Ladycats win regional championships

Pardon the pun, but the Aledo Ladycats track team is on quite a run.

And now, a trio of Ladycats will continue on to state, along with a member of the Bearcats. The quartet will compete in the Class 5A State Track and Field Meet at the University of Texas in Austin May 3. They qualified with top-two finishes in their respective events at the Class 5A Region I Meet at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

As a team, the Ladycats won the regional championship, scoring 55 points to runner-up Burleson Centennial’s 52. The top five teams, which included Mansfield Timberview (48), Amarillo (46), and Denton Ryan (45) were within 10 points of each other.

Making the trip to Austin for the Ladycats will be regional champions Taylor Hindman (senior) in the pole and Lauren St. Peters (seniors) in the shot put — along with a runner-up finish in the discus - as well as 800-meter runner-up Sofia Brandenburg (sophomore). All three competed at state last season and this will be a third straight year for Hindman and St. Peters to compete on the big stage.

St. Peters’ shot put throw of 49 feet at regionals is also a new school record.

Braylon Brown, a junior, qualified by winning the pole vault for the Bearcats. It will be his debut appearance at state.

Narrowly missing a berth at state was Brad Campbell in the pole vault. He placed third and missed out on a wild-card bid by a slim margin.

Last season Hindman finished second in the state, while St. Peters was third in the shot put. As sophomores, St. Peters was fourth in both the shot and discus and Hindman tied teammate and junior (then freshman) Maggie Kilburn for seventh.

Brandenburg finished fifth at state last season in the 800.

“The girls competed very well. The weather was not favorable, especially Saturday, but these girls did not let that get in their way,” Ladycats coach Mike Pinkerton said.

Due to heavy weather moving in overnight, all field events were moved to Friday. The Ladycats capitalized by scoring 38 points that day.

“Going into Saturday, we had the 800, 100, 1600, and 4x400 to try and score more points.  These girls really performed,” Pinkerton said.

Going into the final event of the meet, the Ladycats trailed by one point in the team standings, with the title up for grabs. However, the leading team did not qualify a 4x400 relay for the finals.

Aledo’s relay, consisting of Mykel Murry, Mayden Mitchell, Brandenburg, and Addison Smith, fought through the wind and rain, finishing fifth, and giving the Ladycats the regional championship.

The regional championship comes on the heels of the Area 5/6-5A championship a week earlier in Fort Worth. Prior to that they were second in the District 5-5A Meet by a single point to Northwest.

“These girls have worked hard, and competed even harder all season. I do not have the words to express how proud of them I am,” Pinkerton said, also praising his assistant coaches.

“I believe that all three of our state qualifiers will do a fantastic job. There are none that work harder, or prepare better,” he continued. “All three have been to state before, and all three have also competed at the state facility this year (Texas Relays). I am looking for them to do great things in Austin.”

Bearcats fifth

The Bearcats placed fifth with a team score of 32 points. However, coach Andrew Clark refused to blame the outcome on the inclement weather. 

“Weather was rough, but it was rough for everyone,” Clark said. “We ran good, just not good enough. “We’re only graduating two senior runners, so we should be back out there and faster next year. 

“Braylon qualifying is awesome - expected, but awesome still.”

Class 5A Region I Track and Field Meet

April 19-20 at Texas Tech University, Lubbock

Running distance in meters, field events in feet and inches

The top two finishers in each event qualify for state May 3-4 at the University of Texas in Austin, along with the best third-place finisher in each event across the region as a wild card.

Aledo results

Girls

Team score: 55 points, first place.

Top finishers

100: 4. Addison Smith, 12.24.

200: Smith qualified for finals, placing sixth in prelims with a time of 25.22, which would have placed her sixth in finals, but she did not run.

800: 2. Sofia Brandenburg, 2:16.75 (state qualifier); 7. Mykel Murry, 2:22.72; 8. Micah Neal, 2:23.56.

1600: 6. Molly Garrison, 5:19.94; 10. Micah Neal, 5:26.41.

3200: 4. Garrison, 11:20.08; 13. Carley Couch, 12:42.21; 15. Kjersten Loy, 12:45.03.

4x400 relay: 5. Murry, Mayden Mitchell, Brandenburg, Smith, 4:03.62.

Shot put: 1. Lauren St. Peters, 49-00 (state qualifier).

Discus: 2. St. Peters, 154-11 (state qualifier).

Pole vault: 1. Taylor Hindman, 12-06 (state qualifier); 4. Maggie Kilburn, 11-00; 5. Claire Campbell, 11-00.

High jump: 15. Taylor McKenzie, 5-0.

Boys

Team score: 32 points, fifth place.

Top finishers

400: 4. Adam Averett, 49.92.

1600: 4. Vincent Luffey, 4:24.58.

110 hurdles: 12. Lincoln Tubbs, 16.01.

300 hurdles: 5. Tubbs, 40.83.

4x100 relay: 5. Adrian Fuller, Averett, Kaydon Finley, Aven Lawrence, 42.54.

4x400 relay: 8. Fuller, Tubbs, Trey Warner, Lawrence, 3:37.00.

Pole vault: 1. Braylon Brown, 15-03 (state qualifier); 3. Brad Campbell, 15-00; T-10. Kantyn Kasich, 13-0.

Shot put: 11. Carson Dempsey, 44-04.5.

High jump: T-10. Averett, 5-10.

Long jump: 14. Averett, 19-08.25.