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panther power
05-01-2005, 06:37 PM
District 3-3A athletes have solid meet

By Sam Waller
Odessa American

The big thing about regional track meets is if you can’t win, finish second.
District 3-3A athletes did enough of both Saturday at the Region I-3A Track and Field Championships to extend their seasons. The top two finishers in each event at the regional meet, which was held at Ratliff Stadium, qualify for the Class 3A state meet May 12-13 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
District 3-3A finished the meet with four regional gold medals and a total of 11 berths to the state meet.
Seminole’s Jeremy Hill added the boys triple jump crown to the long jump title he claimed Friday, while Charles Puga of Greenwood won the boys 110-meter hurdles and Chelsea Cartwright of Monahans won the girls 100-meter hurdles.
Monahans also had three relay teams advance, the boys 400 and 800 and the girls 400.
Also qualifying Saturday were Fort Stockton’s J.J. Hickman in the boys 300-meter hurdles and Rashad Terry of Pecos in the boys 200-meter dash, both with second-place finishes.
Hill, who also finished sixth in the 300 hurdles, jumped 45 feet, 6 1/4 inches to win the triple jump. He finished fourth in the event at last year’s state meet, jumping 45-6.
Puga ran 14.70 to easily win the 110 hurdles. Kevin Pinskton of Graham was second in 15.00.
Hickman entered the 300 hurdles finals with the second-fastest preliminary time, but was in third place heading over the final flight. But Sanger’s Travis Beavers, who was battling Comanche’s Chayden Feist for the lead, fell going over, allowing Hickman to finish second.
“I was a step or two away from him and I saw him fall and thought, ‘There’s my ticket to state,’ ” said Hickman, who ran 39.26.
“It was easy for me (to avoid trouble) because I was two lanes away from it. The guy in first (Feist), it affected him more than it affected me.”
Hickman joins pole vaulter Matt Garvin in giving Fort Stockton two state qualifiers.
“It was well worth it,” Hickman said. “I’m ready to compete with some of the best 3A athletes in high school.”
The Panthers came up short in a bid to add a third state qualifier when David Palma finished fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 4:39.56.
Palma, who finished sixth in the event at state last year, was slowed after having an ingrown toenail removed earlier in the week. The condition led Palma to drop out of Friday’s 3,200-meter run even though he was running a strong second midway through the race.
Terry joined Hill and Richard Covington of Monahans in earning a return trip to state after running 22.46 in the 200. Last year, Terry qualified in both the 100 and 200.
“I dropped the 100 because I pulled my hamstring two weeks ago,” Terry said. “It’s very important (to get back in the 200). I hope I can win it. I’m serious. I have two weeks of hard work and I’m fixing to bust it.”
In the team standings, Canyon, coached by Iraan native Brittany Lanehart, scored 101 points to take the girls title by 29 points over District 1-3A rival Perryton. The Lady Eagles won six events, including the 800 and 1,600 relays. Morgan Kuykendall won the 3,200 and 1,600, Lauren Simpson won the 800 and Laura Gilmore won the pole vault.
Sweetwater won all three relays in scoring 76 points for the boys crown. The Mustangs also got a win from Skye Green in the 100.
Two of the meet’s top performers came from the Panhandle.
Perryton’s Jannell Appelhans won three events — 100, 200 and long jump — with dominating performances. Appelhans ran 12.09 in the 100, 24.87 in the 200 and went 18-8 3/4 in the long jump.
“It’s been great. This is probably my best year here,” Appelhans said. “It helps to have been here before. I’m not near as nervous as I’ve been in the past.”
Muleshoe’s Jessica Withrow qualified in four events, winning two. Withrow won the high jump, tying the meet record of 5-7, and was second in the long jump on Friday. On Saturday, she took second in the 100 hurdles, then closed out her weekend with a record-shattering run of 43.56 in the 300 hurdles.
“It kind of takes the pressure off me,” said Withrow, who knocked 0.82 seconds off the old mark set by Whitney Willbanks of Boyd in 1998. “I knew I was going to have to run my hardest, and to leave here with that time makes me feel pretty good.”
Two meet records were broken in the boys competition.
Brownfield’s Gary Lackey, who just missed a record in Friday’s 3,200, ran 4:20.18 in the 1,600. That broke the mark of 4:24.75 set by Eddie Rocha of Clint in 1990.
Sweetwater’s 800 relay team of Green, Duone Cunnings, Joseph Banyard

justlikesports
05-01-2005, 08:18 PM
Congratulations to ALL the District 3-3A competitors. You represented the district well. Good Luck to the ones headed to State: Jeremy Hill, Matt Garvin, J.J. Hickman, Jordan Puga, Rashad Terry and the group from Monahans, Richard Covington, Tyqually Fletcher, Tyson Carter, Chris Roberson, Jenna Fann, Chelsea Cartwright, Cassie Smalls, and Kim Madrid. Enjoy Austin!

panther power
05-01-2005, 09:12 PM
Yes, congrats to all, we will see you in austin.