The state track meet in all classes is challenging for every school in Class A.
While the performances posted by the larger schools are almost always better, there are many more Class A schools and that results in a real challenge for a school to score points in the state meet.
That is what the track squads from Ryan discovered at last weekend’s Class A State Track Meet conducted at Western Heights High School in Oklahoma City.
The Cowgirls finished in a tie for 40th place among the 47 schools that scored points in the state track meet. The Cowgirls finished with two points and tied with Cimarron, Red Oak and Kremlin-Hillsdale.
The Cowboys finished tied for 47th at the meet with just a single point. The Cowboys finished tied with Depew, Okarche and Indiahoma.
Thomas was the boys’ team title with 120 points and Boise City-Keyes was the team runner up with 58 points.
Boise City-Keyes turned the tables on Thomas in the girls’ team race by claiming the title with 125 points, while the Lady Terriers finished second with 75 points.
Many more teams scored points in the 2019 state meet with the new format in team scoring. Eight places earned points in each event and the top six finishers received medals.
The Cowgirls’ 3,200 meter relay team of Lilybet Harmon, Lily York, Juliet Spangler and Holland Carter managed eighth place with a time of 11:02.5 – just ahead of rival Waurika. The two teams have battled back and forth at nearly every meet in the 2019 season and the state meet was no different.
The time posted was the third best in school history and the second best in the 2019 campaign.
A few other Cowgirls competed in the state meet, but did not score. Carter posted her second best time of the season in the 800 meters, but it was good for only 11th place, while Harmon also posted her second best time in the same event, but managed only 14th place. Carter’s time was 2:36.55 and Harmon posted a time of 2:41.00.
Spangler also competed in two individual events. The junior finished well back in the field in both the 1,600 meters and the 3,200 meters. Her time in the 1,600 meters was 6:26.21 and was her second best of the season and the seventh best in school history.
In the 3,200 meters, Spangler posted a mark of 14:08.71 and was her third best time of the season.
The only other event the Cowgirls competed in was the 1,600 meter relay and despite setting a school record for the event finished only 15th – just behind Southern Eight Conference rival Geronimo.
The team of Harmon, York, Spangler and Carter finished with a time of 4:40.70, which was five seconds better than the previous school record of 4:45.71. That time was posted by the squad at the regional meet the week before the state meet.
For the Cowboys Walker Rawlings and Travis Fristoe competed at the state meet.
Rawlings was the only placer for the Cowboys as he finished eighth in the discus with a throw of 120-0 – his third best performance of the season.
In the shot put, Rawlings recorded a throw of 40-1 – his fifth best of the season. He finished 10th among the 16 throwers in the competition.
Fristoe competed in the 110 meter high hurdles for the Cowboys and recorded a time of 18.75 – his best time of the season. Fristoe’s performance was 14th among the 16 runners in the event.
SEASON-ENDING NOTES: Rawlings placed in the discus and becomes the second in his family to place in the event at the state meet….McCain Rawlings placed in the discus four consecutive years with the last year coming in 2015….In the discus, the Cowboys have placed 13 times in the state meet….Gary Waitman was the last Cowboy to win the state title in the discus and that came in 1988….Fristoe was the first Cowboy to compete in the 110 meter high hurdles at state meet since Rickey Hill finished second in the event in 2003….The Cowboys scored at the state meet for the first time since 2015 when they finished tied for 16th….The Cowboys have managed to score in a state meet only five times in the past 16 years…The best finish by a Cowboy track squad at state came in 1973 when Ryan finished fourth and won the mile relay state title….The Cowboys have only three top ten team finishes in state competition….The Cowgirls also scored in the state meet for the first time since 2014…..The Cowgirls’ best team finish at the state meet came in 190 when Ryan managed a tied for ninth place….The Cowgirls have scored at the state meet only 10 times since meets for girls began in 1972….The strength of the Cowgirls’ track squad the past few years have been in the distance relays….The 1,600 meter relay team has broken the school record 11 times in the past two seasons….The 3,200 meter relay team from the past two seasons holds 14 of the top 15 times in school history….The 2019 3,200 meter relay team became the first Cowgirl relay team to place at the state meet in school history.
