Athletes compete well against larger schools

By Sam Waller

Albany’s two returning state track medalists each won two events Thursday, March 9 at the Lobo Relays in Cisco, helping the Lions and Lady Lions to fifth-place finishes in the varsity team standings.

The Lions and Lady Lions maintained their training regimen during spring break and many will compete Saturday, March 18 at the Possum Kingdom Relays in Graham.

Adam Hill, last year’s silver medalist in the Class 2A 110 hurdles, won both boys hurdles races. Kiana Roberson, the 2A bronze medalist in the shot put, won both girls throwing events.

“The main thing we’re trying to do is still get in shape,” boys coach Rod Britting said. “I tried to put some guys in some races to get a little bit of work in, get an idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are. I just watch and evaluate where we need to put people.”

Lady Lions coach Ryder Peacock said he was pleased with how his athletes performed against competition from larger schools.

“This was a larger track meet, filled with 3A schools, and our girls did a good job of getting in there and competing,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are working to make sure we get better, and I felt like we accomplished that.”

The Albany boys added second-place finishes from Wyatt Windham in the high jump and Luke Marshall in the pole vault in scoring 54 points. Avery Everitt scored in two events as the Lady Lions finished with 38 points.

Hill ran 14.90 in winning the 110 hurdles and 41.95 in the 300 hurdles. He also anchored the 1600 relay. The time in the 110 hurdles was just 0.11 seconds off what Hill ran at state last year.

“Obviously, Adam ran really well for his first meet,” Britting said. “For him to be under 15 in cold conditions in his first meet was pretty impressive. He’s obviously ahead of the game.”

Samuel Rosas was fourth in the 800, while Tye Edgar was fourth in the pole vault.

Albany’s 1600 relay of Rosas, Jayce Tinkle, Cason Fairchild, and Hill added another fourth-place finish. The 800 relay of Edgar, Windham, Fairchild, and Branson Beal finished sixth.

“We still have a couple of guys who haven’t run or have just run once,” Britting said. “Even though we’re in midseason, it’s still early for our guys. We seem to get started late in everything because of being successful in other sports.

In the girls division, Roberson threw 35-8 to win the shot put and 118-8 in the discus. Melanie Figueroa added a sixth-place finish in the shot.

“Kiana continued to throw well, bringing home two gold medals,” Peacock said. “For her, it’s been about consistency, and she is doing a good job of stacking one good throw on top of the other. Melanie was also a scorer for us as she had one of her best days in the shot put.”

Everitt was fourth in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 100 hurdles. Briley Tabor placed fifth in the pole vault.

The Lady Lions scored points in all three relays. The 400 relay of Caysn Hargett, Brooklyn Abbate, Madison Parrott, and Tabor finished fifth, as did the 800 relay of Tabor, Mimi Ivy, Gineveve Soders, and Ella Webb, The 1600 relay of Ivy, Soders, Webb, and Callan Edgar placed sixth.

“This is, for the most part, a brand new group from last year, and one thing I was proud of is our improvement from two weeks ago,” Peacock said. “As we continued to move girls around in the relays to find our best group, we put up a solid race in both the 4x100 and 4x200, but dropped right at 20 seconds in the 4x400. We are in one of our hardest phases of training right now, so to see that improvement was really encouraging.”

Junior Varsity

Albany’s JV boys scored 50 points to place sixth in the team standings, while the JV girls were fifth with one point.

For the boys, Tinkle won the 400 before being placed on the varsity 1600 relay, while Mason McCloy won the pole vault with Breylon Billington third. Aaden Mendez was fourth in the long jump.

The 400 relay of Cade Fairchild, Tinkle, Jaxson Street, and Billington finished second, while the 800 relay of Calhan Fairchild, Huffman Heatly, Street, and Billington finished fifth.

For the girls, Alli McDaniel was sixth in the discus.

CISCO LOBO RELAYS

VARSITY BOYS

Team totals – 1. Breckenridge, 219; 2. Eastland, 119; 3. Clyde, 105; 4. Cisco, 98; 5. Albany, 54; 6. Anson, 15; 7. Breckenridge B, 4.

High jump – 2. Wyatt Windham, 5-10.

Pole vault – 2. Luke Marshall, 13-0; 4. Tye Edgar, 12-0; NH, Jayden Lucas.

800 – 4. Samuel Rosas, 2:19.16.

110 hurdles – 1. Adam Hill, 14.90.

800 relay – 1. Albany (Tye Edgar, Wyatt Windham, Cason Fairchild, Branson Beal),1:39.19.

300 hurdles – 1. Adam Hill, 41.95.

1600 relay – Albany (Samuel Rosas, Jayce Tinkle, Cason Fairchild, Adam Hill),3:46.34.

VARSITY GIRLS

Team totals – 1. Clyde, 202; 2. Cisco, 136; 3. Breckenridge, 122; 4. Eastland, 103; 5. Albany, 38; 6. Anson, 11; no score, Breckenridge B.

Shot put – 1. Kiana Roberson, 35-8; 6. Melanie Figueroa, 28-2½.

Discus – 1. Kiana Roberson, 118-8.

Pole vault – 5. Briley Tabor, 8-0.

400 relay – 5. Albany (Caysn Hargett, Brooklyn Abbate, Madison Parrott, Briley Tabor),58.60.

100 hurdles – 6. Avery Everitt, 18.75.

800 relay – 5. Albany (Briley Tabor, Mimi Ivy, Gineveve Soders, Ella Webb),2:00.93.

300 hurdles – 4. Avery Everitt, 56.43.

1600 relay – 6. Albany (Mimi Ivy, Gineveve Soders, Ella Webb, Callan Edgar),4:45.13.

JV BOYS

Team totals – 1. Breckenridge, 178; 2. Anson, 106; 3. Cisco, 89; 4. Clyde, 80; 5. Eastland, 69; 6. Albany, 50; 7. Breckenridge B, 43.

Triple jump – 4.Aaden Mendez, 33-10.

Pole vault – 1. Mason McCloy, 11-0; 3. Breylon Billington. 10-0.

400 relay – 2. Albany (Calhan Fairchild, Jayce Tinkle, Jaxson Street, Breylon Billington),47.87.

800 relay – 5. Albany (Calhan Fairchild, Huffman Heatly, Jaxson Street, Breylon Billington),1:44.41.

400 – 1. Jayce Tinkle, 55.73.

JV GIRLS

Team totals – 1. Clyde, 216; 2. Breckenridge, 144; 3. Cisco, 142; 4. Eastland, 72; 5. Albany, 1; no score, Anson, Breckenridge B.

Discus – 1. Alli McDaniel, 62-2.