Page 6 - May 5, 2017

Sports
6A
TRACK
Aledo advances three
distance runners, two
vaulters to Class 5A
state meet in Austin
By Tony Eierdam
The Community News
In high school track, the dramat- ic and “sexy” events are the three relays, the 100-meter dash and any eld event where there is a possibili- ty of a state record falling.
And of the three relays, the high- est drama usually can also be nar- rowed down to the 4x400 relay, the last event of every track meet that oftentimes determines the winner of the meet.
But for the Aledo High School track team, it was the boys’ 3,200- and 1,600-meter runs at the Class 5A, Region I Track and Field meet held April 28-29 at PlainsCapital Lowrey Field in Lubbock that pro- vided excitement and drama.
Aledo advanced ve athletes in six events to the 5A state meet, including a “wild card’ entrant.
Freshman Gracie Morris advanc- es in two events, the girls’ 800-meter run and the girls’ 1,600-meter run as she won both races; freshman Graydon Morris advanced to state after winning the boys’ 3,200-meter run; sophomore Sierra White placed second in girls’ pole vault and will be making a return trip to state; Ryan Brown placed third in boys’ pole vault and his mark was the highest of the four regions’ third-place n- ishers in the event as he advances as a wild card; and senior Harrison Tillman, who provided the highest drama of the meet, won the boys’ 1,600-meter run.
The top two nishers in every event at the four regional meets automatically qualify for the state track meet in Austin. Each event also adds a “wild card” quali er. The wild card is the top third-place nisher in each event from the four regional meets.
The Aledo long-distance drama actually began on the rst day of the meet (Friday, April 28) at the end of the boys’ 3,200-meter run.
At the District 6-5A and the 5A/6A Area meet, in both the boys’ 3,200- and 1,600-meter runs, Graydon Morris nished rst with senior Harrison Tillman nishing in second. Half of the pattern remained true during the 3200 at the regional meet as Graydon Morris had a dra- matic nish and came from behind to capture rst place and a spot at the state meet.
Morris ran a time of 9:29.12 to win the boys’ 3,200-meter run, but said he had to abandon his strategy early in the race.
He took the lead on the fourth lap, lost the lead for about two laps but regained the lead for good on the last turn of the second-to-last lap. But it looked like three runners had a chance to win as all appeared to be tied on the nal 10 meters of the race.
But like a veteran sprinter in a short race, Morris leaned forward at the nish line and won by less than a tenth of a second (0.09).
“I wanted to go for time, but on the rst two laps I kind of got boxed in, so I kind of threw out the thought of a fast time out the window and just worked on strategy,” Morris said. “I didn’t expect the last 200 to be that quick.
“But (Amarillo’s Butare Rugenerwa) kicked past me in the last 100 at state (cross country meet) and I didn’t want that to happen again, so I dug deep.”
Morris was in unfamiliar terri- tory when Rugenerwa passed him during the fth lap of the race. Morris and Tillman had been neck- and-neck during the rst half of the race, and Tillman ended up placing fourth.
“I usually kick (the last 500 meters of the race), so when he passed me I kept with him and then passed him on the turn,” Morris said. “(In the nal 100 meters) I just moved outside and little and leaned over the ( nish) line. I feel happy
FIve to state
TONY EIERDAM/THE COMMUNITY NEWS
Aledo senior Harrison Tillman crosses the finish line to win the boys’ 1,600-meter run Saturday during the Class 5A, Region I Track and Field Meet at PlainsCapital Lowrey Field in Lubbock. Also shown from Aledo is freshman Graydon Morris, who finished third. The day before, Morris had qualified for the state meet after winning the 3,200-meter run.
May 5, 2017
THE COMMUNITY NEWS
www.community-news.com
TONY EIERDAM/THE COMMUNITY NEWS
Aledo freshman Gracie Morris is shown easily winning the girls’ 800- meter run Saturday at the regional meet in Lubbock. Morris also qual- ified for the state meet by finishing first in the 1,600-meter run. She is the only Aledo athlete this year to qualify in two events to the state meet.
TONY EIERDAM/THE COMMUNITY NEWS
Like a veteran sprinter, Aledo freshman long-distance runner Graydon Morris stretches at the finish line to capture the boys’ 3,200-meter run at the regional meet in Lubbock to qualify for the state meet. | RIGHT: Aledo senior Kia Jordan starts the finals of the girls’ 100-meter dash before a hamstring injury forced her to stop. Jordan, who is a three-time state qualifier, had been battling with the injury for six weeks. Despite not being close to 100 per- cent, Jordan finished seventh in the preliminary race the day before to reach the finals of the regional meet.
TONY EIERDAM/THE COMMUNITY NEWS
(From L to R:) Aledo senior Mackenzie Lyon clears the bar at the region-
al meet during girls’ pole vault. Lyon went out at 11 feet to finish fifth. | Aledo junior Alaina Touchet extends on a throw during girls’ shot put at the Region I meet. | Ryan Brown clears the bar for a personal-best mark of 15 feet, six inches during boys’ pole vault at the regional meet. Brown finished third but qualified for the state meet as a wild card as he posted the best mark of the four third-place finishers at the regional meets. | Aledo soph- omore Sierra White clears the bar at 11-6 to finish in second place in girls’ pole vault at the regional meet to qualify for the state meet. It is the sec- ond consecutive season White has advanced to state in pole vault.
togotostate.ButIamgladIbeat (Rugenerwa), who won state cross country. He will be a big contender (in the 3,200) at state.”
On the second day of the meet the weather changed, dramatically, to say the least. Day 1 was windy but warm, but overnight a forecasted cold front moved into far west Texas, and by the time the boys’ 1,600- meter run occurred the wind was gusting up to 35 miles per hour and wind chills creeped down into the mid-30s.
And to make conditions worse, the steady drizzle that had begun before the mile turned into a hard rain.
Considering the conditions, Tillman decided to alter his strate- gy. The senior raced out to the lead in the rst 100 meters and held on despite a frantic nal lap by Graydon Morris, who nished third. Morris had gotten boxed in early in the race and could not recover in time to nish in the top two. Tillman’s win- ning time was 4:26.19, while Morris clocked in at 4:26.58.
The senior, who had nished sec- ond to Morris in the mile in the two previous post-season meets, made the best of his nal chance of his
stellar high school career to qualify for the state meet.
“First of all, I want to give God all of the glory,” Tillman said. “Yesterday (in the boys’ 3,200-meter run where he nished fourth) did not go the way I had planned, and right now it feels great to be going to state. I wanted to surge the rst 800 meters. I knew with the wind and rain that it would be hard for anyone to catch up to the leader.
“I knew if I could get out front early that it would be to my advan- tage. I am so excited to be able to go to state in my senior year. This was my last chance and I made the most of it.”
The most decorated athlete from Aledo at the meet was Gracie Morris, Graydon’s twin sister, who ran a rst- place time of 2:18.1 to win the girls’ 800-meter run and followed with a 5:08.18 to win the girls’ 1,600-meter run. She is the only Aledo athlete to qualify for the state meet in two events.
Two AHS pole vaulters advanced to state, including White, whose nal mark of 11 feet, six inches was good enough for a second-place nish and a return trip to state.
“I am so excited to get back to
state,” White said. “I went last year as a freshman, and I am just so happy to go this year because the competi- tion was stronger than last year. The wind actually helped me a little bit because it was at our backs.
“Last year at state I was a fresh- man and I was a little bit intimidat- ed, but this year I am going down there with the attitude of just having fun and giving it my best.”
Aledo had two girls competing in pole vault as senior Mackenzie Lyon had a mark of 11 feet to nish fth.
The other vaulter who advanced, Ryan Brown, placed third in boys’ pole vault with a mark of 13-6, a per- sonal record. His nish was the best of the four third-place nishers at all four regional meets as he advances to state as a wild card quali er.
In other Aledo eld events, Erin Weiss placed 10th in girls’ discus, Alaina Touchet placed ninth in girls’ shot put, and Chuck Filiaga was injured and could not compete in boys’ shot put.
Also, the boys’ 4×400 relay team did not advance to the nals. In hur- dles, Regan Rice competed in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles but did not reach the nals.
An Aledo athlete reaching the
running nals was senior Kia Jordan, who bravely ran on an injured ham- string to place seventh in the prelim- inary race to advance to the running nals on the second day. However, Jordan pulled up almost halfway through the race and could not n- ish due to a pulled hamstring.
“Kia made the nals, but sadly reinjured her hamstring,” Ladycats head coach Nikki Hyles said. “She has been struggling the past six weeks with this injury, and this is her rst time in her high school career to not qualify for state. She has represented Aledo well and will be missed.”
ALEDO STATE
QUALIFIERS
Gracie Morris – girls’ 800- meter run; girls’ 1,600-meter run
Harrison Tillman – boys’ 1,600- meter run
Graydon Morris – boys’ 3,200- meter run
Sierra White – girls’ pole vault Ryan Brown – boys’ pole vault