After tight win, Texans want even more
Relays, sprints carry Lamar’s boys to District 20-6A track and field title as girls roll again
Tyrone Green expected a tight meet at the District 20-6A Track and Field Championships and Lamar’s head boys coach got exactly that.
The Texans defended their title at the league meet, but the margin was slim. Lamar’s boys tallied 185 points to hold off Westside with 140. Westbury took third with 88, followed by Bellaire with 77, Reagan with 67, Chavez with 38, Milby with 13 and Sam Houston with five.
“We’re probably not as strong as we’ve been, especially in the field events,” Green said. “Westside did a great job, but our kids are champions and they did what they had to do.”
More importantly, Lamar qualified a large contingent for the District 19-6A/20-6A area meet on Thursday, April 21, at Katy Seven Lakes. The top four district finishers advanced to the area meet.
At district, the clear difference was a sweep of the relays.
Lamar’s foursome of junior Tre Lewis, sophomores Ta’Zhawn Henry and Al’Vonte Woodard and freshman Ashton O’Connor won in 42.78 seconds.
The 4x200 relay, featuring juniors Kosey Okolie and Jordan Stevens, Henry and O’Connor continued the trend (1:29.71) with another first-place finish. Meanwhile, the foursome of junior Denzel Davis, Lewis, Stevens and sophomore D’Shawn Jamison wrapped up the meet with a victory in the 4x400 relay (3:22.49).
Green believes the 4x400 relay has the best shot of the three to qualify for the Class 6A-Region III meet, but Lamar must improve to advance.
“If you look at the top teams from the other district (19-6A), Katy Morton Ranch, Strake Jesuit and Katy Tompkins all went 3:19 or faster,” Green said. “We might make a change or two to our relays to drop more time.”
Individually, Lamar had plenty of standouts, some capable of collecting medals at the area meet.
In the 200, Lamar ranked 1-2-3 at district, with O’Connor (22.04), Lewis (22.15) and Jamison (22.50) grabbing spots on the podium.
Lamar’s other district champs were Jamison in the 400 (50.56), senior Adeyemi Kolawole in the high jump (5 feet, 7 ¾ inches) and sophomore Joshua Landry in the discus (1450).
Henry was second in the 100 (11.04), but Green believes he’s capable of more.
“Ta’Zhawn was injured most of the season,” Green said. “We got him back at the Texas Relays and he’s finally healthy.”
Other area qualifiers were Davis in the 400, juniors Jerrell Hunter and Daveon Tones in the 800, freshman Kenneth Dotson in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, freshman Matthew Mabin in the high jump and sophomore Matthew Smith in the pole vault.
Girls win in a rout The District 20-6A girls’ meet was a blowout, with Lamar’s 294 points more than tripling the output of second-place Bellaire with 89. Westside was third with 67, followed by Chavez with 61, Westbury with 43, Sam Houston with 30 and Reagan with five.
Lamar, though, failed to sweep the three relays. While the Texans won the 4x100 relay (49.04) and 4x400 relay (3:55.81), they were third in the 4x200 relay (1:44.88). However, Lamar ran some of its youngsters at district and should go faster at the area meet.
Junior Julia Heymach easily won the 1,600 (4:59.13) and 3,200 (10:41.23). Heymach is the reigning state champ in both races.
Junior Milan Young won the 100 (11.77), 100 hurdles (14.01) and 300 hurdles (43.91).
Lamar’s other district winners were junior Reina Ryan in the 200 (25.07), senior Brandy Thomas in the 400 (57.45), junior Destiny Hamilton in the 800 (2:31.82), senior Chase Martin in the high jump (411 ¾), junior Julia Irr in the pole vault (10-0) and sophomore Haley Pollard in the discus (129-7) and shot put (39-3).
The Texans’ other area qualifiers were Ryan in the 100, sophomore Sydney Dillard in the 200, sophomore Haley SmithHolloway in the 800, Irr in the 800, freshman Angel Riggins in the 3,200, Martin in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, freshman Joi Morgan in the 100 hurdles, junior Jade Morgan in the 300 hurdles and long jump, junior Jenisha Vernocchi in the high, long and triple jumps, freshman Alina Moorodinn in the high jump, junior Emma Becker in the pole vault, senior Chinwe Njoku in the triple jump and juniors Jewell Lewis and Karla Hartaway in the discus.