Hill, Roberson medal again at state meet
Albany athletes had an upand-down day Friday, May 3 at the Class 2A state track meet, but the ups were way up.
Seniors Adam Hill (300 hurdles) and Kiana Roberson (discus) both won gold medals, while Hill also got silver in the shot put, and Luke Marshall (pole vault) just missed adding a track medal to the golf bronze he earned earlier in the week.
Albany tied for sixth place in the boys team standings with 22 points and tied for 18th in the girls team standings with 10 points.
Hill repeated his medal haul of a year ago, claiming a gold and a silver. One of the deepest low points of the day came when he was disqualified in the 110 hurdles, an event he finished second in the past two years, for a false start.
“It didn’t go as expected with the 110 hurdles,” Hill said, “but I got to refocus and took care of business in the 300s.”
Jkoby Williams of Beckville, who edged Hill for gold the last two years, won the race in 14.19 seconds, almost a full second faster than his regional time.
Lions coach Rod Britting said the DQ was easier to deal with as Hill had two more races to get ready for.
“Jumping the gun in the 110s, obviously everyone was just sick about that,” Britting said. “The only consolation to it was he had some other events. All I could think about was if a kid came down there and that was his only race, how detrimental that would be.”
Hill’s day started off on a muchbrighternoteashemoved up two spots in the final round of the shot put, hitting 53 feet, one-quarter inch, his personal best by nearly three feet.
“All year long, Coach (Brad) Stautzenberger and I knew that I could throw more; it just hadn’t all come together yet. I was a little mad that guy jumped past me on his last throw. One throw left, might as well give it your all.”
Hill hit 51-0½ on his first throw, which put him third, and that held up until Haskell’s Nick Roewe went 51-5¼.
“You could see that got all over Adam,” Britting said. “He slid in there and piped one out another two feet past that, PR’d by three feet, and passed both the guys (Roewe and Stamford’s Zayes Elmore)from our district who’d beat him all year long.”
In the 300 hurdles, where he was the defending champion, Hill Was Determined To Makeup for the false start in the 110s.
“On the warmup field, I worked on my start five or six times,” he said. “I held myself longsoI’dbereadyforthe300s.”
Hill responded with a personal best of 38.05, bettering his state time from last year.
“I think I could have gone a little faster had I not hit the last two hurdles,” he said. “I was glad I PR’ed and took care of business.”
Britting said Hill appeared to be on a mission in the race.
“He came out of there and flew around,” Britting said. “He kind of stumbled over the last hurdle, or I think he would’ve gone 37. He was 10-15 yards ahead of the field.”
Roberson also had some bitter to go with the sweet, placing seventh in the shot put after medaling in the event the last two years. The gold medal in the discus helped make up for it.
“It definitely made it feel more complete, being able to get a gold my last year,” Roberson said. “It was just an overall exciting experience.”
Lady Lions coach Lauren Peacock said conditions were less than ideal.
“It was really drizzly and (meet workers) had been blowing off the ring all morning,” Peacock said. “The girls took towels out there and dried the ring off.”
Peacock said Roberson’s experience in such conditions – it rained at more meets Albany attended this spring than not – worked in her favor.
“We thought if it rains and it’s a wet ring, she was probably going to win it,” the coach said. “We practice those situations, and she knows exactly what to do. She slowed down and had a good throw.”
The winning throw came on Roberson’s second attempt, moving up from second after the first round.
“The goal was to make a statement and let the other girls know, ‘Hey, I’ve been here before, and I know the ropes’,” Peacock said. “I feel like Kiana made a statement.”
Roberson, who fouled on three of her last four throws, could only watch as the rest of the field chased her mark.
“I was nervous at first, then I got that 136 out there, and I was still nervous,” she said. “I wasn’t underestimating my competition,but I was confident in myself.”
In the shot put, Roberson struggled to keep up with the leaders. By the time she hit her best mark in the fifth round, 10 40-foot throws had been recorded. She missed scoring by a quarter inch.
“Kiana was a little disappointed because she didn’t feel like she threw her best,” Peacock said. “She had a hard time getting a good release. It was hard for her to get momentum and get in the swing of things, but I’m still super proud.”
In three trips to state, Roberson finished with a gold medal, two silvers, and a bronze.
“My first year, I guess I wasn’t as serious because I didn’t understand the state experience,” she said. “Last year, it was like it was getting real. This year, it was my last year, and I wanted to make something happen.”
Peacock, who returned to coaching girls track this spring after several years away, said the creditor Roberson’success
See Track, pg. 5B goes to longtime Albany coach Paul Johnston, who still works with throwers on a volunteer basis.
“Coach Johnston has bent over backwards and given so much to not only Kiana, but all of the throwers,” Peacock said. “We’re super blessed to have him as part of our program.”
In the pole vault, Marshall placed fourth on the basis of fewer misses after matching his career best of 15 feet, one heigh tout of the top spot.
“It Was Raining The Whole time he jumped,” Britting said. “It wasn’t ideal conditions to jump as well as he did. We wanted to get on some longer poles to get a new PR, maybe get up to 16.”
Marshall entered the competition at 13 feet, clearing on his first attempt, andpassed to14feet. His first miss came at 15-0.
“A lot of things that could’ve gotten kids distracted, Luke didn’t let it bother him at all,” Britting said. “When we went to 156, we were in between poles. The one he cleared 15 on, he cleared by a long way but almost hit it going up.”
Britting said Marshall’s approach appeared to be off as he missed all three attempts withalargerpole.
“I don’t know if he was tired or the conditions were different, but he was really far out on his steps on his last jumps, but up until that point, he was jumping as well as I’d ever seen him jump,” the coach said. “He really performed well, so I was very pleased with how he did in those conditions.”
The boys 1,600 relay of Jayce Tinkle, Chip Chambers, Jaxson Street, and Hill ran 3:36.02, its secondbest time of the year to finish seventh, where Albany was seeded. The top four teams ran under 3:23.
“There were a lot of fast guys,” Hill said. “We didn’t run our best, but we still had a good time.”
Britting said the leaders separated themselves from the pack early in the race.
“The guys ran well; we just got a little behind,” he said. “You could kind of tell once the top three or four teams got way out front that the last guys weren’t going to kill themselves to get there.”
It was the second year in a row Albany qualified in the event after placing eighth last year.
“Prior to that, we’d gone three or four times,” Britting said, “several times in the last 10 years.”
The 1,600 relay, the final event at meets, is one Britting focuses on.
“I’ve always thought the mile relay was a race we could compete in,” he said. “If you don’t have guys who are blazing fast, you’re probably not going to excel in those other two races. But the mile relay, if you’ve got kids who are willing to work and put in the time, you can be good at it. We’ve been pretty successful.”
Britting said Albany Produces the type of athletes who are suited for the event.
“We gear a lot of our workouts to the 400,” he said. “If we’ve got guys who are bona fide sprinters, we’ll work off that. But most of what we do is the other way.”
CLASS 2A STATE MEET GIRLS Shot put – 7. Kiana Roberson, 37-2.
Discus – 1. Kiana Roberson, 136-0.
BOYS Team totals – 1. Refugio, 84; 2. Crawford, 30; 3. Stockdale, 26; 4. Wolfe City, 24; 5. Gruver, 23; 6. (tie) Falls City, 22; Thorndale, 22; Beckville, 22; Albany, 22; Sonora, 22.
Shot put – 2. Adam Hill, 53-0 ¼ .
Pole vault – 4. Luke Marshall, 15-0.
110 hurdles – DQ, Adam Hill, false start.
300 hurdles – 1. Adam Hill, 38.05.
1600 relay – 7. Albany (Jayce Tinkle, Chip Chambers, Jaxson Street, Adam Hill),3:26.02.
