Senior Molly Garrison is making her second straight appearance at state in both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs. She is joined by junior Tyler Connelly, competing in both events for the Bearcats, and sophomore Addie Fields in the pole vault for the Ladycats, both making their state debut.
Garrison finished third in the state in the 1600 and was sixth in the 3200 in 2025. She comes in seeded sixth in the 1600 with her Region I winning time of 5 minutes, 2.8 seconds and is seeded eighth in the 3200 with regional championship clocking of 10:52.24.
If Garrison matches her third-place time of 4:51.93 last season at state, it would be a second and a half faster than this year’s top qualifying time of 4:53.43. The second fastest qualifying time this season is 4:54.21 and third is 4:54.57.
In the 3200, the top qualifying time is 10:39.67, second is 10:42.67, and third is 10:43.65.
“Molly is a veteran, and I fully expected her to get back to Austin. We had an injury scare during the season, but she was able to get through that and is really running well,” Ladycats’ coach Mike Pinkerton said. “She was in complete control of both of her races at regionals, winning them both. I look forward to seeing more competition for her at state.”
Fields enters in a four-way tie for third in the seedings after vault of 12 feet to win the region, her career-best. The top vault among qualifiers is 13-0 and second is 12-6.
“She had shown signs of jumping higher all season but just had not put it together in a meet,” Aledo pole vault coach John Rhodes said. “When five girls cleared 11-6 (at regionals), the competitor in her kicked in and she made 12 feet for the first time ever.
“A shot at getting on the podium is a real possibility. We have added a stride to her approach and are working on raising her grip slightly, hoping that will get her over 12-6 and possibly win a medal. Either way it will be a great experience.”
Connelly is seeded ninth in both of his events with a qualifying time of 9:26.09 in the 3200 and a personal-best of 4:18.09 in the 1600. In the 3200, the top qualifying time is 9:10.83, second is 9:11.76, and third is 9:11.92. In the 1600, the top time is 4:12.45, second is 4:12.91, and third is 4:13.74.
However, when Connelly competed in the Texas Relays in April in this same stadium, he ran a career-best time of 9:09.90, which would make him the No. 1 seed had he matched that at regionals.
“Tyler is a beast, two pretty impressive runs (at regionals), and now he is back on the same track that he ran his PR earlier this year,” Bearcats coach Andy Clark said. “Should be a fun race.”
Aledo is moving up to Class 6A in the fall following the UIL’s biennial realignment this past February. They will share a district with Weatherford, Granbury, and five Arlington Schools.
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