AUSTIN – School records meant little Saturday for Liberty-Eylau at the UIL 4A Boys & Girls State Track Championships.
The Lady Leopards set state and school records at Michael Myers Stadium, but that wasn’t good enough to win the team championship. Canyon had a couple of aces in the hole, winning the 1600 and finishing second to L-E in the 4 x 400 relay to win the title, 86-72.
Liberty-Eylau’s boys also finished on a disappointing note, finishing ninth in the final race to place fifth with 28 points. Waco LaVega won all three relay races and took the crown with 70 points.
Canyon’s route to the title started with three gold medal efforts in the field events. L-E was in contention thanks to Keeley Norris’ silver medal performances in the long jump (18-2 1/4) and high jump (5-2). She was fifth, and only five inches out of first place in a competitive triple jump with a leap of 38-5 1/2.
L-E sets school records in relay races
L-E’s girls had the best qualifying times in all three races, but other times were deceiving. The Leopards posted a school record time of 46.65 in the 4 x 100, but had to settle for second place. Chelsea Simmons, Danielle Thomas, Lamiah George and Kurstyne Bailey lost in a photo finish to Dallas Carter.
The same four girls eclipsed the 4A state record in the 4 x 200 with a time of 1:38.59. However, that’s not a school record. State records can only be set at the state meet, and L-E was clocked at 1:38.11 in the regional meet two weeks ago. The old record of 1:39.0 was set by Liberty-Eylau in 2011.
Canyon’s entry in the 4 x 400 had the sixth best qualifying time, but challenged the L-E girls all four laps. George, Thomas, Kurstyne Bailey, and Skylier Bailey won in 3:54.09. Canyon posted a season-best time of 3:55.23.
Based on qualifying times, Liberty-Eylau’s boys were favored in the two shorter relay races. The Leopards’ Tavieon Neal, Marzavin Riles, Shayne Porshe and Korbyn White posted a school record time of 41.25 for the bronze medal. Waco LaVega won in 41.10, and Stafford earned silver in 41.21.
The Leopards also ran a season-best 1:26.57 in the 4 x200, which was only good for fifth place. LaVega won in 1:25.80.
L-K’s Patterson scores in triple jump
The only other area athlete to score a point Saturday was Linden-Kildare’s Ty Patterson in the 2A triple jump. Patterson was sixth with a leap of 43-11 3/4.
Arguably the most celebrated event came in 6A. Strake Jesuit’s Matthew Boling set a national high school record in the 100 with a time of 10.13. Only a week ago he was clocked at 9.9 in a wind-aided race.
Another unique situation came in the girl’s 2A division. Refugio finished 1-2-3 in the long jump. It has only been a few years that a school could potentially have three athletes qualify for state. The UIL now takes the best third-place competitor from the four regionals in each event to state.
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