Gilmer Track And Field Teams Sweep District 15-4A + 16-4A Area Meet

BULLARD -- It's getting late in the academic year and Gilmer is on the brink of surrendering a very strong senior class across all of its sports platforms.

Fortunately for Buckeye fans, the run will continue into May.

Gilmer's boys and girls track and field teams won the area meets between District 15-4A and District 16-4A Thursday at Bullard's Panther Stadium. The girls team by a single point against Liberty-Eylau, 139-138.

"We have a very special group of seniors, boys and girls," Buckeyes girls head coach Stacy Crews said. "If the boys win, the girls want to win. If the girls win, the boys want to win. They talk so much trash to each other during the week, but they have each other's backs always. It's really a good dynamic."

Megan Smith leaves the pack behind in the 300 meter hurdles race en route to nearly a three-second win. She gave Gilmer 10 critical points to help the team top Liberty-Eylau in the final standings. (Mark Martin, ETSN.fm)

Winning the area meets adds two more trophies to Gilmer's expansive collection, but the key was having as many individuals and relay teams as possible place in the top four per event. The teams did that.

With numbers, the Buckeyes are in position to contest for two more trophies at the Class 4A Region II meet at Texas A&M-Commerce. The event runs May 1 through May 2.

"We faced the elite of East Texas," Crews said. "The other district, you're looking at Atlanta, L-E, Pleasant Grove and Pittsburg. It's almost like the regional track meet because they bring so many dynamics in throws, distance, sprints and jumps. It's amazing what they can do."

Liberty-Eylau's girls won five events to Gilmer's four. However, the Buckeyes were able to keep in striking distance with finishes in the top six per event.

A first-place finish counted to 10 points, second-place scored eight, third-place was valued at six points, fourth-place was worth four, fifth-place earned two points and a sixth-place finish had a value of a point. The points doubled for relay events.

It came down to the final event of the day. The 4x400 meter relay.

Gilmer's team of Kiera Edwards, Christian Brown, Megan Smith and Chasity Thomas beat Liberty-Eylau's second-place team by 2.89 seconds.

"I was very happy with where we were coming into the mile relay," Crews said. "I knew it was going to be close, but with Atlanta breathing down our necks through the field events and L-E having three people in every event, I knew we were going to have to pull that place to win the meet. And the girls did."

Atlanta earned a third-place finish with 89 points.

Gilmer's boys team could breathe just a bit easer in the 4x400 meter event. It led Chapel Hill by 12 points and needed a fourth-place finish to clinch the meet, if the Bulldogs were able to pull off a first-place finish in the relay.

Chapel Hill finished third in the event, about 2.3 seconds behind Gilmer's winning time.

"These seniors this year, they don't know how to lose," Buckeyes boys head coach Randall Canady said. "You've got Chase (Tate), Nick Smith, Kris (Boyd), Juwan (Hughes), Davis Smith and D.W. Lindley. Those guys are all winners. Ever since seventh and eighth grade, they've been winners.

"Those kids don't ever quit. Obviously, we won the state title in football. That's our goal in track."

Competition for Gilmer and the rest of Thursday's qualifiers will increase next week in Commerce. Mid-sized schools from the Dallas area join the mix, headlined by the historically strong Dallas Carter program and several charter schools.

Athletes from Athens, Brownsboro, Canton and Van also will attend the meet.

"L-E and Atlanta, those guys are power house track guys," Canady said. "We can never count them out. I wouldn't be surprised if they were holding something back. This is the toughest region, I think. The Dallas area always brings competition. It should be a fun meet."

Kris Boyd Wins 100 Meter Sprint

Kris Boyd is one of those Gilmer seniors.

The Texas defensive back signee competed in his final event in the immediate East Texas area Thursday, winning the 100 meter sprint as well as a first-place finish as part of the 4x200 meter team.

Boyd secured spots in the regional meet at Texas A&M-Commerce. If he finishes in the top two at regionals in either the 100 meter sprint or 4x200 relay, he will close his high school career in the state meet at the University of Texas.

"I'm going to miss this, but I'm excited about the finish," Boyd said. "I've envisioned myself back at UT representing for the Longhorns. That's something I've always wanted. It motivates me a lot. I can show UT fans I'm not just a one sport guy and that I'm a good guy."

There's a decent chance the runner's dream of reaching Austin will become reality.

Boyd defeated Pleasant Grove's Kieran Johnson in the 100 meter event by .03 seconds with a time of 10.72. The relay team edged Liberty-Eylau by 1.87 seconds.

"I love my team," Boyd said. "We're great and want to win. We've got a little goal to set a record. If we lose, we're beating ourselves. I got to go to state last year and it was exciting. We did better than we were projected and came in second. This year, we've got to go win and get another ring."

Liberty-Eylau Freshman Makayla Sanders Crushes 1600 Meter Field

The future certainly is bright for the Leopards' girls track and field program.

Freshman distance runner Makayla Sanders won by 7.5 seconds in the 800 meter run and earned a 30 second margin of victory 1600 meter run.

Liberty-Eylau's Makayla Sanders, a freshman, won the 1600 meter competition by 30 seconds Thursday at the District 15-4A and District 16-4A area meet. (Mark Martin, ETSN.fm)

It was the worst best feeling in the world.

"You feel excited, but you feel all the pain shoot down into your body," Sanders said. "But it's so worth it. I crossed the finish line first in area. The pain shoots and then it leaves. It goes away as soon as you start walking and about 10 minutes to catch my breath."

Sanders qualified -- hands down -- for the two events in the regional meet. She'll be a part of Liberty-Eylau's surviving party seeking a little payback against Gilmer.

"We have an awesome team and we're hoping to go to state," the runner said. "Personally, I'm looking for more competition and more support from friends and family as we move on to the next round. I want to keep pushing for this team."

Donelle Hoof takes the lead in Thursday's 200 meter sprint. He defeated Gilmer's Lamarcus Morton by .03 seconds. (Mark Martin, ETSN.fm)

District 15-4A + District 16-4A Area Track and Field Championships

Thursday

Panther Stadium, Bullard

Top four in each category advance to area meet

BOYS RESULTS

Team Standings

Gilmer -- 109
Chapel Hill -- 89
Liberty-Eylau -- 75
Atlanta -- 69
Kilgore -- 64
Pleasant Grove -- 48
Spring Hill -- 42
Gladewater -- 41
Paris -- 32
Paris North Lamar -- 24
Bullard -- 23
Pittsburg -- 4

Long jump

1, Denzel Green, Liberty-Eylau -- 22-5
2,Phillip Sikes, Paris -- 21-5 3/4
3, Eddrick King, Atlanta -- 21-4 1/4
4, Keondre Traylor, Pittsburg -- 20-8 1/2
5, Kris Davis, Chapel Hill -- 20-8 1/4
6, Daylon Gordon, Gladewater -- 20-6

Triple jump

1, Denzel Green, Liberty-Eylau -- 45-7 1/4
2, Xaviar Gaona, Kilgore -- 43-4 3/4
3, Phillip Sikes, Paris -- 43-0 1/4
4, Eddrick King, Atlanta -- 43-0
5, Terrell Shelton, Kilgore -- 41-8 1/4
6, Corey Braxton, Liberty-Eylau -- 40-8

High jump

1, Austin Railsback, Chapel Hill -- 6-6
2, Tyler Shelton, Pleasant Grove -- 6-4
3, Andrew Anderson, Chapel Hill -- 6-2
4, Jeffrey Minor, Chapel Hill -- 6-2
5, Gavriel Peter, Pleasant Grove -- 6-2
6, Keitron Reed, North Lamar -- 6-2

Pole vault

1, Hunter Roberts, Atlanta -- 13-0
2, Jonathan Edwards, North Lamar -- 13-0
3, Grant Charman, North Lamar -- 13-0
4, Wesly Culbertson, North Lamar -- 13-0
5, Riley Coleman, Gilmer -- 11-0
6, John Neel, Bullard -- 10-6

Shot put

1, Jacob Allen, Bullard -- 49-10
2, Johnathan Hubbard, Kilgore -- 45-3
3, Robert Boyd, Gilmer -- 45-0 1/2
4, Keyuntea Kinney, Atlanta -- 44-6 1/2
5, Andrew Hollis, Gilmer -- 43-4 3/4
6, Jackson Pace, Pleasant Grove -- 41-7

Discus

1, Jacob Allen, Bullard -- 160-1
2, Johnathan Hubbard, Kilgore -- 143-9
3, Alvin Battle, Atlanta -- 142-5
4, Hagen Tucker, Spring Hill -- 137-7
5, Andrew Dawson, Chapel Hill -- 130-2
6, Keyuntea Kinney, Atlanta -- 121-11

3200 meter

1, Jacob Tomme, Spring Hill -- 10:09.52
2, Sostenese Sanchez, Pleasant Grove -- 10:16.38
3, David Smith, Gilmer -- 10:26.12
4, Chase Denson, Pleasant Grove -- 10:26.49
5, Clayton Fletcher, Kilgore -- 10:38.63
6, Cameron Edwards, North Lamar -- 11:15.02

4x100 relay

1, Chapel Hill (Fred Attaway, JaBraylon Franklin, Deundre Phillips, Johntavion Martin) -- 42.92
2, Kilgore (Jonathan Shepherd, Devin Lawler, Jordan Thompson, JaQuorius Smith) -- 43.02
3, Gladewater (James Reese, Daylon Gordon, Jazz Tyeskie, Clint Starling) -- 43.05
4, Atlanta (Eddrick King, Tyrell Phillips, Kelton Young, Nick Cooper) -- 43.07
5, Pleasant Grove (Kieran Johnson, Tye Oubre, Keyunte Kelly, Ty Everett) -- 43.17
6, Bullard (Jared Alsobrook, Ty Crayton, Mikah Hughes, Cade Wood) -- 44.32

800 meter run

1, Kase White, Spring Hill -- 1:58.17
2, Juwan Hughes, Gilmer -- 2:00.41
3, Demario Manley, Liberty-Eylau -- 2:02.76
4, D.W. Lindley, Gilmer -- 2:03.98
5, Kyle Dummon, North Lamar -- 2:04.38
6, Dylan Hunt, Atlanta -- 2:05.48

110 meter hurdles

1, Austin Hawley, Gladewater -- 15.87
2, Robert Jones, Liberty-Eylau -- 15.88
3, Tyler Shelton, Pleasant Grove -- 16.17
4, Kris Davis, Chapel Hill -- 16.40
5, Zachary Jones, Gilmer -- 16.62
6, Hunter Roberts, Atlanta -- 17.20

100 meter dash

1, Kris Boyd, Gilmer -- 10.72
2, Kieran Johnson, Pleasant Grove -- 10.75
3, Deundre Phillips, Chapel Hill -- 10.78
4, Diarva Brown, Paris -- 10.81
5, Johntavion Martin, Chapel Hill -- 11.05
6, Desmond Webster, Atlanta -- 11.15

4x200 relay

1, Gilmer (Chase Tate, Nick Smith, Kris Boyd, Charles Grimmett) -- 1:27.21
2, Liberty-Eylau (Donelle Hoof, Denzel Green, Robert Jones, Daiam Johnson) -- 1:29.08
3, Kilgore (Jonathan Shepherd, Devin Lawler, Jordan Thompson, Melek Hamilton) -- 1:30.03
4, Chapel Hill (Deundre Phillips, Johntavion Martin, JaBraylon Franklin, Fred Attaway) -- 1:30.73
5, Gladewater (Jazz Tyeskie, Clint Starling, Kenneth Clark, Dion Russell) -- 1:31.08
6, Atlanta (Kelton Young, Tyrell Phillips, Eddrick King, Dwayne Washington) -- 1:31.30

400 meter dash

1, Devoria Pearson, Liberty-Eylau -- 51.19
2, Malik Yulee, Gladewater -- 51.24
3, Gary Woods, Paris -- 51.38
4, Konnor Hitchcock, Chapel Hill -- 51.68
5, Lamarcus Morton, Gilmer -- 52.19
6, Curtis Smith, Atlanta -- 52.71

300 meter hurdles

1, Nick Smith, Gilmer -- 39.22
2, Hunter Roberts, Atlanta -- 41.34
3, Trin Taylor, Atlanta -- 41.98
4, Funzell Coleman, Atlanta -- 43.36
5, Kollin Hurt, Gilmer -- 43.39
6, Zachary Jones, Gilmer -- 44.75

200 meter dash

1, Donelle Hoof, Liberty-Eylau -- 23.07
2, Lamarcus Morton, Gilmer -- 23.10
3, Dion Russell, Gladewater -- 23.12
4, Dwayne Washington, Atlanta -- 23.13
5, Kelton Young, Atlanta -- 23.18
6, Fred Attaway -- 23.48

1600 meter run

1, Kase White, Spring Hill -- 4:35.39
2, Jacob Tomme, Spring Hill -- 4:40.46
3, Sostenese Sanchez, Pleasant Grove -- 4:43.45
4, David Smith, Gilmer -- 4:44.45
5, D.W. Lindley, Gilmer -- 4:46.62
6, Chase Denson, Pleasant Grove -- 4:50.44

4x400 relay

1, Gilmer (Nick Smith, Charles Grimmett, Chase Tate, Lamarcus Morton) -- 3:22.21
2, Kilgore (Jonathan Shepher, Devin Lawler, Jordan Thompson, Xaviar Gaona) -- 3:23.17
3, Chapel Hill (Austin Railsback, Jabraylon Franklin, Jaden Mayfield, Konnor Hitchcock) -- 3:24.50
4, Paris (Corion Hill, McKenzie Blake, Diarva Brown, Gary Woods) -- 3:25.90
5, Liberty-Eylau (Thurman Morbley, Denzel Green, Devoria Pearson, Malcolm Grant) -- 3:26.28
6, North Lamar (William Scudder, Tyler Anthony, Kyle Dunmon, Samaki Walker) -- 3:27.10

Gilmer came from behind in the points department to take down Liberty-Eylau in the 4x400 relay event. (Mark Martin, ETSN.fm)

GIRLS RESULTS