (Noa Oldham, Carson Hoot, Phoenyx Holmes, Landyn Pfeffer), 56.25; 4x200 – 3, Llano (Noa Oldham, Carson Hoot, Phoenyx Holmes, Landyn Pfeffer), 2:00.86; 4x400 – 4, Llano (Dulcie Lopez, Rylee Busby, Emma Osbourn, Phoenyx Holmes), 4:55.82; long jump – 3, Landyn Pfeffer, 14-1; triple jump – 1, Kinley Schulze, 28-4, 2, Emma Osbourn, 27-9.75; high jump – 7, Lanie Coplin, 4-0; shot put – 2, Cambree Hoyt, 26-2.5, 5, Brooklin Cahoo, 24-6.5; discus – 4, Brissa Tristan, 73-6
