The Devine Warhorses captured their sixth consecutive district championship on their home turf last Wednesday and Thursday in the District 29-4A Track Meet. Eighteen Warhorses qualified to compete in Area that will also be held in Devine on April 14.
The Horses literally ran away from the competition racking up 271 points in the process to easily outdistance themselves from second place Somerset who tallied 187. YMLA, Brooks Academy, and Fox Tech finished third through fifth respectively.
Six-peat
Devine’s District Championship marked its fourth in a row dating back to the 2015 track season. The Horses won in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and now in 2021.
It is just a guess on my part but if COVID hadnot put literally everything on hiatus in the spring of 2019, the Horses would be celebrating lucky number seven championships in a row.
We can look forward to that in 2022.
Pedal to the medal
Gold medalists included Buddy Santos, Brady Hackebeil, Christian Gerlach, Xsavior Martinez, Hayden DuBose, Xavier Garza, Aaron Saenz, Geoffrey Seal, Evan Priest, Sage Cruz, and Caden Hanson.
Silver medals went to Hackebeil, DuBose, B. Santos, Xavier Contreras, Gabriel Esquibel, Christopher Ortiz, Enrique Midobuche, Aiden Zapata, and Jacob Featherly.
Bronze medalists was Midobuche, DuBose, Contreras, Isaiah Morin, and John Schnautz.
All of these student-athletes plus the fourth place finishers in each event advance to Area at Warhorse Stadium on Wednesday, April 14.
Valid point
Devine had seven individuals place in the top 10 of individual point totals. Christian Gerlach was the meet’s overall point champion with 28 followed closely by Buddy Santos’s 22 points, and the triumvirate consisting of Aaron Saenz, Hunter DuBose, and Xavier Contreras who each had 20 points.
Christopher Ortiz and Enrique Midobuche closed out the top ten with 16 points apiece.
Coach speak
Throwers coach Devine Rotramel: “I’m proud of my throwers and what they’ve accomplished this year, looking forward to see us compete at area and then regionals.”
Team rankings
1st Devine 271, 2nd Somerset 187, 3rd YMLA 49, 4th Brooks Academy 46, 5th Fox Tech 33.
Warhorse results
4x100m Relay—1st Buddy Santos, Brady Hackebeil, Christian Gerlach, Xsavior Martinez 44.16 4x200m Relay—1st Hackebeil, B. Santos, Gerlach, Martinez 1:32.94 4x400m Relay—2nd Hackebeil, Xavier Contreras, Hayden DuBose, B. Santos 3:43.71 100m Dash—1st DuBose 11.35, 2nd Gabriel Esquibel 11.83, 3rd Enrique Midobuche 11.86 200m Dash—1st Gerlach 22.47, 3rd DuBose 23.53, 5th Midobuche 24.55 400m Dash—5th Contreras 56.25, 6th Isaiah Morin 57.21 800m Dash—2nd Christopher Ortiz 2:19.39, 3rd Morin 2:25.70, 5th Marcus Espinosa 2:26.41 1600m Run—1st Xavier Garza 4:50.74, 2nd Ortiz 5:21.66, 5th Espinosa 5:52.24 3200m Run—1st Garza 10:49.18 110m Hurdles—1st Aaron Saenz 16.06 300m Hurdles—1st Saenz 46.60 Long Jump—2nd Midobuche 19’7½”, 4th Contreras 18’7½”, 5th Esquibel 18’3½” Shot Put—1st Geoffrey Seal 40’6½”, 2nd Gerlach 40’3”, 3rd John Schnautz 39’9” Discus—1st Evan Priest 131’1”, 2nd Aiden Zapata 122’3”, 5th Jacob Delaney 97’0½” Triple Jump—1st Sage Cruz 39’3½”, 8th Ethan Santos 35’1 ¼” High Jump—2nd B. Santos 5’6”, 3rd Contreras 5’6”, 6th Caden Hanson 5’4” Pole Vault—1st Hanson 10’6”, 2nd Jacob Featherly 10’0”, 4th Zachary Alvarez 9’0”.
Top 10 point totals
1st Christian Gerlach-Devine 28, 2nd Jonathan Franklin-Somerset 23, 3rd Buddy Santos-Devine 22, 4th Malachi Bennett-Somerset 21, Tie 5th Aaron Saenz-Devine, Hayden DuBose-Devine, Xavier Garza-Devine 20, 8th Ethan Vasquez-Somerset 19, 9th Julian Avila-Somerset 18, Tie 10th Christopher Ortiz-Devine, Enrique Midobuche-Devine 16.
By Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer