Area athletes open track regionals with state berths

Snook's Shakera Barnes qualified for state and Rockdale's Daniel Brooks set himself up for a multi-event run at the state meet in the opening day of regional track meets Monday.

Region II-5A

At Waco's Hart-Patterson Track, A&M Consolidated sophomore Kais Jochen finished fourth in the 3,200 meters, running a time of 11 minutes, 15.52 seconds. She finished behind three runners who ran under 11 minutes, including the winner, Madi McLellan of The Woodlands, who had a time of 10:42.70.

Travis Bohne was eighth in the boys 3,200, running 9:43.09.

The heat winners all qualified automatically in the 200, but A&M Consolidated's Henry Taylor had to get in on time after finishing behind Longview's Eric Hawkins in the first heat. Taylor's time was the third best, 22.08, behind Hawkins' 21.85.

Taylor Williams' final triple jump of 37 feet, 13/4 inches gave her sixth place and netted A&M Consolidated its only point in the opening day of field events. Rowlett's Taylor Glenn won with a jump of 39-33/4.

The Tigers had a pair of seventh-place finishes: Timothy Lott cleared 6-2 the high jump and Michael McClendon had a 52-7 shot put. Kaleigh Vincent cleared 4-8, the opening height in the girls' high jump.

The Lady Tigers did not advance in the 400-meter relay (49.89) or the 800 relay (1:45.74). The Tigers' sprint relay fell two spots short of the final with a time of 42.84 and the 800 relay was disqualified for a handoff outside the exchange zone.

In other girls events, Chaiss Matthews ran 2:28.43 in the 800. Williams was timed at 15.84 in the 100 hurdles and Jazz Harris at 26.87 in the 200, but none advanced.

Bryan's Bykece Campbell ran 15.95 in the 110-meter hurdles, but did not advance.

Region II-4A

In Denton, bad weather delayed most field events until Tuesday. The boys and girls triple jumps were the only field events contested Monday. Remaining field events, which all start at 9 a.m., will be on a rolling schedule.

Region III-3A

At Humble's Turner Stadium, Navasota senior Rodney Brown had a shot put of 58-31/2 on his fifth attempt to win the regional championship. Brown's big throw beat out Cleveland's Cedric Reed, who had his best of 54-0 on his fifth try.

Rockdale's Le'Raven Clark took third place with a throw of 51-41/4.

Caldwell freshman Renae Rodriguez finished second in the 3,200, and advanced to the UIL State Track and Field Meet by running a time of 12:11.52.

Brooks moved into the finals in three of four events and will compete in the long jump at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The Rockdale junior ran a 10.61 time in the 100-meter dash and goes into Tuesday's final with the best time. Brooks won his heat, but had the second-best qualifying time in a fast prelim in the 110-meter hurdles. His 14.52 was shaded by the 14.51 run by Phillip Jones of West Orange-Stark.

Brooks and Caldwell's DeAndre Burns were both heat winners, with Brooks posting the top time of 39.28 with Burns' 40.22 at second best. Rockdale's Michael Tindle (41.30) also reached the finals.

Caldwell senior Shakayla Johnson had the top qualifying time in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.28. Rockdale's Victoria Drake, who ran the race in 16.72 seconds, is also a finalist.

Navasota's 1,600-meter relay team of Will Imhoff, Aaron Collins, Derek Byrd and Alfon Taylor had the fifth-best prelim time, 3:28.49

The Caldwell 400-meter relay team won its preliminary heat and moved into the finals with a time of 43.51. The time posted by Cailen Goss, DeAndre Burns, LeDarion Jenkins and William Deere qualified the Hornets seventh for Tuesday's final. Deere's time of 22.25 was fourth best and moved him into the 200 meter final.

Region IV-2A

At Converse Judson's Rutledge Stadium, Brook Brashear got Cameron off to a good start, winning the first girls field event goal by clearing 10-0 in the pole vault to become the first Lady Yoe competitor to qualify for the UIL State Track and Field Meet. The regional favorite Lady Yoe put themselves in a strong position for that title midway through the field events and after qualifying for the finals.

Brashear finished fourth in the long jump at 16-91/4 and qualified second in the 100 hurdles with her time of 15.83. Brittany Jones also moved to the finals for Cameron in that event at 16.42.

Maeson Mondrik's prelim time in the 100 was 11.97, a Region IV-2A meet record.

In running prelims, the Cameron girls positioned themselves for the regional title run with the top times in the 400-meter relay (49.33) and the 800 relay (1:46.67). Kendra Jones (26.91) and Alyssa Wilkes (27.15) earned 200-meter finals spots.

Alisia Pena's time of 12:30.24 was fourth in the 3,200 behind a trio of runners from Luling.

The Cameron boys 800-meter relay time advanced with a time of 1:30.79. Jack Rhoades (53.06) qualified in the 400. Elmo Haynes (10.88) moved into the 100 final.

Lexington's Rhiem Petterson, who had the top time in the 110 hurdles after district meets, had the best in his prelim, running 15.01.

Region IV-A

At Converse Judson, defending state champion Shakera Barnes eased into the final of the 400 meters with the best time of the day, 1:00.67, and joined two Snook relay teams who also posted top times in preliminary qualification.

The Snook 400-meter relay team of Miya Hoskins, Brandalyn Williams, Tia Evans and Barnes posted the best qualifying time, 50.63. The Lady Bluejays also had the top time in the 800 relay, also by nearly two seconds. The same quartet ran for Snook in that relay, posting a time of 1:49.10.

Williams led all qualifiers in the 200 with her time of 25.97.

Barnes is already assured a trip to the state meet after winning the long jump at 16-101/2.

Dime Box has two sprinters in the finals of the 100 meters. Brianna Jackson's 12.89 was the second-fasted qualifying time, behind Kelsi Kutac of Louise (12.80). Running in a different heat from that pair, Tori Moore had the third-best prelim time at 12.91. Snook's Evans also reached the final by running 13.11.

Milano's Thomas Sanders qualified for the state meet with a long jump of 21-83/4, which earned him second place behind Pettus' Hunter Tomlin (22-0).

Calvert's Andre Ross, trying to recover from an ankle injury he suffered in the area meet, had a time of 11.45, sixth-fastest in the 100. Ross, a senior, had a false start in that even his junior season.

Calvert's 800-meter relay team -- Phillip Hurst, Jamarion Ramirez, Jamarcus Ashley and Ralph Ballard -- advanced to the finals by running 1:36.09. Calvert trailed Yorktown (1:33.99) to the finish in the opening heat.