Hill, Roberson medal at state track meet

By Sam Waller

Albany juniors Adam Hill and Kiana Roberson had big goals for the Class 2A state track meet, held Friday, May 12, at Austin’s Mike A. Myers Stadium.

Hill achieved part of his, winning the 300-meter hurdles and finishing a close second in the 110 hurdles.

“I just had to stay with the No. 1 seed in both races and focus on my technique and stuff I’ve been working on all year long,” Hill said.

Roberson came agonizingly close to gold before settling for silver in the shot put and discus. Seeded first in both events, she led the shot put competition all the way until being passed on the very last throw.

“Kiana had a really good day overall,” Lady Lion coach Ryder Peacock said. “They may not have been her best throws of the year in either event, but I think it might have been her best day in terms of both of them being on. Two silvers at the state meet is a pretty big day.”

Roberson said the key was having the proper mental approach.

“It took a clear mind and not letting anything get in the way mentally,” she said.

Peacock said Roberson’s strength this season has been her consistency after taking bronze in the shot put at state last year.

“You knew what you were going to get,” he said. “Each week, she really performed well. It was good to see her do that again.”

Albany finished eighth in the boys 1600 relay, running a season-best time.

This is the second year in a row Albany has produced a state gold medalist, following Sarah Cotter’s win in the girls high jump last year. Hill, who also earned silver in the 110 silver in 2022, claimed the first state gold medal by an Albany boy since Ethen Bernstein won the pole vault in 2017.

“We were real happy for Adam,” boys coach Rod Britting said. “He ran well, PR’ed in both events and set a school record in the 110.”

After falling a tenth of a second short in the 110 hurdles, Hill dominated the 300s, running a time of 38.75 seconds. Aidan Cardwell of Junction was second in 39.92 and Jkoby Williams of Beckville, who edged Hill for the 110 title for the second year in a row, was third in 39.94.

“The kid who won gold last year (Williams) was right in front of me,” Hill said. “I just kept my eye on him the whole time and let him carry me around, then finished strong.”

Hill’s time was 1.24 seconds faster than his previous best of 39.99 run in the preliminaries of the Region II-2A meet. Britting said Hill rose to the challenge against the strongest field he faced this season.

“We felt like he was right there, and with some guys around him to push him, he’d have a chance to run as well as those other guys had,” Britting said. “He just hadn’t had anybody close to him up to that point.”

In the 110 hurdles, Hill ran 14.36 to Williams’ 14.26. The pair held a healthy lead on the rest of the field with Jason Brazell of New Deal third at 14.85, nearly a half second behind Hill.

“If there had been one more set of hurdles, I would have gotten (Williams),” Hill said.

With a gold and two silvers in two trips to state, Hill said he’s looking for bigger things his senior year.

“Getting silver in the 110s two years in a row is definitely going to be motivation for next year,” he said. “Getting gold in the 300s, I’ve got to get back to state and defend my title.”

The running events were conducted on a rolling schedule because of the threat of thunderstorms, giving athletes less recuperation time between races.

“It didn’t really bother me for the 300s,” Hill said, “but it did getting ready for the relay. My legs were tired after the 300s. It felt like the 110s were just a warmup.”

Britting said the situation forced Hill to dump the scripted plan.

“After the 110s, Adam didn’t get to go warm up,” Britting said. “He had to report for his next event because they were about to run it. When he got done with the 300s after the medal ceremony, he was right back down there on the field, because it was happening fast.”

Roberson started her day by finishing second in the discus at 134 feet, 5 inches, placing behind Brylee Stewart of Junction (135-2).

“I didn’t have to do anything I hadn’t done before,” Roberson said. “I just kept focusing on my technique. The more technical you are, the better the throw looks.”

The distance was Roberson’s third-best of the season after throws of 138-0 and 137-11.

“We went in thinking 134 or 135 would have a pretty good shot at winning,” Peacock said. “We’re very proud of the end result.”

In the competition, Roberson was fifth after the first round, but moved up to third in the second round. She hit 131-3 in fourth round to move into second place and hit her best throw in fifth round, but fouled on her final attempt with the discus landing a few feet out of bounds.

“It was hard to tell if it would have been enough to win if she’d kept it in,” Peacock said. “It really took off and was a good throw, but it was difficult to tell from our angle.”

Stewart and Roberson were the only competitors to pass 130 feet. Stewart did it four times with her winning throw coming in the fourth round.

In the shot put, Roberson’s toss of 39-0¾ held up until Cayla Albers of Falls City went 39-3¼ on the final attempt of the competition to win by 2½ inches.

“It’s tough, but it’s probably going to happen at some point when you compete long enough,” Peacock said of the event’s finish. “Unfortunately, it happened at the state meet.”

Roberson, who was the fourth entry to step into the ring, took the lead by hitting 38-5 on her first attempt. She followed with her best effort on her next turn and finished with three throws of more than 38 feet, hitting 38-3¼ on her last attempt. Albers, who went 38-11 in the third round and 38-2¾ in the fifth, was the only other competitor to crack 38 feet more than once.

“I feel like I gave it my all for that day, but it could always be better,” Roberson said.

Like Hill, Roberson has three medals in two trips to state with a year of eligibility remaining.

“I’m going to work harder starting this week and get ready for next year,” she said.

In the 1600 relay, the quartet of Cason Fairchild, Jayce Tinkle, London Fuentes, and Hill ran 3:27.72, improving on the regional time by 1.19 seconds.

“Just to get to the state meet is an awesome achievement,” Britting said. “That’s something those guys will remember for the rest of their lives. We didn’t get on the medal stand, but I’m still really proud of their effort.”

Britting said losing contact with the pack early kept the Lions from finishing higher than their seeded position.

“When we came around for the first handoff, we were in about sixth place,” he said. “When we came off the curve, we were a little behind. Once you get into that position where you’re in space and not next to the other runners, it’s really hard to run their best times. I think we could have run a faster time, but I don’t know that it would have made a difference in the placing.”