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Track and field roundup: Lancaster boys, girls win Region II titles again

State meet in 2 weeks is next hurdle for perennial champs

ARLINGTON — The Lancaster girls stood tall on the podiums in the center of the track, winners of the Region II 4A championship. They posed for a moment for a photograph, smiling and cheering, then the girls stepped to the side, and the boys took their turn. They had won, too.

With Lancaster, it’s like this every April and May. Coach Beverly Humphrey said the girls have won 14 consecutive regional titles. Coach Greg Williams said the boys have won six straight titles.

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Sprinter/hurdler Taije Jordan couldn’t picture a regional meet that didn’t end this way. She says the Lancaster tradition and the exact number of district, regional and state titles are constantly told to the athletes.

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“It’s drilled in our head,” she said.

Jordan was part of Lancaster’s winning 4x400 meter relay and also finished second in the 300-meter hurdles at UTA’s Maverick Stadium. The Lancaster girls team also won the 4x100 and 4x200 relays, and Eboni Coby won the 100-meter dash.

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The boys won the 4x100 and 4x200 meter relays and finished second in the 4x400. Demarquis Mims, 300-meter hurdles, Travian White, 200-meter dash, and Tequille Jackson, 110- and 300-meter hurdles, qualified individually for state.

They know another number they must remember. Five. The boys will be going for their fifth straight state title in two weeks.

New double for Shea: McKinney senior Meghan Shea successfully ran the 1600- and 3200-meter races for the first three years of her high school career. She changed this year, focusing on the 800 and 1600, and it has paid off. Shea, who has committed to Texas, won the 800 and 1600 on Saturday.

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It wasn’t easy. About two hours separate the 800 from the 1600. After Shea received her medal from the 800 and cooled down she had about 40 minutes to relax before she had to start warming up again.

Not affected by the quick turnaround, she maintained a short lead over second-place Natalie Rathjen of Highland Park in the last half of the 1600, finishing in 5:02. Her 800-time of 2:16.5 was the second-best she’s run.

“Hopefully that will help me at state to reach the goals I want,” Shea said.

Comeback for Creekview's Gonzalez: Lancaster's Taije Jordan had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead heading into the last 150 meters of the 300-meter hurdles. Carrollton Creekview's Melissa Gonzalez was far behind because of a bad start. But she pushed through, gaining several meters and winning by 0.12 seconds.

“I finish strong at the end,” Gonzalez said, “and that usually makes up for the start.”

Briefly: Carrollton Newman Smith's Courtney Okolo set a meet record in the 400-meter dash with a 53.69. She also won the 200-meter dash and anchored Newman Smith's second-place 4x400 relay team. …. Rockwall Heath's Brianna Richardson won the long jump and triple jump. … Frisco Liberty's Brady Turnbull won the 1600-meter run by eight seconds, running a 4:17.

Mark Dent

Class 5A Region I: Timberview's Bailey sets two records in 400 meters, anchors pair of relay wins

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LUBBOCK — Mansfield Timberview runner Aldrich Bailey cemented his legacy as one of the top track athletes in North Texas history with a virtuoso performance that will not soon be forgotten by those in attendance Saturday at the Class 5A Region I meet at Texas Tech.

The Texas A&M signee not only broke former Arlington Lamar and TCU star Jeremy Wariner’s regional record (45.57 seconds) from 2002, Bailey broke the national record of 45.25 set by Calvin Harrison (North Salinas, Calif.) in 1993 by clocking in at 45.19 in the 400 meters.

“I want to go sub-45 [seconds], that’s my goal. I thought I just did it,” Bailey said.

The senior and defending 5A state champion in the 400 brought the crowd to its feet again on his way to collecting two more gold medals Saturday as anchors of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays in which he was handed the baton with a sizable deficit. Timberview was in third place in the 4x100 and then in fourth place in the 4x400 before Bailey took over to win both events with times of 40.67 and 3:12.71.

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Timberview won the girls team title with a score of 93 points. Timberview won a gold medal in the 800-meter run, the 4x200, the 400 and the 4x400, led by Stanford bound Kristyn Williams, who garnered three by herself. The Lady Wolves’ 4x400 team of Williams, her twin sister Kaitlyn, Briana Adams and Jasmine Gordon set a regional record with a time of 3:43.68.

Jennifer Madu won the long jump, triple jump and 100 and 200 meters to help Plano East finish second in the girls team standings.

South Grand Prairie’s Abraham Hall is so fast that judges keep questioning their stopwatches. For at least the second time this season, the judges had to scramble to figure out his time, causing a delay of over 10 minutes before reporting his time in the 100 meter dash at 10.45.

Earlier this season, Hall ran a disputed 9.74 in the 100 that was later ruled inaccurate because of a faulty starter pistol.

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“This is getting to be crazy, but I’m going to state and that’s the positive thing,” Hall said. “I feel like I ran way faster than 10.45.”

He also won a gold medal in the 200 (20.81).

Jarret Johnson, staff reports

Class 5A Region II

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WACO — DeSoto dominated the Class 5A Region II track and field meet, winning the boys team championship by 55 points and taking the girls team title by 48 points Saturday. DeSoto won all three boys relay races and the girls 4x400-meter relay.

In the girls’ team race, DeSoto was once again in control, and it finished off the victory by winning the 4x400 relay. The race came down the final 150 meters, when Tia Gamble widened a three-meter lead to a comfortable 10 meters against Skyline.

DeSoto’s Ridge Jones won the boys 100 meters. His 10.54 sprint from Lane 7 was .13 seconds faster than his qualifying time during Friday’s heats — and put him just ahead of teammate Tremayne Acy, who ran 10.55.

Marcus Murphree

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Class 3A Region II

COMMERCE, Texas — Celina cruised to the boys team title at the 3A Region II meet, and Frisco Lone Star’s girls won the 4x400 relay to overtake Carrollton Ranchview and win the team championship.

Celina’s Jordan Roos won his second straight regional title in the shot put, throwing 61 feet, 2 inches. He won his first regional discus competition Friday. Micah Nelson won the 110 hurdles, Zac Bilderback triumphed in the 400 and Ben Thiel won the 300 hurdles as Celina won the boys team title by 14 points.

Lone Star won the girls title with 78 points, using its victory in the 4x400 relay to help turn a 10-point deficit entering the final two events into a nine-point victory over Ranchview.

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Rich Hilliard