Districts 3/4-5A area track: 'Land Sharks' leading rise in Lubbock High girls program

Reese Peña doesn't have a lot of time to rest in between her final two events.

The Lubbock High sophomore goes from the 1,600-meter run to the 1,600 relay in an instant, but Peña still manages to make a wardrobe change.

After all, she's earned it.

For the LHS girls, it's a privilege to don the gray uniforms. Those are reserved for the "Land Sharks," the four members of the mile relay.

Peña, Sara Dy, Elizabeth Florez and Lydia Brackeen make up the group, which is a major reason the Lady Westerners have developed into a program capable of winning multiple events — as they did again Friday.

LHS took silver in the 1,600 relay to cap the Districts 3/4-5A area track and field meet at Lowrey Field. That followed individual wins by Dy, Florez and Peña, the last of which came within a half-hour of the finale. Peña started the day with gold in the 3,200 before doubling up in the 1,600.

How does she turn around and run another 400 meters?

"I question the same thing all the time," Peña said. "I honestly don't know, but it's for sure the team that keeps me going. It just makes me want to push. I have more motivation and love, so I go out and do it even if it hurts. … They get me going; the ache and pain goes away."

Florez anchored the runner-up, which clocked its best time in 3 minutes, 59.32 seconds. Her 57.25 topped the field in the 400.

As seniors, Florez and Brackeen have experienced the steady rise of the Lady Westerners. The current four hold the school record in the event. LHS reached the Region I-5A meet in the relay the past two seasons but has yet to advance to the finals, finishing a spot short last year.

"The seniors my freshman year, they never even stepped foot at area," Brackeen said. "They never even made it past district. Since then we've been just advancing every single year."

Brackeen's first year coincided with the start of Michael Sparks' tenure as girls track coach, and with it, the birth of the Land Sharks.

Noticing a lack of enthusiasm for the 1,600 relay, Sparks hatched a plan. Those four participants are the only ones allowed to sport the shark-like shade. In fact, the LHS coach makes them turn in the uniforms after each meet.

"I wanted to make it something special that they had to strive for," Sparks said. "… They have to earn the right to wear this uniform."

Sparks still gets a kick out of how his runners embraced it. The silver medalists posed for a photo after the meet with their signature Land Shark hand gesture — forming a "fin" at the peak of their foreheads.

The group got a boost from a young source this season. Dy, a freshman, runs the first leg. She's adjusted well to high school, winning Friday's 100 hurdles and placing second in the 300 hurdles. After already exceeding initial expectations, Dy said she's ready to push for more achievements.

"It kind of feels like a fever dream right now," Dy said. "It just hit me like a rock, and it's just so cool to be here and just compete and keep going."

There could be similar fever dreams if any Lady Westerners advance to state. Sparks knows it would be a monumental success, one that would only increase the program's momentum.

"It actually makes me really happy, since Lubbock High's known as the school for losing," Florez said. "So knowing that we're up here on the map and actually winning events against so many schools makes me really proud of how far our program has come."

Lubbock-Cooper boys win area title; Lady Pirates second

The Lubbock-Cooper boys ended on top again.

The Pirates won a pair of relays, part of five golds overall, to tally 132 points. Amarillo High finished second with 105 points, and Abilene High followed with 92.

Cal Ritz placed first in the 100 and 200 for the second consecutive week. He also ran on the winning 400 relay. Cooper Morris won the 110 hurdles, and Lubbock-Cooper ended the meet with a win in the 1,600 relay.

The Lady Pirates finished second in the team standings, behind Amarillo. Niomi Wines won the 200 and ran on the first-place 800 relay to help Lubbock-Cooper to 106 points. The Lady Sandies notched 124.

Sofia De Groot has the Lubbock-Cooper girls' other event win. The senior reached 38 feet, 3 inches to earn gold in the triple jump. She got second in the long jump at 18-4.

Infante bounces back; Robinson repeats as area champion

It's safe to say Brandon Infante made the most of his opportunity Friday.

A week after advancing via a fourth-place jump-off, Infante matched a personal-best in winning the high jump. The Monterey senior cleared 6-foot-6 and felt good about attempts at 6-8.

His 6-0 mark from district tied for second-lowest entering the competition.

"I made some adjustments, worked hard in practice and got first here," Infante said.

Infante finished third in the event at regionals last season, just missing a state berth. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of Steven Runels, who made it to Austin as the Region I champion.

"Steven was a big role model to me," Infante said. "He taught me how to be consistent and keep my head straight."

While Infante bounced back as a lower seed, Monterey's Shelby Robinson earned gold as the favorite.

Robinson threw 120-9 to win the discus to start the day. It wasn't her best outing, but coming away with her second consecutive area championship is all Robinson cared about.

She got to compete in front of her softball teammates as well. Coaches and players gathered to watch Robinson, who had the four best throws of the event. She later hit 2 for 4 with an RBI in a 20-2 win over Lubbock High.

Robinson, whose personal-best is 130-10, got the winning mark on her final attempt Friday.

"I knew it wasn't a great day, but I knew that at that point I had won it," she said. "So I knew I could come in, relax and just throw."

Districts 3/4-5A area track and field meet

at Lowrey Field

Note: Top four finishers in each event advance to the Region I-5A meet April 28-29 at Lowrey Field.

BOYS

Team standings: 1. Lubbock-Cooper, 132; 2. Amarillo High, 105; 3. Abilene High, 92; 4. Amarillo Tascosa, 71; 5. Monterey, 58; 6. Abilene Wylie, 47; 7. Abilene Cooper, 42; 8. Lubbock High, 22; 9. Amarillo Caprock, 15; 10. (tie) Amarillo Palo Duro, Plainview, 14; 12. Coronado 8.

Discus: 1. Ryan Blake, Wylie, 152 feet, 0 inches; 2. Kendrick Vanderbilt, Wylie, 151-5; 3. Danny Bentley, Amarillo High, 150-7; 4. Ty Politte, Lubbock-Cooper, 148-7; 5. Cameron Vann, Wylie, 142-2; 6. Rafael Quiles, Amarillo High, 136-11.

High jump: 1. Brandon Infante, Monterey, 6-6; 2. Ke’Mauri Pinkard, Tascosa, 6-6; 3. Michael Dever, Lubbock-Cooper, 6-2; 4. Vincent Sipowicz, Lubbock-Cooper, 6-1; 5. Masla Abdi, Palo Duro, 6-0; 6. Paul Perez, Monterey, 5-10.

Long jump: 1. Ke’Mauri Pinkard, Tascosa, 23-1¼; 2. Gavin Parrott, Lubbock-Cooper, 21-9½; 3. Dalles Hernandez, Caprock, 20-8½; 4. Hebrew Hunter, Monterey, 20-6; 5. Jaelnd Pryor, Abilene Cooper, 20-3; 6. Aushaun Wilson, Tascosa, 20-½.

Pole vault: 1. Joshua Wright, Amarillo High, 13-6; 2. Hudson Farris, Tascosa, 13-6; 3. Corbin Graham, Tascosa, 13-6; 4. John Love, Amarillo High, 13-0; 5. Kyler Greer, Lubbock-Cooper, 12-6; 6. Hayden Wright, Wylie, 12-0.

Shot put: 1. Kendrick Vanderbilt, Wylie, 50-8½; 2. Ty Politte, Lubbock-Cooper, 50-5¼; 3. Gustavo Morales, Palo Duro, 48-1½; 4. Danny Bentley, Amarillo High, 46-9½; 5. Ethan Hoffmann, Wylie, 44-4; 6. Chris Carrillo, Lubbock-Cooper, 44-3¼.

Shot put wheelchair: 1. Isaac Montoya, Lubbock High, 10-11¾.

Triple jump: 1. Ke’Mauri Pinkard, Tascosa, 48-7¾; 2. Hebrew Hunter, Monterey, 47-9¾; 3. Gavin Parrott, Lubbock-Cooper, 45-10¼; 4. Davare Payne, Abilene High, 45-3; 5. Alhosan Sheriff, Caprock, 41-9; 6. Jaylen Parker, Abilene Cooper, 41-8.

3,200-meter run: 1. David Mora, Monterey, 9 minutes, 30.61 seconds; 2. Andruw Villa, Abilene High, 9:37.02; 3. Jerin Perkins, Amarillo High, 9:51.90; 4. Parker Maybin, Amarillo High, 9:52.95; 5. Elias Gonzales, Lubbock High, 9:55.98; 6. Xavier Sanchez, Monterey, 10:07.03.

400 relay: 1. Lubbock-Cooper (Haney, Ritz, Cook, Vaughn), 41.78; 2. Abilene High, 42.39; 3. Amarillo High, 42.56; 4. Tascosa, 42.90; 5. Caprock, 43.07; 6. Palo Duro, 43.11.

800: 1. Noah Watt, Amarillo High, 1:58.29; 2. Andruw Villa, Abilene High, 2:01.75; 3. Robert Stephens, Monterey, 2:01.82; 4. Xavier Sanchez, Monterey, 2:02.59; 5. Jaelym Glover, Amarillo High, 2:03.74; 6. Alfredo Haro, Caprock, 2:03.75.

110 hurdles: 1. Davare Payne, Abilene High, 14.60; 2. Cam Manahan, Coronado, 14.89; 3. Josh Melson, Abilene High, 15.14; 4. Jordan Simmons, Lubbock-Cooper, 15.27; 5. Ruben EK, Caprock, 15.59; 6. Logan Jackson, Amarillo High, 15.62.

100: 1. Cal Ritz, Lubbock-Cooper, 10.43; 2. Daniel Bray, Abilene Cooper, 10.45; 3. Braden Regala, Wylie, 10.50; 4. Pius Vokes, Amarillo High, 10.65; 5. Aushaun Wilson, Tascosa, 10.80; 6. Coleman Vaughan, Lubbock-Cooper, 11.02.

100 wheelchair: 1. Isaac Montoya, Lubbock High, 19.91.

800 relay: 1. Abilene Cooper (Rodriguez, Herron, Parker, Bray), 1:27.88; 2. Abilene High, 1:27.95; 3. Amarillo High, 1:28.73; 4. Lubbock-Cooper, 1:29.22; 5. Lubbock High, 1:30.07; 6. Tascosa, 1:30.93.

400: 1. Makya Beacham, Tascosa, 50.39; 2. Christian Rico, Abilene Cooper, 52.18; 3. Emmett Jones, Lubbock-Cooper, 52.27; 4. Zion Daniels, Monterey, 52.89; 5. Matthew Gjerde, Tascosa, 53.51; 6. Ethan Bailey, Amarillo High, 53.71.

400 wheelchair: 1. Isaac Montoya, Lubbock High, 1:23.91.

300 hurdles: 1. Cooper Morris, Lubbock-Cooper, 40.24; 2. Josh Melson, Abilene High, 41.26; 3. Jordan Flores, Plainview, 41.76; 4. Cole Kotara, Lubbock-Cooper, 42.05; 5. Gabriel Alcantar, Abilene High, 42.12; 6. Logan Jackson, Amarillo High, 42.66.

200: 1. Cal Ritz, Lubbock-Cooper, 21.76; 2. Braden Regala, Wylie, 22.07; 3. Ryder Walter, Plainview, 22.09; 4. Ja'kryia Luckey, Palo Duro, 22.15; 5. Jaylen Parker, Abilene Cooper, 22.32; 6. Jaelnd Pryor, Abilene Cooper, 22.41.

1,600: 1. David Mora, Monterey, 4:20.82; 2. Noah Watt, Amarillo High, 4:22.32; 3. Andruw Villa, Abilene High, 4:30.75; 4. Elias Gonzales, Lubbock High, 4:34.99; 5. Jerin Perkins, Amarillo High, 4:41.26; 6. Parker Maybin, Amarillo High, 4:42.73.

1,600 relay: 1. Lubbock-Cooper (Langley, Baker, Cook, Jones), 3:23.42; 2. Amarillo High, 3:23.77; 3. Lubbock High, 3:25.48; 4. Abilene High, 3:26.20; 5. Tascosa, 3:27.91; 6. Plainview, 3:33.80.

GIRLS

Team standings: 1. Amarillo High, 124; 2. Lubbock-Cooper, 106; 3. Monterey, 78; 4. Lubbock High, 72; 5. Amarillo Tascosa, 71; 6. Abilene Cooper, 44; 7. Abilene High, 40; 8. Abilene Wylie, 24; 9. Amarillo Palo Duro, 23; 10. Coronado, 22; 11. Plainview, 14; 12. Amarillo Caprock, 2.

Discus: 1. Shelby Robinson, Monterey, 120-9; 2. Sylvia Cardona, Tascosa, 113-7; 3. Ava Rushing, Plainview, 113-4; 4. Tayli Sneed, Tascosa, 111-4; 5. Shyann Huerta, Lubbock-Cooper, 107-3; 6. Payton Redar, Palo Duro, 106-8.

High jump: 1. Victoria Mireles, Tascosa, 5-6; 2. Niomi Wines, Lubbock-Cooper, 5-6; 3. Sieyera Emile, Tascosa, 5-6; 4. Alyssa Singletary, Lubbock High, 5-4; 5. Brentley Preston, Lubbock-Cooper, 5-2; 6. Kennadi Payne, Amarillo High, 5-2.

Long jump: 1. Jazlyn Hatcher, Abilene Cooper, 18-4¼; 2. Sofia De Groot, Lubbock-Cooper, 18-4; 3. Saphina Stanley, Tascosa, 17-2; 4. Asharee Davis, Abilene Cooper, 16-10¾; 5. M’Lia Whitman, Wylie, 16-9; 6. Sienna Cavalier, Amarillo High, 16-6¼.

Pole vault: 1. Zoe Vann, Abilene High, 11-6; 2. Hollis Stowe, Tascosa, 11-0; 3. Rachael Sorensen, Wylie, 10-0; 4. Lawsyn Everrett, Lubbock-Cooper, 9-6; 5. Kynli Greer, Lubbock-Cooper, 9-0; 6. Patton Posey, Amarillo High, 9-6.

Shot put: 1. Kelly Mora, Monterey, 39-1¼; 2. Justine Kalassa-Tshibuabua, Abilene Cooper, 36-4¾; 3. Riley Curtis, Plainview, 36-4½; 4. Payton Redar, Palo Duro, 36-3; 5. Emmalynn Reilly, Amarillo High, 36-0; 6. Ava Rahlfs, Amarillo High, 35-4.

Shot put wheelchair: 1. Kendra Murray, Tascosa, 16-1¼.

Triple jump: 1. Sofia De Groot, Lubbock-Cooper, 38-3; 2. Kahlen Whitley, Lubbock-Cooper, 36-9; 3. Asharee Davis, Abilene Cooper, 36-0¼; 4. Brooklyn Campbell, Tascosa, 35-9¼; 5. Brooke Nails, Plainview, 35-1; 6. Saphina Stanley, Tascosa, 34-10.

3,200: 1. Reese Peña, Lubbock High, 11:19.97; 2. Adeline Turman, Amarillo High, 11:59.70; 3. Marin Murray, Abilene High, 12:01.63; 4. Sydney Smothers, Monterey, 12:06.84; 5. Tayley Bullen, Lubbock-Cooper, 12:16.05; 6. Emma Milsow, Amarillo High, 12:36.41.

400 relay: 1. Amarillo High (Castellion, May, Brantley, Hibbler), 48.17; 2. Lubbock-Cooper, 48.86; 3. Abilene High, 49.10; 4. Monterey, 49.27; 5. Tascosa, 49.61; 6. Palo Duro 49.63.

800: 1. Zanashia Harris, Coronado, 2:15.66; 2. Sierra Cornell, Amarillo High, 2:15.70; 3. Bailey Springer, Monterey, 2:17.73; 4. Carolina Hernandez-Acosta, Lubbock High, 2:18.30; 5. Molly Bessent, Abilene High, 2:26.01; 6. Mollie Ferro, Amarillo High, 2:26.03.

100 hurdles: 1. Sara Dy, Lubbock High, 15.02; 2. Keely Harper, Amarillo High, 15.04; 3. Za'Miyah Dickson, Tascosa, 15.77; 4. Darby Brandt, Tascosa, 16.02; 5. Jessie Houston, Lubbock-Cooper, 16.37; 6. Blakely Brandt, Tascosa, 16.93.

100: 1. Anne-Lie Waite, Abilene Cooper, 12.18; 2. Keagan Galmor, Lubbock-Cooper, 12.37; 3. Malia Williams, Abilene High, 12.37; 4. Prexous Means, Monterey, 12.45; 5. Saphina Stanley, Tascosa, 12.59; 6. Madyson Castellion, Amarillo High, 12.61.

800 relay: 1. Lubbock-Cooper (Wines, Galmor, Riascos, Beeler), 1:42.41; 2. Amarillo High, 1:43.49; 3. Monterey, 1:45.32; 4. Palo Duro, 1:45.61; 5. Coronado, 1:45.72; 6. Wylie, 1:46.45.

400: 1. Elizabeth Florez, Lubbock High, 57.25; 2. Sierra Cornell, Amarillo High, 58.78; 3. Madyson Castellion, Amarillo High, 58.85; 4. Savannah Woods, Lubbock-Cooper, 1:00.04; 5. Taylar Riley, Wylie, 1:00.15; 6. Mollie Ferro, Amarillo High, 1:01.63.

300 hurdles: 1. Keely Harper, Amarillo High, 45.95; 2. Sara Dy, Lubbock High, 46.61; 3. Reginae Essix, Monterey, 47.36; 4. Sienna Cavalier, Amarillo High, 47.92; 5. Darby Brandt, Tascosa, 48.69; 6. Blakely Brandt, Tascosa, 48.91.

200: 1. Niomi Wines, Lubbock-Cooper, 24.37; 2. Juantai Williams, Palo Duro, 24.62; 3. Anne-Lie Waite, Abilene Cooper, 24.65; 4. Germanie Williams, Abilene High, 26.13; 5. Anna Rodgers, Monterey, 26.21; 6. Brittney Brantley, Amarillo High, 26.52.

1,600: 1. Reese Peña, Lubbock High, 5:13.45; 2. Zanashia Harris, Coronado, 5:22.29; 3. Bailey Springer, Monterey, 5:23.76; 4. Adeline Turman, Amarillo High, 5:36.26; 5. Sydney Smothers, Monterey, 5:45.34; 6. Ayla Baer, Amarillo High, 5:46.46.

1,600 relay: 1. Amarillo High (May, Harper, Payne, Cornell), 3:56.73; 2. Lubbock High, 3:59.32; 3. Wylie, 4:01.91; 4. Monterey, 4:14.82; 5. Tascosa, 4:15.01; 6. Caprock, 4:16.11.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Districts 3/4-5A area track meet: 'Land Sharks' leading Lubbock High