Seven Lakes continues 19-6A dominance
Third title in four years carries Falcons into area meet
The Seven Lakes girls track team is back on top, holding off Katy for their third district team title in four years last week at Tompkins.
The Spartans reclaimed the district championship with 172 points.
Coach David Pollack said he liked their chances going into the season, with a strong group of seniors leading the way headlined by Rice signee Michelle Fokam and Baylor-bound Sydney Gandy.
“I knew with the seniors we had, we had a good shot of repeating,” he said.
Fokam won the long jump with a distance of 18 feet, 3½ inches and the triple jump with a leap of 39-2¼. She also placed third in the 100 (12.28) and ran on their district champion 400- and 800-meter relays.
Morton Ranch’s Kailei Collins (12.0) and Taila Fagan (12.24) were first and second, respectively, in the 100.
“(Fokam’s) a tremendous athlete,” Pollack said.
“She was the VYPE player of the year for basketball, and when our girls got knocked out of the playoffs (by Cy-Fair), she came out three days after her last basketball game and triple-jumped 39 feet.
“She’s currently fourth or fifth in the triple jump, she made it to state last year, and she has a very good chance of repeating this year, and really, she’s been the heart of the team the last three years.”
Fokam finished far off the medal stand at state last year, giving her plenty of motivation to keep advancing.
Pollack’s hoping their trip to the Texas Relays pays off if she does return to Austin.
Gandy advanced to the area meet in the 400, placing third, and the 1,600 relay, where Seven Lakes (3:58.14) took second.
Katy prevailed in the 1,600 in 3:55.47.
“(Gandy) had a real pour race in her 800 meter, and she showed a lot of mental strength and courage to come back and run a real solid 400 meter,” Pollack said. “She ran her best time this season, which was a 58.8, and really took charge in the 4x4.
“We knew Katy would be a tough team going into the 4x4, so for us to finish second behind them was real exciting.”
Seven Lakes skated past Katy in the 4x1 and 4x2.
Fokam, Angie Pena, Grace Ugwoegbu and Andrea Villalobos won the 400 relay 47.8 seconds. Katy was second at 47.87.
Fokam, Pena, Ugwoegbu and Brittney Cecil won the 800 relay in 1:42.26.
“We knew going in it was going to be a war with Katy,” Pollack said. “Luckily, we really did have a very good first day in the field events, and we had scored 72 points and had a 40-point lead going into the running finals.
“And Katy really came storming back, but our girls were able to get the points they needed to in order to advance.”
Dana Pollack won the pole vault with a leap of 10 feet, and Morgan Janda and Francesca Oyeleke were second and third, respectively, in the high jump, both clearing 5-2 to supply key points.
“We were really solid this year in the relays and also the field events,” Pollack said. “We had a tremendous showing in the field events.”
Strake Jesuit swept the boys freshman, JV and varsity district team titles.
The 19-6A/20-6A area meet is set for Thursday at Seven Lakes, with running events beginning at 6 p.m.
“We definitely would like to repeat,” Pollack said. “It’s going to be at our home campus, at Seven Lakes, so we definitely have some motivation going in there.
“Lamar always brings a really solid squad, and then Katy is definitely poised to take that from us, so it’s going to be a tough meet.” Jason McDaniel is a freelance writer who can be reached at jasonrmcdaniel@