Rudder's Jones, Johnson earn regional track berths

CEDAR CREEK -- An old hand at district track meets, Rudder senior Mike Jones didn't need to be told he qualified for regionals in two events for the second consecutive year.

Isaiah Johnson wasn't as aware of what he accomplished, but give the Ranger hurdler time. He made the regional meet as a freshman.

Jones sprinted to a gold medal in the 100 meters Wednesday afternoon and later took second in the 200 to lead the way for the Rangers on the final day of the District 16-4A meet at Bastrop Memorial Stadium. Johnson finished third in the 110 hurdles in his district debut and will join Jones and four teammates who punched their tickets to the Region II meet during field events held Tuesday.

Rudder's boys produced three district champions in their first year at the Class 4A level. On the first day of the meet, senior Alvin Moore claimed gold in the high jump and senior Colton Jackson won the pole vault. The Rangers' other regional entries are David Wilganowski and Matthew Cohan, who finished second and third in the discus.

The Rangers finished seventh in the team standings with 59 points. Pflugerville Hendrickson won the boys team championship with 139 points, while Hutto took the closing 1,600 relay to climb into second place with 109 points.

Rudder's girls just missed sending a couple of athletes to the regional meet. Junior Skylar Woodberry finished fourth in the 200 meters Wednesday. On the meet's first day, sophomore Jacee Wren was fourth in the pole vault and sophomore Chanquis Robertson placed fourth in the discus.

The Lady Rangers were seventh in the team race with 25 points. Pflugerville Hendrickson took the team title with 176 points, well ahead of Manor's 126.

Jones produced Rudder's only gold medal on Wednesday with an impressive run in the 100 meters. He finished in 11.27 seconds on a windy day, with Bastrop's Robert Nunn taking second place at 11.33.

"I finally got my start down and I ran pretty well," Jones said. "My previous two 100-meter races, I slipped out of the blocks, so that was the only thing I was really worried about."

Last year at the 24-3A meet, Jones was third in the 100 and won the 200. He earned return trips to regionals in each event, finishing second in the 200 with a time of 22.25. Jones was leading at the head of the stretch, but Marquis Campbell of Elgin roared from fourth to win in 21.93.

"[Campbell] started off real slow and I thought he was tired," Jones said. "He came back and got me. I ran decent. I just need to get my legs stronger so I can hold my form the whole race.

"It's a good accomplishment. My goal was to just make the top three and get to regionals so I could have another nine days to prepare and try to get out of regionals this year."

Jones will continue his running career at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. He received his national letter of intent in the mail Tuesday.

"He had a tremendous day," Rudder head coach Calvin Hill said.

Johnson's day was special because it was his first varsity competition after missing two weeks because he cut his leg in a basketball game. The freshman ran the 110 hurdles in 16.06 seconds, finishing strong to edge Hutto's Greg Sampson (16.18) for the final regional spot in the event.

"It's a tremendous accomplishment," Hill said. "He's getting to taste something that most freshmen around the state of Texas don't get to do, and he didn't even realize it. I went over and sat on the bench by him [after the race] and told him he qualified for regionals and his eyes just lit up. He's really beside himself."

Moore and Jackson will be making return trips to regionals in style. Both finished second at the 24-3A meet as juniors, then moved up one step on the medals stand this year.

It was a breakthrough performance for Moore, who cleared a personal best of 6-foot-8 in the high jump to break his school record of 6-4. Moore's major increase in height came after attempting several jumps at 6-7 1/2 in practice. Assistant coach Alan Fritsche also moved Moore's starting point a couple of feet farther from the bar during the competition.

"He was building more speed and confidence," Fritsche said. "It's great. It's what you want every athlete to do their senior year, to come and set a personal record and a school record."

Jackson won the pole vault at 13-6 that matched his silver-medal effort from last year's district meet. Jackson has a season best of 13-8 and cleared 14 feet last year at regionals, where he was denied a trip to state on misses.

"If we had got a chance in the morning it was perfect," assistant coach Eric Jones said. "We had a slight tail wind. By the time the varsity came up, the wind had turned around. For him to go higher he's gotta change to get on a bigger pole. He did that and was pretty aggressive, so I was proud of him."

Wilganowski, a junior, will making his first trip to regionals after taking second place in the discus with a throw of 137-3, while senior Cohan was third at 134-4. Cedric Haley of Pflugerville Connally won the event at 143-9.

Three Rudder girls just missed qualifying for regionals. Sophomore Jacee Wren cleared 7-6 to tie for third place in the girls pole vault, but Adrian Haney of Hendrickson earned the third regional bid based on misses. In the discus, sophomore Chanquis Robertson finished fourth with a toss of 93-4 1/2. Bileysia Cooper of Manor took third with a mark of 94-9 1/2. Junior Skylar Woodberry was fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 27.46.

The Rangers got a couple of other point-producing efforts on the opening day, with sophomore Sarah Coe finishing sixth in the 3,200 meters (12:5.39) and senior Charlie Bush taking sixth in the boys long jump (20-11). On Wednesday, freshman Qiona Payton placed fifth in the girls 100 hurdles (18.07). Robertson was sixth in the 100 (13.42).

District 16-4A Meet

Girls

3200 -- 1. Hillari Raemsch, Bastrop, 12:00.38; 2. Cecilia Ramirez, Hutto, 12:04.72; 3. Kristen Martin, Hendrickson, 12:05.92; 6. Sarah Coe, Rudder, 12:55.39.

Long jump -- 1. Vanessa Evans, Hutto, 16-7; 2. Kiana Burgess, Hendrickson, 16-3; 3. Kayla Peterson, Bastrop, 16-0 1/2.

High jump -- 1. Alexis Chambers, Elgin, 5-2; 2. Audriana Carson, Hutto, 5-0; 3. Chelsea Williams, Hendrickson, 4-10; 8. Abigail Phillips, Rudder, 4-6.

Triple jump -- 1. Shavona Tavarez, Hendrickson, 37-3 3/4; 2. Kayla Peterson, Bastrop, 35-1 1/2; 3. Haley Mendel, Bastrop, 34-7.

Pole vault -- 1. Kaitlyn Wisehart, Hutto, 10-3; 2. Nicole Klaus, Bastrop, 8-6; 3. Adrian Haney, Hendrickson, 7-6; 4. Jacee Wren, Rudder, 7-6.

Shot put -- 1. Bileysia Cooper, Manor, 38-3; 2. Mariah Ybarbo, Manor, 37-2; 3. Samantha Marques, Bastrop, 35-11 1/2.

Discus -- 1. Mariah Ybarbo, Manor, 106-0; 2. Macie Walker, Hutto, 100-7 1/2; 3. Bileysia Cooper, Manor, 94-9 1/2; 4. Chanquis Robertson, Rudder, 93-4 1/2.

400 relay -- 1. Hendrickson, 49.31; 2. Elgin, 50.41; 3. Connally, 50.61; 5. Rudder, 50.97.

800 -- 1. Haley Mendel, Bastrop, 2:20.00; 2. Kayla Brown, Hendrickson, 2:20.91; 3. Cameo Buckner, Hendrickson, 2:25.08.

100 hurdles -- 1. Randi Baxter, Hutto, 17.06; 2. Omani Dawson, Bastrop, 17.33; 3. Breocia Russell, Hendrickson, 17:46; 5. Qiona Payton, Rudder, 18:07.

100 -- 1. Brianna Roberson, Manor, 13.00; 2. Jennifer Mbanasor, Hendrickson, 13.08; 3. Brittany Steubins, Bastrop, 13.18; 6. Chanquis Robertson, Rudder, 13.42.

800 relay -- 1. Hendrickson, 1:45.32; 2. Manor, 1:45.42; 3. Connally, 1:46.90; 6. Rudder, 1:49.97.

400 -- 1. Kayla Brown, Hendrickson, 1:00.78; 2. Brooke Bennett, Manor, 1:01.71; 3. Takia Bunton, Cedar Creek, 1:01.97.

300 hurdles -- 1. Deja Smith, Manor, 47.71; 2. Randi Baxter, Hutto, 48.21; 3. Breocia Russell, Hendrickson, 48.97.

200 -- 1. Shavona Tavarez, Hendrickson, 26.34; 2. Camry Haywood, Manor, 26.53; 3. Ja'Rye Williams, Manor, 26.58; 4. Skylar Woodberry, Rudder, 27.46.

1,600 -- 1. Hillari Raemsch, Bastrop, 5:31.01; 2. Kelsey Rightmer, Manor, 5:35.42; 3. Kristen Martin, Hendrickson, 5:35.85.

1,600 relay -- 1. Hendrickson, 4:07.98; 2. Bastrop, 4:08.11; 3. Manor, 4:14.86.

Team standings -- 1. Hendrickson 176; 2. Manor 126; 3. Bastrop 115; 4. Hutto 98; 5. Elgin 42; 6. Connally 35; 7. Rudder 25; 8. Cedar Creek 6.

Boys

3,200 -- 1. Aaron Betschart, Hendrickson, 9:56.97; 2. Hector Flores, Hendrickson, 9:57.16; 3. Adrian Lopez, Elgin, 9:59.34.

Long jump -- 1. Marcus Edwards, Connally, 22-11; 2. Da'Rick Nolan, Elgin, 22-5 1/2; 3. Josha McKinney, Hendrickson, 22-4; 6. Charlie Bush, Rudder, 20-11.

High jump -- 1. Alvin Moore, Rudder, 6-8; 2. Gerald Brown, Bastrop, 6-4; 3. Barion Henry, Manor, 6-2.

Triple jump -- 1. Devin Smith, Hendrickson, 44-10; 2. Alondre Thorn, Hutto, 44-3 1/2; 3. Keaton Knapp, Hutto, 44-3.

Pole vault -- 1. Colton Jackson, Rudder, 13-6.

Shot put -- 1. Tommie Robins, Hendrickson, 49-2 1/2; 2. Brenton Watson, Manor, 47-0; 3. Riley Ortego, 46-9; 10. Matthew Cohan, Rudder, 41-10 1/2.

Discus -- 1. Cedric Haley, Connally, 143-9; 2. David Wilganowski, Rudder, 137-3; 3. Matthew Cohan, Rudder 134-4.

400 relay -- 1. Bastrop, 42.46; 2. Connally, 42.71; 3. Elgin, 42.71; 7. Rudder, 43.53.

800 -- 1. Joshua Taylor, Bastrop, 2:00.53; 2. Ian Swindoll, Hutto, 2:01.32; 3. Noel Alfaro, Hutto, 2:02.26.

110 hurdles -- 1. Jerryl Yarbrough, Connally, 15.60; 2. David Jackson, Manor, 15.60; 3. Isaiah Johnson, Rudder, 16.06.

100 -- 1. Michael Jones, Rudder, 11.27; 2. Robert Nunn, Bastrop, 11.33; 3. Da'Rick Nolan, Elgin, 11.42; 7. Anthony Veal, Rudder, 11.75.

800 relay -- 1. Hutto, 1:28.80; 2. Elgin, 1:28.88; 3. Manor, 1:29.12; 7. Rudder, 1:31.86.

400 -- 1. Joshua McKinney, Hendrickson, 48.81; 2. Anthony Johnson, Hutto, 49.18; 3. Deionta James, Hendrickson, 51.48; 7. DeVon Evans, Rudder, 53.58.

300 hurdles -- 1. David Jackson, Manor, 41.00; 2. Ron Williams, Hendrickson, 41.62; 3. James Felderhoff, Hutto, 42.18.

200 -- 1. Marquis Campbell, Elgin, 21.93; 2. Michael Jones, Rudder, 22.25; 3. Marcus Edwards, Connally, 22.40.

1,600 -- 1. Hector Flores, Hendrickson, 4:35.29; 2. Anthony Felderhoff, Hutto, 4:39.71; 3. Adrian Lopez, Elgin, 4:41.60.

1,600 relay -- 1. Hutto, 3:21.56; 2. Hendrickson, 3:21.86; 3. Connally, 3:25.28.

Team standings -- 1. Hendrickson 139; 2. Hutto 109; 3T. Elgin and Connally 84; 5. Manor 72; 6. Bastrop 71; 7. Rudder 59.