The regional track meets were last Friday and Saturday with state qualifications on the line for those who finished among the top two in their event.
Four boys from Saint Jo ended up meeting that criteria as the Panthers 4×400 relay team (Dylan Brockman, Kile Thurman, Devin Stewart, Collin Thomas) finished first to end the meet with a bang. Before that, anchor leg Thomas finished second in the 800 meter race to qualify for state individually.
For everyone else, it was a rough year for area athletes trying to earn their ticket to the state meet.
3A
No one got closer than Nocona’s Graci Brown. The freshman was the only athlete from Nocona to make it to regionals in both the 200 and 400 meters. She made it through qualifying and her times gave her good shots to be in the mix to finish among the top of the race.
In the 400 meters her time of 58.12 was just .16 seconds short of second place. Despite running a school record time in the 200 meters in qualifying 25.99, she would run 26.53 in the finals and finish seventh.
There was still hope for her qualifying for state in the 400 meters though. There is one wildcard spot available to the person who has the best results from all four of the regional meets that finished third.
Her time was tied with a girl from Hempstead. Athletic director Blake Crutsinger said he would find out from the University Interscholastic League on Monday which one had the faster time after a review. Unfortunately, it would not be Brown this year.
Bowie sent three athletes competing in four events. Tucker Jones competed in both the 110 meter and 300 meter hurdle races. He made it through both prelim races to qualify for the finals.
Unfortunately, he fell early on in the 110 meter hurdles and did not finish. Later he ran and finished the 300 meter hurdles race where he finished seventh.
Samantha Clarke competed in the 1600 meter race. She was in the top bunch for more than half the race, but would fade later in the race. Still, she finished ninth out of 16 runners.
Senior Anahi Perez competed in the 100 meter hurdles. Unfortunately, she did not make it through prelims as she finished in 14th place.
1A
At the regional meet, every area school had at least one athlete compete. In the 100 meter boy’s race, Saint Jo’s Jonathan Diaz finished ninth in the prelims and did not qualify for the finals. In the 200 meter girl’s race, the Lady Panthers Elaina Everson finished 11th in the 200 meters and did not qualify for the finals.
In the boy’s 400 meters race, Saint Jo’s Brockman made it to the finals before finishing eighth. In the girl’s 800 meter race, Forestburg’s Justynne Roller finished 15th overall.
In the 1600 meters, Grace Martin from Bellevue would end up getting sixth place. In the 3200 meter boy’s race, Isaac Renteria from Gold-Burg finished seventh while Jayden Curry from Saint Jo got 12th. On the girls side, Linzie Priddy from Prairie Valley finished 10th.
The 100 meter hurdles saw Lady Horn Reagan Ladewig finish 11th in the prelims. The 110 meter hurdles, Mathew Sampson from Saint Jo, Sergio Andrade from Gold-Burg and Tye Reid from Forestburg finished 13-15 in the prelims.
In the 300 meter hurdles, Taylor Patrick finished 14th in the girls race and Sampson 12th in the boys race. Dawson Everson and Caleb Workman both qualified for the finals were Everson finished sixth and Workman seventh.
In the 4×100 meter relay, both Saint Jo teams made it to the finals and both finished seventh. On the boy’s side, the Forestburg and Gold-Burg teams did not make it out of prelims as the Longhorns finished 13th and the Bears finished 14th.
The 4×200 relay again saw both Saint Jo teams make it to the finals. The Panthers would finish fifth while the Lady Panthers finished eighth. The Forestburg team on the boy’s side did not qualify for the finals as it finished 12th in the prelims.
The 4×400 relay, the Longhorns did join the Panthers in the finals where they finished seventh overall.
In the high jump, Stewart from Saint Jo finished fifth overall while Madisen Deason from Forestburg finished 10th. In the long jump, Jayon Grace from Gold-Burg finished 10th overall.
In the pole vault, Everson from Saint Jo just missed out on qualifying for state as he finished third despite finishing with the same height as second place, who made the height in less attempts. Tyler Winkler from Prairie Valley finished sixth and Chandler Parr also from Saint Jo finished seventh. On the girls side, Emma Stout from Prairie Valley did not make the opening height.
In the boy’s shot put, Terrance Perry from Bellevue got sixth place. Kani Grace from Gold-Burg followed him in seventh place while Braxton Osteen from Forestburg finished 11th. On the girl’s side, Ladewig from Forestburg got 11th place.
In the discus event, Prairie Valley’s Emily Carpenter would get eighth place. In the boy’s event, Forestburg’s Osteen would get fifth and Bellevue’s Perry got sixth place.
The state meet for 1A running events is scheduled for 5 p.m. on May 14 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

To see results for all area competitors, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.