The San Angelo Central and Lake View track and field teams competed in their district meets late last week, sending multiple athletes to the area meets, and one step closer to the state meet at Mike A. Meyer Stadium in Austin in May.
The top four finishers at each event advanced to the area meet. For Central athletes, the area meet will be held on April 17 at El Paso Franklin. For Lake View athletes, the area meet will be held on April 17 at Abilene Christian University.
Central
The Central boys and girls competed in the District 2-6A meet held at San Angelo Stadium on April 2-3.
The girls finished second in the team standings with 126 points, which was 17 points behind district champions Midland Legacy.
The Central girls 1,600-meter relay team of Sophie Hernandez, Emauri Vinson, Serena Cucuta and Madison Rios took first place with a time of 3 minutes and 55.86 seconds — a new personal record for the team.
Senior Sydney Crooks also took home a district title for the Lady Cats in the triple jump event. She had a leap of 38 feet and 4.5 inches.
Crooks also finished fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5-0 and a fifth-place finish in the long jump.
The freshman, Cucuta, had a strong showing for the Lady Cats, advancing to the area meet with a pair of second-place finishes in the triple jump with a distance of 37-11.00 and a long jump of 17-10.00.
The other Lady Cats relay teams brought home silver medals. The 400-meter relay team of Cucuta, Jaida Ennis, Gracen Coates and Madison Rios finished with a time of 49.10 and the 800-meter relay team of Aalyah Ramirez, Jocelyn Ruiz, Cucuta and Rios finished with a time of 1:44.19.
Freshman Jayla Elliott finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.94, while senior Gracen Coates had a third-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.51.
Hernandez earned a pair of bronze medals in the 400 and 800, with times of 1:00.77 and 2:22.38, respectively.
Vinson also had a bronze-medal finish in the 200 with a time of 26.07.
Emma-Claire Beers had a fourth-place and area-qualifying time of 12:59.54 in the 3,200.
On the boys side, the Bobcats finished fifth in the team standings with 78 points. Midland Legacy won the boys title with 193 points, which was 94 ahead of runners-up Odessa Permian.
Sebastion Gonzales highlighted the day with a district title win in the 800 with a time of 1:58.18. He also had a fifth-place finish in the 1,600 in 4:36.01.
John Morales had two area qualifying times. He finished second in the 3,200 with a time of 10:03.66 and fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:02.10.
Senior Trey Steele finished second in the pole vault with a height of 15-00.00.
Solomone Ma’afu was second in the discus with a toss of 147-0.00, while Parker Havercroft was fourth with a 139-0.00.
Aiden Garcia was third in the 3,200 with a time of 10:24.32, and fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:32.20.
The Bobcats 1,600 relay team of Noah Hogeda, Jayden Martinez, Dereon McDuffie and Colt Martin qualified for the area meet with a fourth-place finish of 3:28.19.
Lake View
The Chiefs and Maiden competed in the District 5-4A meet in Wolfforth on April 2-3, with the boys team taking third place at the meet with 91 points.
Lubbock-Cooper Liberty claimed the district title with 208 points, which was nearly 100 points ahead of runners-up Frenship Memorial.
Senior Kentrall Johnson won two district titles in individual events. He earned gold in the 100 with a time of 10.68 and the 200 with a time of 21.58.
The 800-meter relay team of Gabriel Alvarez, Calvin Whitfield, Chris Rodela and Johnson also won gold with a time of 1:29.34. The 1,600 relay team of Nathaniel Gonzales, Jemariae Lacy, Rodela and Whitfield also nabbed first place with a time of 3:25.45.
Gonzales also brought home gold in the 400 with a time of 50.33.
Whitfield earned a bronze in the 800 with a time of 2:04,46, and Christian Esparsa was third in the 300 hurdles with a 41.81.
The Lake View girls were sixth overall at the meet with 27 points. Frenship Memorial barely outpaced Lubbock-Cooper Liberty for the district title, 185-178.
The Maidens qualified for the meet in three events. Lea’la Leal earned silver in the 3,200 with a time of 13:01.26 and fourth in the 1,600 with a 5:59.15 time.
Pamela Ayer was fourth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 51.18.
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Central, Lake View track athletes advance to area meets
Reporting by Paul Witwer, San Angelo Standard-Times / San Angelo Standard-Times
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