RECORD BREAKERS: Lady Tigers set new school mark in 4x800 relay, win conference title

Byron Beers, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
·2 min read

May 4—The Tahlequah girls track and field team set a new school record on its way to a Metro Lakes Conference championship Friday at Glenpool.

The 4x800 meter relay team of Lily Couch, McKenna Hood, Emma Maxwell and Tatum Havens ran a 10:00.87 to finish first and broke the school's previous best mark of 10:02.31 set in 2007 by Alex Lewis, Megan Coward, Kaylen Grant and Sarah Hix.

Individually, the Lady Tigers were ignited by junior Couch and sophomore Emily Morrison as they combined for four individual titles.

Couch, a junior, took top honors in the 800 and 1600 meter runs. She ran a time of 2:26.74 in the 800 to finish ahead of Grove's Rory Geer (2:27.37), and closed with a time of 5:38.89 in the 1600 to outpace Coweta's Hailey Secrest (5:41.04).

Morrison won championships in the 100 meter hurdles and high jump, and was a runner-up in the 300 meter hurdles. She posted a time of 16.91 in the 100 hurdles, topping Glenpool's Cierra Sullivan (17.19), and recorded a 5-00.00 in the high jump, which put her in front of Collinsville's Makayla Meadows (4-08.00). In the 300 hurdles, Morrison ran a 52.13.

The Lady Tigers finished with 143 points and finished ahead of Coweta (127) and Pryor (115) in the team standings. Glenpool (93) was fourth and Claremore (83) was fifth.

Tahlequah had other top three finishes individually. Hood, a freshman, was second in the 3200 meter run (12:59.84), junior Lola Brownfield was second in the 400 meter (1:04.83), freshman Kynley Frazier was third in the 300 hurdles (53.77), sophomore Anna Kliest was third in the long jump (15-04.00), and sophomore Alexa McClure was second in the shot put (33-07.00). The 4x400 relay team (Brownfield, Stella Aldridge, Kerstyn Kelly and Couch) was second with a time of 4:16.46.

The boys 4x800 also won a championship. Blaine Jones, Eddie Barnes, Trae Baker and Eric Burns combined to run a 8:28.68 and finished in front of Coweta (8:50.30).

Individually, the Tigers were led by second and third place finishes from sophomore Seth Burney and Burns, a junior. Burney was third in the 110 meter hurdles (17.82), and Burns took second in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:02.35

Tahlequah finished with 49 team points.

The Lady Tigers and Tigers will host a Class 5A East Regional Meet Friday at Tahlequah High School. Other schools in the meet include Bishop Kelley, Coweta, Tulsa East Central, Tulsa Edison Prep, Glenpool, McAlester, Tulsa Memorial, Tulsa Nathan Hale and Pryor.