Track season is out of the blocks in the Ranch Cities area with the Aubrey Chaparrals and the Pilot Point Bearcats taking part in the Van Alstyne Panther Relays on March 6.
The Chaparrals finished in first, and the Lady Chaps placed fourth in the overall standings at the meet.
“Our team rose to the occasion,” said Don Spaulding, Aubrey head boys track coach. “We were missing a big piece, Tyler Brown, but we had some guys step in, and they looked good. It was a very promising performance, and I’m excited about the rest of the season once we have everyone healthy.”
The Chaps had multiple Top 3 finishes on their way to securing the top spot as a team by a 100-point margin.
Park Thurman finished third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.91.
Mustapha Corr finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.09.
Thurman and Corr finished first and second in the 400-meter dash with times of 52.67 and 52.80.
Reid Smith finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.92.
Gunner Simon finished second in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:06.76.
Kaden Plaugher finished second in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:26.91.
Brock Temple and Will Storey finished first and second in the 110-meter hurdles with times of 16.06 and 16.34.
Temple and Storey also finished first and second in the 300-meter hurdles with times of 40.70 and 44.17.
The Chaps dominance continued in the field events with Luke Bartel taking first in the shot put with a throw of 44-feet-1.25-inches.
Brayden Hamilton won first in the discus with a throw of 111-feet-and-2-inches.
Jaedon Bogar took first place in the high jump and triple jump with distances of 6-feet-4-inches and 40-feet-7inches.
Nathan Hough earned first in pole vaulting with a height of 10-feet and Harper finished second in the long jump, leaping 21-feet-2-inches.
The Chaps’ relay teams— Nathaniel Nkwodinma, La’Braylon Bell, Corr, Harper and Temple—took first in all three of the relay events.
For the Lady Chaps’ Jentry Runion got things moving, finishing first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.89.
Brynnlee Bohannon finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.14.
Chloe Owen finished third in the 1600-meter run with a time of 6:09.32.
Abby Lynch-Buxton led the way in the field events, taking first in the discus with a throw of 105-feet-1.5-inches.
Chrisette Turner earned first in the long jump with a distance of 16-feet and second in the triple jump with a distance of 33-feet-6-inches.
Kynadi Hall placed second in the shot put with a distance of 30-feet-3-inches.
After a run to a gold medal at the state meet last season, Spaulding said the Chaps have big expectations for this year as well.
“We’re fixed on winning a state championship as a team,” he said. “We also have individual goals, but as a team we want to win the state championship, and we know we have to go through district, area and a very tough regional meet. We know the type of talent we have, but we still have to go to practice and work hard.”
For Pilot Point, the Lady Cats finished second overall, and the Bearcats finished fourth.
“We the weather and everything, this is the second meet that we’ve competed in, so it’s nice to see the kids that competed last week had a chance to go out and do a little better and try to up their times, and that’s what we’re looking for,” said Tyler Lawson, Pilot Point head boys track coach. “Our kids are doing everything we ask them to do, and it’s starting to show.”
Long-distance runner Ava Smith set the pace for the Lady Cats, taking first in the 800-meter run.
Kaelyn Chaney finished first in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:49.03.
Chaney and Rylee LeMarr placed first and second in the 3200-meter run with times of 13:14.93 and 13:25.58.
In the field events, Sanaa Jackson finished second in the long jump with a leap of 15-feet-11-inches.
Braillen Brocato finished third in the high jump with a height of 4-feet-6-inches.
The Lady Cats’ relay teams—Brocato, Jackson, Daiyton DeLeon, McKayla Rushing and Peytyn Goodin—finished first in the 4x400, second in the 4x100 and third in the 4x200 relay.
Bennett Cory was the top runner for the Bearcats, finishing second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.33.
Drevion James finished third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.14.
Humberto Garcia finished third in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:30.48.
In the field events, Hunter Newman finished third in the long jump with a leap of 20-feet-9.5-inches, and Riley Hays placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 38-feet-6.5-inches.
The Bearcats relay team— Newman, Cory, James, Ashton Williamson and Lane Eft—finished fourth in all three relay events.
Lawson said the teams plan to take the season one step at a time during his season at the helm.
“I knew the tradition they had here at Pilot Point,” he said. “Track means a little more, not only with the kids that are running but also in the support from the community, and I’m really excited to get to work with that. … We want to get district and be successful there, and then we’ll move on to regional and do the same there, [and] with the times the other schools are running in our district, we feel like we have a great chance to get to regionals.”
Photos by Martin Edwards/The Post-Signal
