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5A Region II track: Girls add to Allen’s banner sports year

Hurdles victory highlights milestone runner-up finish

WACO — The notion that Allen is only a “football school” continued to be tested Saturday.

The Allen girls tallied 70 points on the way to a second-place finish at the Class 5A Region II meet at the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex.

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For those scoring at home, Allen has already won football and wrestling titles this school year. The boys basketball team reached the state semifinals, and the girls golf team qualified for Monday’s state tournament for the fifth straight year.

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The second-place finish by the girls track team is a program best, coach Larry Halliburton said. Its district title two weeks ago was a program first.

“Allen’s worked hard to get to this point,” senior Deonca Bookman said. “People think we’re a football school, but we’re a track team capable of going far.”

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Bookman, a Prairie View A&M signee, provided arguably the highlight of the meet’s second day.

After falling and failing to finish in the 100-meter hurdles, Bookman set a meet record to win the 300 hurdles in 41.35 seconds. The previous record of 41.63 was set by Rowlett’s Diana Pickler in 2002.

“I got discouraged after the 100,” Bookman said, “but it gave me even more motivation. That extra little push.”

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Allen fell just shy of a first-place finish, beaten by The Woodlands in the 4x400 relay — the final event of the day. The Woodlands won that race by more then four seconds to claim the team title.

Also of note for Allen were jumpers Ericka May and Kiyana Dixon, whose careers have been in lockstep the last two years.

May won the high jump at 5 feet, 5 inches Friday, and Dixon won the triple jump at 39-23/4.

Both May, a senior, and Dixon, a junior, took second in their respective events at the Region II meet last season. Both went on to finish sixth at the state meet.

“This was a great day for us,” Halliburton said. “It’s a great group of girls, and I attribute this to their hard work, and the coaches and administration have all been tremendous.”

Akens wins discus, returns to state: North Mesquite standout Aaron Akens ran away with the discus title on his final two throws of the day.

Akens was in second place heading into the final flight. He then threw a 183-0 to take the lead followed by a statement throw of 185-5 to finish with a flourish.

The Sam Houston State signee has been on a mission this season after finishing two feet from a medal at state in 2013.

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Akens is the area leader in the discus with a season best of 186-1 at the district meet. Last year’s state champion threw a 165-5.

North Mesquite teammate Michael Nichols, the area leader in the shot put, took third in the event Friday with a throw of 55-23/4. He can still qualify for state as a wild card, which goes to the best third-place competitor in the state.

Briefly: Plano East's Chris Ntreh won the 100 (10.52 seconds) and the 200 (21.55). Richardson's Khalil Lacy took second in the boys 200 (21.84). … McKinney Boyd sophomore Aaliyah Miller won the 800 and took second in the 1,600 to qualify in two events for the second straight year.