Snook, Cameron girls win state track titles

AUSTIN -- Cameron's girls held their lead. Snook's held their breath.

When they were done, both lifted their first UIL state track and field championship trophies.

The Cameron Lady Yoe had a lock on a share of the championship before the final race, the 1,600-meter relay, and cheered openly for Marlin to defeat Tatum in the 1,600 Saturday afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Marlin won, overtaking Tatum for second place to give the Lady Yoe an undisputed Class 2A girls team title. Tatum could have tied Cameron for the title by winning.

The Snook Lady Jays' hold on their lead was far more tenuous. If Lindsay finished first or second in the 1,600 relay, then Snook would have fallen to second. There were four teams almost even when the final lap began, including Lindsay. Hamlin and Albany held off Lindsay to the finish, and Snook won the Class A girls team title.

"I don't think I could care about the mile and mile relay more than I did today, because Lindsay was putting up points in both," Snook coach Megan Symank said. "We weren't expecting it, but we knew we had a shot at it. During district, throughout area and throughout regionals, we always came in as the runner-up and we were just trying to stay with the pack."

The Lady Bluejays stayed just ahead of it. Snook defeated Lindsay in the team race 58-57.

Cameron's 50 points held up as Marlin pushed past Tatum in the team race to take second with 46.

"It's just awesome," Cameron coach Linda Richter said. "We knew coming in we had a chance. We've won every track meet this season and that's pretty phenomenal, because we share kids with so many other sports and one-act play and UIL events. A lot of years we've had great teams but we're always filling in holes and there are kids missing. We won every track meet. I just couldn't imagine a better season."

The Cameron Yoemen boys were in first place until the final event, too, but finished third with 42 points behind Corrigan-Camden and Tatum (44).

The path to the championship can vary. While Cameron did not lose a track meet team title all season, it was Snook's first team title this year.

Snook won its only two relays, with Brandalyn Williams and Shakera Barnes running superb straightaway legs to capture the sprint relay in 48.54 seconds.

"I was just ready to give it up and cheer on the next person," said Williams, who was third in the 200 at 26.01.

That duo joined Miya Hoskins and Tia Evans again in the 800 relay, which won in 1:43.28, highlighted a crowd-pleasing finish started on the final turn by Barnes, before an announced afternoon crowd of 10,703.

Barnes had enough energy to rebound quickly and make it back-to-back state titles in the 400 meters. She ran an even, steady and fast race to win in 56.06, beating out the runner she had correctly assumed would be her closest competition, Meridian's Sydney Wright (57.34).

"I had to work harder once I heard the Meridian girl's time," Barnes said. "I had to do better than what she was doing. Having my teammates here makes it a better experience."

On a track sprinkled with Brazos Valley heroes, Snook's Barnes, Cameron's Maeson Mondrik and D. D. Westbrook, Bremond's Johnathan White and Hearne's Re'Jana Ellison shone brightest.

But the championships were built with many building blocks. In the first year of a ninth competitor in each event, Tia Evans was Snook's wild card entry in the 100 meters but finished fourth, getting two points to contribute to the Lady Bluejays' one-point victory. Under last year's rules, Evans would not have run in the race.

Cameron junior Maeson Mondrik came from at least 10 meters back to give Cameron the 800-meter relay victory.

"I was thinking I'm about to run the fastest 200 that I've ever run," said an enthusiastic Mondrik, who called it a graduation present to the only senior, Brook Brashear. "After we got third [in the sprint relay] our coach told us the next race, the next relay. That was our mindset and we were going to win it."

Ellison was a living picture of toughness. She jumped to the lead in the 100 before her left hamstring forced her to slow enough to finish third.

"I felt a pull as I was coming out of the blocks and I was running. I couldn't turn over like I normally do and then it popped," Ellison said.

Mondrik, who took second over Ellison in the 100 by .01 with a time of 12.03, would later help Ellison up the steps after Ellison made a remarkable comeback in the 200. With her leg heavily taped, Ellison still beat every runner coming off the curve and fought off the competition for her second medal, taking third at 25.72 by holding back Destavia Davis of Woden at the finish.

Ellison could barely walk to receive her bronze medal, but never considered quitting.

"It hurt," Ellison said after the 200. "I've never experienced that much pain in my life. To struggle in a race that I love is not acceptable, but I got third in state and beat a lot of people to get here, so I can't complain."

Ellison's bronze medals in both sprints matched her medal haul as a healthy freshman.

Martha Bustamante's contributions in her two races gave Cameron a huge boost. Bustamante won the bronze medal in the 800 by running 2:21.06, an emotional lift after the favored Lady Yoe finished third in the sprint relay.

She had to run around Spearman's Sarah Snider, who fell on the final turn.

"I had to go around them a little bit," Bustamante said. "I was saving it for the last lap to kick it in, because I knew I had a good stride or a good kick-off at the end."

Bustamante's time of 5:24.86 took fourth in the 1,600.

Mondrik pulled her team into a medal with her finish in the 400-meter relay, which was third at 48.70, and was the closing punch for the winning effort in the 800 relay, which came shortly after her second-place finish in the 100.

White won his third straight Class A 800-meter state championship for Bremond, following the same pattern he used in the other two. The Tiger senior burst into the lead from the opening gun, but with 300 meters left, he made a move that made his nearest competitors look like they were on treadmills. White won at 1:56.09.

"Winning for three years is a blessing," White said. "God has given me the heart and the determination to work hard to make the best of my abilities."

White got a limited warmup because the warmup area was moved to Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium, and White got there late.

"I felt loose but I was nervous," White said. "Every time you go to run, it's the feeling inside of you that bubbles up, the butterflies, that almost makes you get the urge to step off the track and not do it. But it's just a great feeling right now."

White's brother Jacob finished fifth in the race at 2:02.51.

The Cameron Yoe boys won the 400-meter relay and were second in the 800 relay, with Westbrook anchoring both. His 800-meter relay finish was the more impressive one, with the Yoemen finishing in 1:29.25 to take second behind Corrigan-Camden, which ran 1:28.18. Running without a suspended team member, the Cameron sprint relay team still ran a winning 41.98.

"It was really tough, but we set our mind to do it and we did," said Westbrook. "Coming from losing one of our legs, we had a lot of improvement to do and did. I was thinking about my team, which was all that mattered."

In the 400 relay, Westbrook bypassed Daingerfield, the team that edged out the Yoemen in the 2A Division I football championship game.

"We had to have our bragging rights," Westbrook said. "They got us in football and we got them back in track."

Westbrook "settled" for third in the 200, running 22.08 and just missing second with Pottsboro's John Hayes running a 22.06.

"I was extremely tired, putting forth that effort in the [800 relay] to try to catch as many people as I possibly could," Westbrook said.