5 Albany athletes qualify for state meet
By Sam Waller
Five Albany track and field athletes earned the right to compete for a state championship at last week’s Region II-2A meet.
Albany has had a state qualifier every year since at least 1985, which is as far back as UIL archives go.
The regional meet was held Friday-Saturday, April 29-30 at Springtown.
The Class 2A state meet will be Friday, May 13, at Myers Stadium in Austin.
For the boys team, Cole Chapman (triple jump), Tye Edgar (pole vault), and Adam Hill (110 hurdles) each won events, while Sarah Cotter won the girls high jump. Kiana Roberson earned a wild-card berth in the girls shot put after finishing third.
Albany had seven other third-place finishes that just missed qualifying, including two by Chapman.
“When you have kids qualify for state, you’re obviously excited for them,” boys coach Rod Britting said. “But when you have so many that barely missed out, it’s a little bittersweet.”
Chapman, who qualified for state in the high jump last year, was third in both that event and the long jump. In the long jump, Chapman matched runner-up Teaghan Knight of Hawley at 22 feet, 3¾ inches, but was placed third on the basis of the better second-best jump. In the high jump, Chapman matched wild-card qualifier Isaac Johnson of Dawson at 6-4, but lost out on fewer misses.
In the boys triple jump, Luke Ivy was third after qualifying last year, missing a return to state by 1½ inches. Pole vaulter Luke Marshall missed a wild-card berth on a tiebreaker, denying him a chance to compete at state in three sports after qualifying in tennis and golf.
Briley Tabor was third in the girls pole vault.
In running events, Coy Lefevere was third in the boys 100 by .02 seconds. Hill was third in the 300 hurdles, missing a wild-card berth by .28 seconds.
The boys 1600 relay also finished third.
The Lions finished second in the boys team standings with 87 points, three back of Hamilton. The girls totaled 22 points to tie for 10th.
Britting said injuries again hampered the boys team. Lefevre strained a groin during Friday’s prelims, forcing changes to two relay lineups.
“It seemed like every meet we went to, some type of injury popped up and kept us from meeting our full potential,” Britting said. “It becomes a source of stress, and you can’t just enjoy the meet.”
The quartet of Cason Fairchild, Lefevre, Ivy, and Jayce Tinkle ran the 400 relay prelims. Edgar replaced Lefevre in Saturday’s finals as the Lions finished seventh.
In the 800 relay, Fairchild, London Fuentes, Ivy, and Edgar ran in the prelims. The Lions finished fourth in the finals with Fairchild, Fuentes, Lefevre, and Ivy.
The 1600 unit of Ivy, Samuel Rosas, Fuentes, and Hill ran both days.
Jayden Lucas added a sixth-place finish in the pole vault, and Rosas was eighth in the 800.
In the girls division, Ella Webb made the finals in both hurdles races, placing eighth each time, while Roberson was eighth in the discus.
The girls 800 relay of Webb, Kam Browning, Robin Lucas, and Cotter was 10th overall in the prelims after finishing sixth in its heat.
“Overall, I thought it was a really good weekend,” girls coach Ryder Peacock said. “We went in as kind of a wild card to make the finals in our running events. Ella competed very well to make it in both hurdles and our 800 relay was right there in the mix.”
REGION II-2A MEET
BOYS
Team totals – 1. Hamilton, 90; 2. Albany, 87; 3. Hawley, 68; 4. Tolar, 65; 5. Cisco, 48; 6. Celeste, 33; 7. Stamford, 32; 8. Muenster, 22; 9. Wolfe City, 18; 10. Honey Grove, 17; 11. (tie) Alvord, 12; Petrolia, 12; Valley Mills, 12; 14. (tie) Olney, 10; Tioga, 10; Era, 10; 17. (tie) Poolville, 8; Chico, 8; Alba-Golden, 8; 20. (tie) Windthorst, 6; Rio Vista, 6; Lindsay, 6; 23. (tie) Cooper, 5; Quanah, 5; 25. (tie) Itasca, 4; Ivanhoe Sam Rayburn, 4; Archer City, 4; 28. (tie) Meridian, 2; Seymour, 2; Italy, 2; Simms James Bowie, 2; 32. (tie) Collinsville, 1; Haskell, 1.
Long jump – 3. Cole Chapman, 22-3¾.
Triple jump – 1. Cole Chapman, 45-6; 3. Luke Ivy, 43-8¾.
High jump – 3. Cole Chapman, 6-4.
Pole vault – 1. Tye Edgar, 13-6; 3. Luke Marshall, 13-0; 6. Jayden Lucas, 12-0.
400 relay – 7. Albany (Cason Fairchild, Tye Edgar, Luke Ivy, Jayce Tinkle), 45.33.
800 – 8. Samuel Rosas, 2:14.24.
110 hurdles – 1. Adam Hill, 15.00.
100 – 3. Coy Lefevre, 11.24.
800 relay – 4. Albany (Cason Fairchild, London Fuentes, Coy Lefevre, Luke Ivy), 1:33.05.
300 hurdles – 3. Adam Hill, 41.54.
1600 relay – 3. Albany (Luke Ivy, Samuel Rosas, London Fuentes, Adam Hill), 3:31.28.
GIRLS
Team totals – 1. Haskell, 90; 2. Windthorst, 68; 3. Stamford, 66; 4. Lindsay, 53; 5. Hamilton, 41; 6. Alvord, 32; 7. Era, 30; 8. Tioga, 28; 9. Cisco, 23; 10. (tie) Albany, 22; Poolville, 22; 12. Muenster, 21; 13. Anson, 18; 14. Hamlin, 16; 15. Cooper, 14; 16. (tie) Quanah, 12; Hico, 12; 18. (tie) Archer City, 10; Valley Mills, 10; 20. (tie) Trenton, 8; Honey Grove, 8; 22. De Leon, 4; 23. Santo, 3; 24. (tie) Cumby, 2; Tolar, 2; 25. Quinlan Boles, 2; 27. (tie) Bogata Rivercrest, 1; Rio Vista, 1; Collinsville, 1.
Shot put – 3. Kiana Roberson, 36-3.
Discus – 8. Kiana Roberson, 106-5.
High jump – 1. Sarah Cotter, 5-3.
Pole vault – 3. Briley Tabor, 9-0.
100 hurdles – 8. Ella Webb, 17.61.
800 relay – 10. Albany (Ella Webb, Kam Browning, Robin Lucas, Sarah Cotter), 1:54.63.
300 hurdles – 8. Ella Webb, 52.23.
