Track teams take 20 athletes to area meet

A total of 20 Albany tracksters qualified for the area meet in 18 events, helping the boys place second and the girls third at the District 8-2A Track and Field Meet held last Thursday here in Albany.

The top four places in each district event moved on to the area meet held yesterday in Mertzon. Results of the meet were not available at press time, but the top four winners from that meet advance to the Region I-2A Track Meet on April 26-27 at South Plains College in Levelland.

The Lady Lions sent all three relays to the area meet on Wednesday, while the boys qualified in two relay events.

The Lions took second place with a 118 points, trailing Stamford with 163 points.

“We put a lot of kids in different events in an attempt to win the meet,” boys coach Rod Britting said. “Some of those moves paid good dividends, but ultimately Stamford was too strong in too many events.”

Britting said that several younger athletes stepped up to varsity to earn points, with three freshmen even qualifying for area.

“Luke Ivy, Robert Bailey, and Jaheim Newton were able to contribute a lot,” he said. “Luke even won the triple jump as a freshman, which was one of the highlights of the day.”

The coach also praised the efforts of the older members of the team.

“We did very well in the jumping events, winning the high jump, triple jump, and long jump,” Britting said. “Coach (Ryder) Peacock did a great job of preparing those guys, and we are looking forward to a lot of success in the future.”

The coach said that junior Gregori Mikeska advanced in both distance events.

“Gregori stepped up big in the distance races, qualifying in both the 1600 and the 3200 events,” he said. “Our relays also performed well, turning in their best times so far this season.”

The Lady Lions racked up an even 100 points for third place, following Stamford with 162 and Haskell with 146.

“We had several advance to area, including all three relays, a couple of hurdlers, and several in field events,” coach Lauren Peacock said. “Blanton Belcher and Tana Thompson competed well in the long jump and triple jump, and Jaleigh Morales was very impressive in both the discus and the shot put.”

The coach also praised the team for representing Albany and the school well during the local meet.

Both coaches said that their junior varsity teams competed well. The boys JV placed fourth with 83 points, while the girls were third with 28 points scored.

Varsity Girls Results

*Denotes area qualifier

100 m dash – 6. Torie Fuentes, 13.78.

200 m dash – 8. Blanton Belcher, 30.47.

100 m hurdles – 3. *Alli Hill, 17.28. 6. Tana Thompson, 21.13.

300 m hurdles – 3. *Ansleigh Garcia, 52.09

4x100 relay – 3. *Albany, 52.35. Ansleigh Garcia, Torie Fuentes, Alli Hill, Sarah Cotter.

4x200 relay – 3. *Albany, 1:56.91. Sarah Cotter, Tana Thompson, Blanton Belcher, Torie Fuentes.

4x400 2. *Albany, 4:16.38. Sarah Cotter, Jaleigh Morales, Carley Green, Ansleigh Garcia.

High jump – 2. *Alli Hill, 5-02. 3. *Sarah Cotter, 5-0.

Pole vault – 1. *Caroline Masters, 9-0. *4. Taylor Scott, 7-06.

Long jump – 7. Blanton Belcher, 15-04.25.

Triple jump – 8. Tana Thompson, 30-03.25. 9. Blanton Belcher, 29-05.50.

Shot put – 2. *Jaleigh Morales, 31-06.75. 13. Carli Edgar, 24-11.75.

Discus – 1. *Jaleigh Morales, 100-01. 8. Sara Smith – 72-07. 10. Carli Edgar, 68-04.

JV Girls Results

400 m dash – 3. Susie Cormack, 1:16.42.

Long jump – 1. Susie Cormack, 14-03.50.

Discus – 1. Lizzie Chavez, 69-06. 5. Aspen Box, 51-03.

Varsity Boys Results

*Denotes area qualifier

200 m dash – 6. Cutter Edgar, 23.77.

400 m dash – 3. *Robert Bailey, 55.90.

800 m run – 2. *Luke Ivy, 2:15.00.

1600 m run – 3. *Gregori Mikeska, 5:54.22.

3200 m run – 3. *Gregori Mikeska, 15:21.18.

300 m hurdles – 5. BJ Morris, 45.91.

4x100 relay – 5. Albany, 45.89. Ben West, Blaine Kayga, Colby Hargett, Robert Bailey.

4x200 relay – 3. *Albany, 1:34.26. Ben West, Cameron Dacus, Cutter Edgar, Blaine Kayga.

4x400 m relay – 2. *Albany, 3:30.94. Blaine Kayga, Ben West, Cameron Dacus, Cutter Edgar.

High jump – 1. *Colby Hargett, 6-02. 3. *Robert Bailey, 5-10. 5. Cameron Dacus, 5-08.

Pole vault – 5. Blaine Kayga, 12-00.

Long jump – 1. *Cameron Dacus, 22.08. 4. *Cutter Edgar, 20.01. 5. Jaheim Newton, 19.07.75.

Triple jump – 1. *Luke Ivy, 40-03. 3. *Jaheim Newton, 39-06.50. 4. *Cameron Dacus, 39-04.50.

Shot put – 6. Tyler Beard, 39-03.25.

JV Boys Results

100 m dash – 1. Dillon Hindman, 12.41. 3. Isaiah Dockins, 12.94. 6. Taren Farmer, 13.34.

200 m dash – 2. Malachi Gueldner, 24.90.

4x100 relay – 1. Albany, 47.81. Isaiah Dockins, Malachi Gueldner, Dillon Hindman, Taren Farmer.

Pole vault – 1. Dillon Hindman, 11-0. 2. Malachi Gueldner, 10-06.

Long jump – 1. Taren Farmer, 18-08.

Shot put – 2. Zion Belisle, 32-01.

Discus – 5. Riley Green, 78-05.