Texas Relays notebook: Cedar Park girls win sprint medley relay with nation's fastest time
Isabel Conde De Frankenberg knew something special was about to happen as she approached the finish line in the sprint medley relay Friday night at the Texas Relays.
Running the anchor leg for Cedar Park, she was watching the scoreboard clock at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The junior had the race in the bag. But when she crossed the line at 3:57.96, it marked the fastest time in the medley relay in the country so far this year.
After the race, De Frankenberg hugged her parents, Mariano and Adriana, along the stadium wall. She then turned to her teammates for a group hug while receiving hearty applause from fans.
De Frankenberg was joined on the winners' podium by teammates Amani Graham, Avery Allmer and Addison Simon. If this sounds familiar, Cedar Park won the same race last year with the fastest time in 2022.
Cedar Park was followed by Bridgeland (4:01.71) and Katy (4:03.18).
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De Frankenburg is better known as a state high school champion in cross country and long-distance races. Once a year, she's part of a four-girl relay team.
"It's not just me being No. 1, it's about the whole team being No. 1 in the nation," De Frankenburg said.
The biggest thrill was running the final 200 meters absorbing the magnitude of the moment.
"Once I went from third place to second to first, I started to watch the clock and start to pace myself," said De Frankenberg, who ran the final 800 meters.
A future Longhorn vs. current Longhorns
Even though he wasn't yet wearing burnt orange, one future Longhorn made an appearance at Myers Stadium on Friday. In fact, he even competed against UT runners at one point.
Texas track commit Elijah Mosley got to run against future teammate Christopher Brinkley during the first leg of a 1,600-meter relay preliminary. Despite a strong start from Mosley, Barton County Community College finished 23rd in the field and did not advance to Saturday's final.
Texas ran its race in 3:05.80, the sixth-best qualifying time.
Coming up on Saturday
Among the Central Texas high school athletes who will compete on Saturday are Westlake's Ashton Toms (100 meters), Swayde Griffin of Lago Vista (110-meter hurdles) and Cedar Park's Amani Graham (100-meter hurdles).
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Relays Notebook: Cedar Park wins relay with nation's fastest time
