Manvel loses championship bid on final event
Mavericks finish 2nd in Class 6A; Stafford takes 4A boys crown
AUSTIN — The one relay team Manvel didn’t send to the track and field state championships cost the Mavericks a second consecutive title.
The Manvel boys ended Saturday with 50 points, giving them a second-place finish in Class 6A. Manvel was in first place heading into the 1,600-meter relay — the final event of the meet — leading DeSoto by 12 points and Mansfield by 14.
The problem was Manvel didn’t send a 1,600 relay to state. Instead, DeSoto capitalized in the race with a second-place finish of 3 minutes, 14.22 seconds that gave it the state title. Arlington Bowie won the relay at 3:14.03, but the 16 points was enough to push DeSoto to a state crown.
Manvel still comes away with an impressive haul after a solid last two years. The team of Daniel Ford, Reggie Hemphill, Caleb Jolivette and Jaren Colbert ran a 1:24.48 to win the 800 relay. The team of D’Eriq King, Ford, Jolivette and Colbert finished second behind DeSoto in the 400 relay with a time of at 40.34 seconds. Piperi wins gold
The Woodlands’ Adrian Piperi also cleaned up at the state 6A meet with a gold medal-winning shot put throw of 71 feet and a bronze medal-winning discus toss of 192 feet, 1 inch. He won gold in both events last year.
Piperi is a little perturbed at that bronze. The junior has high standards for himself.
The day already had an awkward start with the nearly six-hour weather delay because of rain and lightning at Mike A. Myers Stadium, where Piperi will throw the discus and shot put in college. He’s committed to the University of Texas. The discus event was just about to start when the delay was called.
Piperi said his first two throws weren’t where he wanted them to be, but he bounced back for third place. Interestingly enough, he wasn’t even thinking about a medal. Besting his personal records is what drives Piperi.
“I just wanted to PR,” Piperi said. “Two-hundred four (feet) at Texas Relays is a really hard one to beat, but I’m going to keep on trying.”
Maybe Piperi was expecting more than bronze in the discus, but he made up for it in the shot put Friday. The 71-foot throw puts him in rare air.
In an odd way, Piperi believes the state meet is just one step toward where he truly wants to be: the IAAF World Youth Championships.
He made the meet last year and threw 72-2.25 top win gold in the shot put.
That’s not the only stop. Olympic gold is his biggest dream.
“Ever since I’ve been getting good at this, it’s kind of been there,” Piperi said. “It’s starting to come true I’m hoping. That’s my goal.” Weather an issue
Stafford wrapped up the 4A boys state championship Saturday, giving the southwest Houston area another champion.
The other is Fort Bend Marshall, which won the 5A title Friday. Stafford and Marshall are less than 2 miles apart.
“I tell you what, we’ve got some fast kids in that area right there,” Stafford coach Sergio Hinojosa said. “Those are our friends. We’re going to try to arrange our practices to- gether next year so we can improve — both of us — and help each other out.”
Hinojosa was proud of his team for handling the lengthy weather delay.
“We told them right now there are two things that are certain,” Hinojosa said. “One, the track meet will go on. There’s no doubt about it. And two, somebody is still going to win this thing. It’s whether or not it’s going to be us or not.”
One of the biggest issues Saturday was the constant rain and lightning.
The weather halted the events at Mike A. Myers Stadium around 12:30 p.m. The delay lasted until 2:45 p.m. when athletes were readying to return to the track.
However, another 30-minute delay pushed that back. Athletes didn’t return to the track until 6 p.m. and at the point, the running events for Class 1A, 2A, 4A and 6A would run consecutively. No beating Comick
The schedule changed affected some like Piperi and didn’t bother others like Atascocita’s Jace Comick, who still ran the 100 meters when he was originally scheduled. He won gold at 10.47 seconds.
His idea for withstanding the delay is simple.
“Keep your mindset right,” Comick said. “Listen to music. Stay focused.”