Technically, the Arabians gave Lon Cozby his first district track championship as a head coach as Devine topped second place Pearsall by 59 points for the 29-4A title last Thursday evening at Warhorse Stadium. The Arabians had already cemented the championship prior to the 4x400m Relay but it became official at the conclusion of that race.
The Warhorse track team added a second championship of the day just a few minutes later with their convincing win over Hondo and the remaining 29-4A teams.
“It felt great to win both titles in my first year as a Head Coach,” Cozby stated. “We had many PRs (personal record) in multiple events. Having a little more than a full week off before Area will help get times down and distances up. The workouts are going to be tough, but we’ll also get a few days of recovery and a couple of days to fine tune before the big meet.”
Sixteen Arabians move on to Area at Warhorse Stadium on Wednesday, April 17. In order to qualify, participants must have finished in the top four spots of their particular event.
In no particular order, those qualifying for Area are Aaliyah Terrazas, Espi Mendoza, Harlie Walker, Brooke Runyan, Mari Murillo, Megan Runyan, Kennedy Duncan, Alissa Stehle, Chasity Reyes, Dana Aaron, Andrea Gomez, MacKenzie Schneider, Analea Brooks, Jessie Ramirez, Maycee Howard, and Brianna Bowyer.
What the Arabians said
Megan Runyan, first in 300m Hurdles and 4x400m Relay—I am very excited to be able to compete at Area with a new PR and as district champion in the 300m Hurdles. With the time I have to prepare, I am going to work hard to improve.
Bri Bowyer, second in Pole Vault—It is an honor to advance to Area for the second year in a row. From late after school practices to sacrificing my weekends to train, I have put so much work into my event. Our area is very competitive but that competition pushes me even harder to prepare to advance to Regional.
Brooke Runyan, second in the 800m Run—Being able to make it out of district in the 800m is really an amazing feeling. Everyone, including me, has worked so hard this entire season. It is crazy how fast time has flown by, but I definitely do not want it to end anytime soon. Our area has a very competitive 800m race and since only four advance to Regional, I am going to put in everything I have to make sure Regional happens.
Kennedy Duncan, third in the 300m Hurdles—I could not be more excited to get a personal record and to qualify for Regional. I was able to accomplish these goals with the help of an amazing coach and a great support system. All of the faith, hard work, and dedication has paid off.
Mackenzie Schneider, third in Long Jump and first in 4x100m Relay—I am excited to advance to Area in both events. With the help of great teammates and an even better coach, I am working to run harder and jump farther.
Dana Aaron, first in 4x200m and 4x400m Relay and second in 4x200m Relay—I am thrilled to be advancing to Area in all three relay events. At District, we ran a 1:49 record time in the 4x200m. My teammates and I will work hard at practice to improve our times to have the chance to advance to the regional meet in Kingsville.
Bright spots
Coach Cozby also stated that having depth proved more than beneficial in capturing the District 29-4A title. “It was a crazy track meet in the fact that we had to fill people in on all three relays at the last minute due to illness or injury. Jeanette Rios, Alissa Stehle, Megan Runyan, and Espi Mendoza all had to run with little notice just so we could get a team on the track. They, along with the regular runners (Chasity Reyes, Dana Aaron, Mackenzie Schneider, and Andrea Gomez) were instrumental in getting 56 points from those three relays.”
Stehle had a great meet all the way around. After winning Triple Jump with her PR, she ran anchor of the sprint relay and filled in on the first-place 4x200m Relay. Each of those relays ran their best time of the year and it could not have been done without her willingness to help and her great competitiveness.
Coach Speak
Pole Vault Coach Hannah Thompson–The vaulters have been working extremely hard in practice to get better and better every day and achieve new PRs along the way. Maycee Howard got a new PR and a first place finish at 9’6 while while Brianna Bowyer finished in second place reaching her PR of 9’0. It has been a fun and amazing year working with these athletes.
Team standings: 1st-Devine-195, 2nd-Pearsall-136, 3rd-Hondo-107, 4th-Carrizo Springs-91, 5th-Crystal City-77.
Top 4 advance to Area Meet in Devine on Wednesday, April 17: 100m Dash—1st-Aracely Ortiz-Pearsall-13.08, 2nd-Jazmine Velasquez-Carrizo Springs-13.13, 3rd-Leadra Gandara-Pearsall-13.27, 4th-Aaliyah Garcia-Crystal City-13.34, 5th-Chasity Reyes-Devine-13.46, 7th-Macey Hein-Devine-13.85 200m Dash—1st-Kiana Kebbi-Pearsall-26.48, 2nd-Ortiz-Pearsall-26.92, 3rd-Velasquez-Carrizo Springs-27.34, 4th-Terrazas-Devine-27.38, 6th-Alissa Stehle-Devine-27.89, 7th-Mackenzie Schneider-Devine-28.73 400m Dash—1st-Kebbi-Pearsall-1:01.05, 2nd-Katarina Palacios-Hondo-1:01.62, 3rd-Espi Mendoza-Devine-1:03.93, 4th-Harlie Walker-Devine-1:04.08 800m Run—1st-Mendoza-Devine-2:30.0, 2nd-Brooke Runyan-Devine-2:31.89, 3rd-Mari Murillo-Devine-2:33.01, 4th-Brianna Moreno-Pearsall-2:35.31 1600m Run—1st-Clarissa Dominquez-Hondo-5:26.89, 2nd-Murillo-Devine-5:35.62, 3rd-Esmeralda Gonzalez-Pearsall-12:45.6, 4th-Nayeli Garcia-Crystal City-12:57.07, 7th-Brianna Bernal-13:59.21 100m Hurdles—1st-Marinela Ortiz-Crystal City-17.44, 2nd-Allyson Lutz-Hondo-17.45, 3rd-Anissa Duck-Carrizo Springs-17.46, 4th-Alba Dominguez-Pearsall-17.94, 5th-Megan Runyan-Devine-18.06, 7th-Kennedy Duncan-Devine-18.38, 8th-Darian Alvarez-Devine-18.68 300m Hurdles—1st-M. Runyan-Devine-49.57, 2nd-Duck-Carrizo Springs-49.79, 3rd-Duncan-Devine-50.5, 4th-Meleyna Martinez-Carrizo Springs-50.52, 6th-Lacey Shook-Devine-53.59 Long Jump—1st-Natalie Jimenez-Crystal City-14’9¾”, 2nd-Kebbi-Pearsall-14’9¼”, 3rd-Lillian Davis-Hondo-14’8”, 4th-Terrazas-Devine-14’8”, 6th-Reyes-Devine-14’4”, 14th-Hein-Devine-13’4 Shot Put—1st-Hannah Langley-Hondo-32’10”, 2nd-Samantha Jimenez-Pearsall-32’2¾”, 3rd-Jessie Ramirez-Devine-31’10¾”, 4th-Emma Putman-Carrizo Springs-31’7½”, 8th-Clarissa Ybanez-Devine-28’0¼”, 11th-Felicity Diaz-Devine-26’5¼” Discus—1st-Analea Brooks-Devine-107’1½”, 2nd-Alisa Garcia-Carrizo Springs-99’11½”, 3rd-Langley-Hondo-91’1½”, 4th-Destiny Sanchez-Pearsall-87’6”, 7th-Dana Aaron-Devine-84’1½”, 9th-Ramirez-Devine-78’10½” Triple Jump—1st-Stehle-Devine-34’6”, 2nd-Velasquez-Carrizo Springs-32’5”, 3rd-Schneider-Devine-31’5¾”, 4th-Lutz-Hondo-31’4¼”, 12th-Duncan-Devine-28’11” High Jump—1st-Nicole Dominguez-Hondo-4’10”, 2nd-Moreno-Pearsall-4’9”, 3rd-Walker-Devine-4’8”, 7th-M. Runyan-Devine-4’4” Pole Vault—1st-Maycee Howard-Devine-9’6”, 2nd-Brianna Bowyer-Devine-9’0”, 3rd-Alamar Garcia-Pearsall-7’0”, 4th-Lorena Mende-Carrizo Springs-7’0”.
Relays: 4x100m—1st-Pearsall-51.01, 2nd-Devine-Stehle, Reyes, Aaron, Jeanette Rios-51.49, 3rd-Crystal City-52.08, 4th-Carrizo Springs-52.95 4x200m—1st-Devine-Schneider, Stehle, Aaron, Gomez-1:49.0, 2nd-Carrizo Springs-1:49.0, 3rd-Crystal City-1:50.55, 4th-Hondo-1:52.45 4x400m—1st-Devine-Gomez, Aaron, M. Runyan, Mendoza-4:15.11, 2nd-Crystal City-4:15.38, 3rd-Hondo-4:22.45, 4th-Pearsall-4:29.66.
By Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
