….Lady Eagles Earn Runner Up Honors Led By Smith’s Performance
Behind three gold medal performances in the relays, the Waurika boys’ track squad claimed the team title in the Waurika Eight-Man Invitational held last Friday at the local track.
The Eagles rolled up 141 points by taking the title in three of the four relays in the meet. Fox was the runner up with 119 points.
The Lady Eagles also had an impressive outing as they claimed runner up team honors with 94 points behind team champion Empire’s 134 points.
The 3,200-meter team of Gustavo Gomez, Octavio Gomez, Bryson Hernandez and Colton Bryant may have turned in the most impressive performance. Their time of 9:57.18 in the event was nearly a full minute ahead of second place Fox.
The 1,600-meter relay team consisting of Turner Mora, Kevin Garcia, Cache Arellano and Bryant also took top honors with a time of 3:52.81 which outdistanced second-place Empire by 18 seconds.
The 800-meter relay squad also earned top honors but the race was a bit closer as all five teams finished within seven seconds of one another.
Waurika’s 800-meter relay team of Mora, Bryant, Nicolas Alvardo and Garcia edged out Empire with a time of 1:39.37, while the Bulldogs posted a time of 1:41.25.
Individually, the Eagles also had some outstanding performances as four different Eagles claimed gold medals in their events.
In the 3,200 meter run O. Gomez took first place with a time of 12:54.09. His teammate, Hernandez, took the silver medal in the race with a time of 13:17.16.
The Eagles also racked up the points in the 1,600 meter run by claiming the top three places in the event.
C. Arellano was the gold medal winner with a time of 5:41.09, while Hernandez finished second with a time of 5:57.40. Garcia earned the bronze medal with a time of 5:59.01.
Waurika also had multiple placers in the 400 meters. Mora earned first place with a time of 54.0 – his best time of the season. G. Gomez was third in the event with a time of 61.8.
The final gold-medal performance for the Eagles came in the 800 meter run as G. Gomez recorded a time of 2:28.32.
Mora also earned a silver medal in the long jump with a leap of 19-2.
Bryant placed sixth in the high jump with a leap of 5-2.
Rounding out the scorers for the Eagles was Garcia’s fourth-place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 24.19.
The Lady Eagle thinclads were led by the performance of Asia Smith. She accounted for 36 of the team’s 94 points with two gold medals and two silver medals.
Smith won the 800 meter run with a time of 2:47.51 and also claimed the gold medal in the high jump with a leap of 4-6.
In the 3,200 meter run, Smith’s time of 14:02.25 was good for second place. She was also second in the 1,600 meters with a time of 6:45.32.
Madison Roberson had an outstanding day in the shot put and discus. Not only did she claim the gold medal in both events, but she also set meet records with her performances.
Roberson claimed the title in the shot put with a toss of 36-5, while the Lady Eagles’ Landry Forsyth also scored with a sixth place finish.
In the discus, Roberson recorded a throw of 89-9 and Oliva Ralls also scored in the discus with a sixth place finish.
The Lady Eagle 800-meter relay team of Kameron Ziecek, Kaci Reynolds, Dallas Fristoe and Sara Ballard earned fourth place with a time of 2:10.87.
Ballard also earned third place in the 100 meters. Her time of 14.07 was good enough to earn the bronze medal. She also was the runner up in the long jump with a leap of 14-4.
In the high jump, the Lady Eagles had two other placers behind Smith’s winning performance. Ballard Lexie Streeter finished second in the event with a leap of 4-4 and Ballard was fourth with a leap of 4-2.
Ziecek also placed in two events. She was fifth in the 400 meters with a 76.93 clocking and sixth in the 200 meters with a time of 31.31.
The boys’ and girls’ junior high squads also competed in the meet. The Lady Eagles finished tied for second in the meet with 98 points, just behind team champion Bray-Doyle’s 102 points.
The Eagles finished tied with Alex for fourth place with 36 points. Fox won the junior high boys’ title with 134 points.
Tallen Mora and Liberti Simmons led the way for the Lady Eagles.
Mora won gold medals in the 400 meters and the long jump, while Simmons finished with a gold medal in the 110 meter hurdles.
Simmons also had silver-medal performances in the 300 meter hurdles and the high jump and finished fifth in the long jump.
Mora was a silver medal winner in the 100 meters and a bronze medalist in the 200 meters.
Alana Lewis won silver medals in the shot put and discus, while Riley Howell took a bronze medal in the shot put.
Other placers for the Lady Eagles in the junior high division were: Bailey Romero, fourth in the 200 meters and the long jump and Mackenzie Horton fourth in the discus and fifth in the shot put.
The junior high boys were led by Trent Arellano. He earned three silver medals and one bronze medal in the meet.
T. Arellano was second in the long jump, 400 meters and 200 meters and finished third in the 100 meters. He was the only medal winner for the Eagles.
Other placers for the junior boys included Nicolas Wilson, who finished fourth in the 200 meters and J.J. Crank, who was sixth in the same event.
Last Thursday, the high school squads also competed in the annual Gary Readnour Memorial Invitational at Wynnewood.
The relay squads led the way in this meet, too, but the competition was a bit tougher.
The 800-meter relay squad of Mora, Garcia, Bryant and Alvarado finished second with a time of 1:38.88. The time is a season-best in the event.
In the 1,600-meter relay, the Eagles also earned the silver medal as Mora, Bryant, Garcia and Alvarado turned in a time of 3:49.56, which is also the best time recorded by the Eagles in the event this season.
The 3,200-meter relay squad of Bryant, C. Arellano, Mora and O. Gomez was able to earn the bronze medal with a time of 9:45.87. This was also the squad’s best time of the season.
Mora finished second in the long jump with a leap of 19-5.
Other placers in the meet for Waurika were Bryant in the high jump with a leap of 5-4 and Hernandez in the 3,200 meter run with a time of 12:14.27.
For the Lady Eagle thinclads, Roberson continued her impressive season in the shot put and discus. She earned the gold medal in the shot put with a toss of 36-10. Her throw of 89-10 in the discus was good enough for fourth place.
Roberson’s performance recorded in the meet in the shot put is among the top marks in Class A this season.
Streeter, Smith and Ballard all placed in the high jump for the Lady Eagles.
Streeter earned the silver medal with a leap of 4-6, while Smith was fifth and Ballard was sixth in the event.
Smith also placed in the 400 meters and the 1,600 meters. She earned the silver medal in the 1,600 meters with a time of 6:34.21. Her time of 70.18 in the 400 meters was good enough for sixth place.
Ballard also placed in the long jump. Her best performance of the day of 14-0.5 placed her fifth among the competitors in the meet.
The 800-meter relay team of Reynolds, Fristoe, Ballard and Zeicek finished third with a time of 2:12.
Reynolds, Streeter, Smth and Fristoe comprised the 3,200-meter squad that also finished third with a time of 12:36.55.
No team scores were kept at the Wynnewood meet.
Waurika’s next action on the track will be Saturday (weather permitting) as they host the annual Red River Invitational which will feature teams from Classes A to 3A. Events will begin at 9:30 a.m.
