The Mason High School track and field program took three of the four District 29- 2A championships April 3 at Junction High School.
The Punchers left no doubt in winning the varsity division decisively with 207 points. Junction was second with 178 points. The junior varsity finished second in the team standings.
Head coach Michael Mc- Leod credits the athletes' ability to perform when it's time to their extensive experience at the regional and state meets.
' Them just knowing what's at stake,' he said. 'I think that mountain looks even more mesmerizing at the top because they know what's there. But yet they still have the pride and the commitment and the drive to still want to get back to the top of it. I think that there’s a lot a lot individually, a community expectation and a school expectation that just goes all the way around as well that I love.'
Meanwhile the Cowgirls were equally up to the task by scoring 143 points to win the varsity division, while the junior varsity is the co-district champion with Goldthwaite after each scored 126 points.
The Punchers earned six individual district titles and won all three relays. Meets have a total of 16 events.
Cannon Rabon was the district champion in the discus with a toss of 139 feet and 8 inches and finished fourth in the shot put with a heave of 42-2.25.
'He was the standout,' head coach Michael McLeod said. 'He performed really well when it counted the most, and he's been due. He's really worked hard – getting the keys on the weekend to go practice and train a little bit extra here and there. I was really proud to be able to see him get to that point.
He's been due for a great performance, and it came at the best time.'
Mitchell Underwood finished fourth in what McLeod called 'a competitive high jump district.'
In the running events, Caleb Koenig impressed his coach. He was second in the 400 meters and is a member of the 400-meter and 800-meter relays.
'He was our most improved last year,' McLeod said. 'He matched up (with us) with hard work, has matched up with work ethic, has matched up with consistency. I’m extremely proud of how far he’s come. It hasn't been easy, but he’s gotten here, and he’s going to continue to do great.'
Meanwhile, the Cowgirls braced for a neck-and-neck meet. Head coach Kyndel McLeod said results in individual events from other meets made it too close to call going into the district meet.
'We thought we had the ran to gold and put Mason atop of the podium.
'For us to win, Johnson City had to get beat by one or two other teams, and we had to win,' Kyndel McLeod said. 'We had to work for every point here and there.'
The Cowgirls won all three relays. Other members are Brianne Lewis, Taryn McCrea and Annabell Marshall. Those wins equaled 60 points.
In addition Emma McCrea won the 400 meters, Paiva took gold in the 300-meter hurdles and the long jump, and high jumper Anna Marie Whitworth is the individual district champion.
'Paiva ran a (personal record in the hurdles) and won them,' the coach said. 'A big performance like that helped us. I taught her how to run them in the third track meet.'
Emma McCrea's win in the 400 meters was especially gratifying. At the last minute, she was removed from the 400-meter relay to run the open quarter.
'She ran really, really well,' Kyndel McLeod said. 'That got us 10 extra points. Fortunately we have enough alternates that we didn't drop in times.'
'Thankfully, they competed well,' the coach said. 'I knew it would be close between us and Johnson City.'
Athletic director Michael McLeod summed up the meet for the program.
'The desire to want to be great is shared all the way through the program, all the way through the track program, boys and girls, it doesn’t matter,' he said. 'I think those kids feel that and I think they go above and beyond for a lot of different reasons. It’s not just for coaches, it’s not just for themselves, it’s not just for their parents. I think it’s a collection of all of those three things and our community that that's what they’re trained to do and they do it really well.'
The area meet is Thursday, April 10, at Harper High School beginning with the 3,200 meters at 10:00 a.m., field events at 11:00 a.m., and the running events at 3:00 p.m.
RESULTS DISTRICT 29-2A meet at Junction High School April 3
BOYS
Varsity, first in the team standings with 207 points (top four advance to area) 100 – 3, Trevor Loeffler, 11.39, 6, Jaxon Valverde, 11.68; 200 – 1, Sutten Silerio, 22.25, 7, Christian Gammill, 24.73; 400 – 2, Caleb Koenig, 51.46, 4, Jaxson Reichenau, 53.69, 9, Garrett Lindsay, 57.49; 800 – 1, Kolton Wenzel, 2:04.54, 2, Caden Klingelhefer, 2:04.74, 4, Angel Quintero, 2:09.74; 1,600 – 1, Cooper Ratliff, 4:50.41, 2, Caden Klingelhefer, 4:52.48, 4, Angel Quintero, 5:10.41; 3,200 – 1, Cooper Ratliff, 10:22.06, 3, Garrett Lindsay, 11:14.77, 4, Irving Tavera, 12:06.80; 110 hurdles – 1, Jayden Smith, 15.92, 3, Trevor Loeffler, 16.30, 6, Asher Bonnett, 17.25; 300 hurdles – 5, Jaxon Valverde, 43.67, 7, Trevor Loeffler, 49.17; 4x100 – 1, Mason, 43.88; 4x200 – 1, Mason, 1:28.62; 4x400 – 1, Mason, 3:25.79; high jump – 4, Mitchell Underwood, 6-2, 6, Trevor Loeffler, 5-10; long jump – 4, Hunter Bradley, 19-6; triple jump – 7, Jaxon Valverde, 37-3.5, 8, Jayden Smith, 37-3; discus – 1, Cannon Rabon, 139-8, 4, Fisher Bradley, 128-4, 7, Chantz Reed, 110-3; shot put – 2, Reegan Evans, 43-8, 4, Cannon Rabon, 42-2.25 Junior varsity, runner- up in the team standings
100 – 5, Cass Dutton, 12.31, 6, Derek Ramon, 12.46, 9, Slade Buell, 12.63; 200 – 5, Urijah Castillo, 25.91, 7, Derek Ramon, 26.41; 400 – 1, Noah Sparks, 59.74; 800 – 2, Sam Simonton, 2:19.42; 1,600 – 1, Sam Simonton, 5:30.49, 8, Thomas Kruso, 6:20.67; 3,200 – 5, Thomas Kruso, 13:37.13; 300 hurdles – 1, Urijah Castillo, 47.87; 4x100 – 3, Mason, 48.32; 4x200 – 2, Mason, 1:41.91; 4x400 – 2, Mason, 3:54.58; high jump – 5, Nathaniel Lanning, 5-0; long jump – 4, Hudson Burns, 17-7, 5, Slade Buell, 17-3, 7, George Velez, 16-8.5; triple jump – 7, Rylan Hershman, 34-3.25; discus – 1, Derric Burch, 103-2, 2, Cass Dutton, 101-9, 6, Noah Sparks, 90-11; shot put – 1, Jackson Contrucci, 35-0.25, 3, Travis Vinson, 34-0.75 GIRLS Varsity, first in the team standings with 143 points (top four advance to area) 100 – 2, Brianne Lewis, 12.98, 4, Rylee Bradley, 13.14, 6, Annabell Marshall, 13.40; 200 – 5, Rylee Bradley, 27.75; 400 – 1, Emma McCrea, 1:00.78, 5, Rylee Bradley, 1:04.87; 800 – 3, Ryleigh Peel, 2:39.36; 1,600 – 3, Elizabeth McFarland, 6:00.24, 6, Hannah McFarland, 6:31.43; 3,200 – 4, Elizabeth McFarland, 12:34.15; 300 hurdles – 1, Kaitlin Paiva, 49.19; 4x100 – 1, Mason (Brianne Lewis, Camille Schmidt, Taryn McCrea, Annabell Marshall), 51.40; 4x200 – 1, Mason (Brianne Lewis, Camille Schmidt, Kaitlin Paiva, Emma McCrea), 1:49.38; 4x400 – 1, Mason (Camille Schmidt, Kaitlin Paiva, Shaylee Edmiston, Emma McCrea), 4:11.29; high jump – 1, Anna Marie Whitworth, 5-0; long jump – 1, Kaitlin Paiva, 15-6.25, 6, Ryleigh Peel, 14-1.25; triple jump – 4, Kaitlin Paiva, 32-7.5; discus – 4, Kylie Sparks, 95-1 Junior varsity, co-district champions with 126 points 100 – 1, Brooke Lewis, 13.93, 2, Dulce Sifuentes, 13.98; 200 – 1, Kinley Wenzel, 29.50, 2, Dulce Sifuentes, 29.92, 3, Caitlin McCrea, 30.45; 400 – 1, Caitlin McCrea, 1:08.05, 3, Kinsley Atchison, 1:11.58, 6, Reese Edwards, 1:15.08; 100 hurdles – 1, Kinley Wenzel, 18.80; 300 hurdles – 2, Cameron Asbill, 1:00.70; 4x100 – 1, Mason (Caitlin McCrea, Brooke Lewis, Dulce Sifuentes, Kinley Wenzel), 54.49; high jump – 1, Kinley Wenzel, 4-6; long jump – 1, Dulce Sifuentes, 14-7.75, 6, Cameron Asbill, 11-5.5; triple jump – 2, Cameron Asbill, 29-6.25
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