AUSTIN -- A pair of Brenham competitors came through when down to their last shot.

Both Chantel Bratton and Luke Poehlmann closed their high school shot put careers by reaching the medal stand Friday at the UIL State Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

Bratton, who finished sixth a year ago, took the lead on three different occasions and had an exceptional series of throws. Her worst throw of the day was 40 feet, 10 3/4 inches.

On her final throw, the next-to-last of the competition, she wrestled the lead away from defending state champion Amanda VanDyke of Pflugerville Connally by throwing 43-8 1/2, narrowly missing her best throw of the season. She threw 43-10 1/2 at the Class 4A Region III meet.

VanDyke responded with her top throw, 44-1, to win it.

"It wasn't my best throw but I thank the Lord for it," Bratton said. "Amanda is the greatest competition I have faced all year and I thank her for this, because I stepped it up a little bit."

Bratton ran to the edge of the ring to eye the measurement on Vandyke's throw. It was the only moment of frustration she showed before applauding her competition.

"I picked it up a lot this year, working weights and doing sprints," Bratton said. "I congratulate her, because she did a wonderful job."

Poehlmann, who greeted Bratton with a hug before she began her competition, had a timely comeback effort. He climbed from fifth to third on his final throw, 58-3/4.

Poehlmann, who had thrown 60-4 1/2 at the Brenham regional qualifier meet, was disappointed.

"I appreciate it," said Poehlmann, who has signed to play football at Texas. "It was fun. I enjoyed it. I just kind of wanted to get more."

Michael Carter, the son and namesake of one of the state meet's legends, won the 4A boys shot put with a throw of 61-1. His father, an Olympic silver medalist in the event, still owns the national high school record at 81-3 1/2.

The heat made it a difficult day on athletes and on the early-arriving crowd. The temperature reached 96 degrees, and the heat index was at 102 by mid-afternoon. An estimated evening crowd of 15,500 was cooled considerably after sunset.

Anderson-Shiro's Cody Aikin, who began high jumping two years ago, needed a clutch jump to clutch his bronze medal. The senior was out of medal contention when he knocked the bar off with his calf at 6-4.

With one try left, he touched the bar again. It wobbled, but this time stayed in place.

"They kid who is in first [Josh Commiato, who won at 6-7] was telling me I was too slow on my approach and didn't get enough power," said Aikin, who had a group of family and friends cheering for him. "He's said, 'Dude, you're not getting there fast enough,' but yeah, I was nervous."

Although only a sophomore, Madisonville's Brock Taylor made the most of his final showdown in the 100 meters with Fairfield's Gavan Bass.

"We ran up against each other four times and he had beaten me every single time, until this last one," said a smiling Taylor, the young brother of Baylor receiver Brad Taylor. "He motivated me to keep going, because he beat me and I had to work hard."

Bass, who is Taylor's district opponent in Class 3A District 19, was quick out of the blocks and took second in the 100 meters in a time of 10.73 seconds. Looking to his left, he could see Bass, who earlier in the day had won the long jump. The Fairfield sprinter was third at 10.81.

"When I came out [of the starting blocks] I stumbled like I was about to fall," Taylor said. "I was just thinking, 'Oh, man, don't fall. Keep going and finish this race.'"

In the 1A girls 3,200, a fast first lap (1:13) separated Round Top-Carmine's Laurie Byrd and Comstock's Kayla Pratt from the rest of the field. It was a late kick that allowed Byrd to climb from the second step on the medal stand in 2007 to the top spot. Byrd surged past her regional rival with 220 meters remaining and sprinted to the finish in 11:33.16. Pratt ran 11:38.34.

"I know I came out fast after that first lap, so I was going to pace myself and conserve some energy for the end, when I knew I needed it," said Byrd, who will run the 1,600 on Saturday. "I have a very good kick, so I put it to good use."

Caldwell's 1,600-meter relay team of April Howell, Brianna Haynes, Vantazia Jackson and Elliott Laferriere also made a run at medal. The Hornets quartet finished fourth in the 3A event for the second straight season, but ran a strong 3:58.14, their best time this season. Favorite Canyon won the race in 3:55.66 and the girls team title with 72 points.

Caldwell's time fell just short of its run at state in 2007, when the Lady Hornets ran 3:57.41. Howell was the only new member of the foursome this season.

Brenham was in second place after two laps of the 4A boys 1,600-meter relay, but Tito Mathis was thrown off-stride on the backstretch when he bumped against the inside rail. The Cubs finished fifth in a season-best time of 3:18.17, behind champion Waco Midway, which ran 3:16.57.

Brenham's Lindsey Lechler was fifth in the pole vault, matching her 10-6 vault at regional. Lechler was eighth at state in 2007 but gained an edge over her competitors Friday by clearing 10-6 on her first try.

It was already warm when Brenham's Haley Peddy ran in the 4A girls 3,200. She was part of a pack of runners that fell behind leaders Ashley Isham and Amanda Russell of Vista Ridge, along with McKinney North's Stephanie Ganter after two laps. Peddy finished sixth in a time of 11:27.39, trailing the favorites. Isham (10:57.06) won with Ganter (11:06.52) second. Russell, a sophomore like Isham, was third at 11:12.56. None of the runners matched their regional times.

Brenda Pena, the Cameron miler who returned to state after falling a spot short last year, was sixth in 5:30.47.

Early struggles put Navasota in a hole in the 800-meter relay, and the Lady Rattlers place seventh at 1:44.96.

Rockdale junior Krysten Brooks fell behind going over the second hurdle and could not recover, finishing fifth in the 3A 300-meter hurdles in a time of 15.28.

• David Campbell's e-mail address is david.campbell@theeagle.com.

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