JASON CHLAPEK I SJNT Coldspring-Oakhurst athlete Crystal Ramos finished fourth in the pole vault during last week’s area meet.

COLDSPRING — The Coldspring-Oakhurst boys and girls track and field programs each qualified seven entries for the Region III-Class 3A Meet this weekend in Waco.

The Trojans finished third in the team standings of last week’s Districts 23/24-3A Area Meet, while the Lady Trojans finished fifth. The meet took place on April 12 at Trojan Stadium in Coldspring.

The top four finishers in each event qualified for the region meet, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Midway High School’s Panther Stadium in Waco. The top two finishers and top third-place finish statewide in each event qualify for the Class 3A state meet, which takes place May 6 in Austin.

TROJANS

A trio of first-place finishes kept C-O in the hunt for the area championship. Edward Brown and Curtis Parker, Jr., won the 100 and 400-meter runs, respectively, and the quarter of Parker, Reagan Roberts, Gavin Trejo and Jared Curry won the 1,600-meter relay.

Dante Eldridge took second in the shot put, while Carter Currie was the runner-up in the pole vault. Troy Fortenberry finished third in the pole vault and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles.

C-O had 79 points in the standings to finish third. East Bernard (96.5) and Boling (94) finished 1-2.

LADY TROJANS

Five of the seven regional-qualifying entries for C-O took place in the field events, including a pair of first-place finishes. Alexis Moore and Amanda Ready won the shot put and high jump, respectively, to lead the Lady Trojans’ charge.

Shanaya Gilbert finished second in the shot put, while Alexis Chandler was third in the triple jump, and Crystal Ramos took fourth in the pole vault. Miya Ellis qualified in two events as she finished third in the 100 and fourth in the 200.

BRIAN BESCH | PCE The Livingston boys won the Corky Cochran Relays on Thursday, while the Lady Lions finished second.

Varsity Boys Points By School

1st Livingston HS 97

2nd Huntington HS 95

3rd Tarkington 94

4th Woodville HS 93

5th Liberty HS 72

6th Jasper 71

7th Diboll HS 54

8th Northland Christian HS 21

100 M Dash

1st Nic Ray Northland Chri... 11.85

2nd KALEB SELLS Jasper 11.94

3rd Tank Johnson Livingston HS 12.08

200 M Dash

1st Justin Legg Livingston HS 23.66

2nd Nic Ray Northland Chri... 24.37

3rd Ajani Bell Tarkington 24.48

400 M Dash

1st Riley Johnson Tarkington 54.17

2nd Nick Paxon Huntington HS 55.10

3rd Elijah Mansfield Huntington HS 56.93

800 M Run

1st CONNOR MONROE Jasper 2:08.07

2nd Romero Rene Liberty HS 2:09.06

3rd Moran Matthew Liberty HS 2:14.41

1600 M Run

1st Flowers Patrick Liberty HS 4:53.86

2nd Moran Matthew Liberty HS 5:06.45

3rd Romero Rene Liberty HS 5:10.51

3200 M Run

1st Flowers Patrick Liberty HS 10:35.65

2nd Justin Hales Livingston HS 11:44.77

3rd Jason Williams Tarkington 11:45.86

110 M Hurdles

1st Ronald Washington Woodville HS 15.90

2nd Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 15.99

3rd Kevon Paire Woodville HS 16.00

300 M Hurdles

1st Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 44.30

2nd Quincy Humphries Huntington HS 46.28

3rd Tanner Johnson Tarkington 48.29

4x100 M Relay

1st Diboll HS 46.22

2nd Tarkington 46.39

3rd Woodville HS 46.88

4x200 M Relay

1st Woodville HS 1:37.44

2nd Livingston HS 1:39.01

3rd Huntington HS 1:39.22

4x400 M Relay

1st Jasper 3:45.20

2nd Tarkington 3:47.21

3rd Huntington HS 3:51.69

Long Jump

1st ron washington Woodville HS 19’-7"

2nd Ajani Bell Tarkington 19’-0 1/2"

3rd Linus Maninno Woodville HS 18’-9"

Shot Put

1st SHUNMARKUS A... Jasper 48’-7 1/2"

2nd Gums, Jeremiah Diboll HS 41’-2 1/2"

3rd Ladanian Walker Livingston HS 41’-1 1/2"

Discus

1st Gavin Edwards Tarkington 128’-2"

2nd Ladanian Walker Livingston HS 112’-1"

3rd Brynten White Livingston HS 101’-0"

Triple Jump

1st Teal, Chris Diboll HS 41’-9"

2nd Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 39’-9 1/2"

3rd Lloyd Evans Woodville HS 39’-7"

High Jump

1st Linus Maninno Woodville HS 6’-4"

2nd Brandon Lyons Livingston HS 6’-0"

3rd Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 5’-10"

Pole Vault

1st Heifner Trace Liberty HS 9’-0"

Varsity Girls Points By School

1st Woodville HS 140

2nd Livingston HS 112

3rd Liberty HS 82

4th Northland Christian HS 71

5th Tarkington 47

6th Huntington HS 42

7th Jasper 23

8th Diboll HS 10

100 M Dash

1st Knepper, Abbie Liberty HS 13.38

2nd Bolton, Helene Diboll HS 13.64

3rd Azairiah Harrell Livingston HS 13.76

200 M Dash

1st Knepper, Abbie Liberty HS 28.55

2nd Brianna Boddie Tarkington 29.26

3rd Robinson, Cherish Liberty HS 29.46

400 M Dash

1st Julia Hearn Northland Chri... 1:06.00

2nd Maddie Hearn Northland Chri... 1:08.11

3rd Brooklynn Baker Tarkington 1:12.47

800 M Run

1st Anyhia Duncan Livingston HS 2:35.49

2nd Abigail Wietstruck Northland Chri... 2:35.79

3rd Shivers, Julianne Liberty HS 2:40.33

1600 M Run

1st Abigail Wietstruck Northland Chri... 6:06.42

2nd Shivers, Julianne Liberty HS 6:16.93

3rd Trinity Polk Northland Chri... 6:22.26

3200 M Run

1st Ryleigh Stewart Woodville HS 16:05.22

2nd Ashley Davis Woodville HS 16:10.51

100 M Hurdles

1st Kaaliyah Youngblo... Livingston HS 19.54

2nd Ava Hartsell Livingston HS 20.38

3rd Mia Poncho Livingston HS 20.43

300 M Hurdles

1st J. McDougal Jasper 53.93

2nd Bree Davis Huntington HS 57.56

3rd Quiana Castle Woodville HS 1:00.38

4x100 M Relay

1st Liberty HS 52.15

2nd Livingston HS 52.78

3rd Woodville HS 54.00

4x200 M Relay

1st Woodville HS 1:57.55

2nd Livingston HS 1:57.59

3rd Liberty HS 1:58.13

4x400 M Relay

1st Woodville HS 4:51.91

2nd Livingston HS 5:01.37

3rd Huntington HS 5:11.67

Long Jump

1st Brianna Boddie Tarkington 15’-2"

2nd Brooklynn Baker Tarkington 14’-7 3/4"

3rd Azairiah Harrell Livingston HS 14’-5 1/4"

Shot Put

1st Nattali Vonessen Woodville HS 31’-8"

2nd Kamryn Grammer Woodville HS 29’-10"

3rd Jewell Capps Huntington HS 28’-9"

Discus

1st AALIYAH ROBINS... Jasper 113’-8"

2nd Meredith Langdon Northland Chri... 93’-1"

3rd Paxton Joslin Tarkington 85’-5"

Triple Jump

1st Madeline Wietstruck Northland Chri... 31’-8"

2nd Brittany Lilley Woodville HS 29’-10"

3rd Janyrah Kibble Woodville HS 29’-3"

High Jump

1st Tamara Martin Woodville HS 4’-8"

2nd Anyhia Duncan Livingston HS 4’-6"

3rd Kamryn Grammer Woodville HS 4’-6"

COURTESY PHOTO

Onalaska athlete captures multiple first-place medals at state meet

“I am still feeling fine and my legs are not sore at all,” Onalaska student-athlete Will Boyce said Friday morning. “I'm ready to run more races if I had to.”

Not exactly the answer you’d expect from someone who competed over three and half miles the day before, but then, Boyce isn’t your average athlete. He had one of the better showings in Texas history Thursday at the 2021 UIL State Track Meet, collecting titles in the 3200-meter run, 1600-meter run and 800-meter run.

The 3200-meter run (two miles) occurred at 9:15 a.m., the 800 meters took place at 5:20 p.m. and the mile was a short time later at 7:50 p.m. in Austin’s Mike A. Myers Stadium.

Boyce said the accomplishment hasn't really sunk in, but he has watched videos of the races and heard several people tell him he pulled off a feat never done before. Runners were not allowed to compete in more than two distance events before 2016. Obtaining gold in all three events is believed to be a first.

“That mile (final race) was pretty tough on my legs,” Boyce said. “Coming off of that 800 was not fun, but trying to hold out to win all three of those races with a whole day’s worth of running — first of all, is unheard of and it is really hard to pull off, but I guess I had enough energy left in me.

“I wish it was set up to where it was a two-day event to have more time to recover. I feel like, since it was so spread apart, that I was able to produce good times. It was definitely helpful. There wasn't much time to recover from that 800 race. If I'm being honest, me and my coaches and teammates went back to our car and ran the (air conditioner) and I laid out in the back. I just kind of rehydrated and refocused myself to finish that mile.”

Though the school had just one representative qualifying for the state meet, Boyce scored enough points (30) for Onalaska to register a team finish of second place. He finished just 15 points off from team champion Brock.

After crossing the finish line in the final race, he said there were many emotions.

“This whole year, I've been pretty much preparing to try to Triple Crown at the state track meet. I've been working so hard throughout the year, and to have everyone there that supported me throughout my life, they helped me push toward that goal that day. I felt like I could accomplish it coming into it, but upon accomplishing it, it just blew my mind that I was able to do it. To describe the feeling is something that I can't say with words. It is pretty crazy.”

COURTESY PHOTO

All races had their own challenges, the Onalaska star said there was point in each where he felt confident in victory.

“The mile, definitely I felt like I could win after that first lap (of four),” Boyce said. “We ran really slow on that first lap and coming off of that 800, I knew if we ran slow in the first lap, I would have been set up for a good sprint finish at the end. I knew I could beat everyone in a sprint finish, because I had the fastest 800 time going into the state meet. I was pretty confident at that point. In the 800, it was just teeth gritting and putting my head down and running fast. The two miles (3200 meters) was easy.”

Both of Boyce’s parents attended Sam Houston State University and he will do the same to run for the Bearkats. He said the goal is to win as many championships as possible while in Huntsville.

“Sam Houston has a really good program for people who want to be teachers. That's where I want to go and what I want to do in life, so I figured Sam would offer me the best education. It is also close to home and I'm more familiar with that area.”

So, where do you go in the state’s capitol city to enjoy such an accomplishment?

“The celebration (Thursday) night was kind of put to a halt. We couldn't find anywhere really to eat. We had to go to a Whataburger, but lots of Dr. Pepper was drank and lots of hugs and tears were shared. Today (Friday), we are going to go eat somewhere nice, I'll tell you that much.”

Team standings (top 10) — 1. Brock, 45; 2. Onalaska, 30; 3. (tie) Dallas Life Oak Cliff, 22; Riesel, 22; 5. (tie) SA Great Hearts Northern Oaks, 20; Mineola, 20; Daingerfield, 20; 8. (tie) Whitney, 18; Franklin, 18; Spearman, 18; Little River Academy, 18

3,200 meters — 1. Will Boyce, Onalaska, 9:27.31; 2. Marco Rey, Presidio, 9:32.30; 3. Wyatt Hoover, Poth, 9:34.78; 4. Angel Torres, Tornillo, 9:40.54; 5. Crawford Kiser, Amarillo River Road, 9:41.93; 6. Logan Courtney, Lorena, 9:54.74; 7. Jacob Bustamante, Bishop, 9:54.75; 8. Hayden Moussa, Ponder, 9:59.18; 9. David Magdaleno, Waskom, 10:16.18

800 — 1. Will Boyce, Onalaska, 1:54.71; 2. Chris Saling, Tuscola Jim Ned, 1:56.48; 3. Obi Landeros, Valley View, 1:58.16; 4. Reese Lara, Santa Rosa, 1:59.01; 5. Ryan Butters, McGregor, 2:00.08; 6. Hayden Montgomery, Tulia, 2:00.28; 7. Rodolfo Sandoval, Progreso, 2:03.24; 8. Devin Ferris, Valley View, 2:03.90; 9. Tate Hughes, Wall, 2:08.06

1,600 — 1. Will Boyce, Onalaska, 4:26.37; 2. Marco Rey, Presidio, 4:27.56; 3. Wyatt T. Hoover, Poth, 4:27.94; 4. Angel Torres, Tornillo, 4:30.52; 5. JoseCarlos Hernandez, Lytle, 4:31.47; 6. Travis Sims, Elysian Fields, 4:35.07; 7. Logan Courtney, Lorena, 4:35.77; 8. Noah Richardson, 4:37.01; 9. Hayden Moussa, Ponder, 4:45.05

LARRY LAMB | HCC Groveton’s Haden Lee competes in the 800-meter run at the District 20-2A Track Meet in Centerville.

CENTERVILLE — The Groveton Indians pulled off a second-place finish at the District 20-2A track meet, even though the competition required an extra day to complete due to inclement weather.

Groveton tallied 135.5 points, just behind the Centerville Tigers, who racked up 181 points to claim the title. The Lovelady Lions were hot on the Indians’ heels with 134 points, followed by Grapeland (66), Jewett Leon (46.5), Latexo (30) and Slocum (0.

Field events, running prelims and 3200-meter races took place April 5 at Tiger Stadium. Athletes returned Thursday for the running finals, but just over an hour into the session threatening weather prompted meet officials to call a 30-minute lightning delay. Subsequent threatening weather in the area forced the delay to be extended and eventually the remaining six events were postponed until Friday morning.

District 20-2A Track Meet

April 5-9

Varsity Boys

Team Standings: 1, Centerville 181. 2, Groveton, 135.5. 3, Lovelady, 134. 4, Grapeland 66. 5, Jewett Leon 46.5. 6, Latexo 30. 7. Slocum 0.

100 dash

Fifth, Phoenix Bowman, Groveton, 11.57.

400 dash

Fifth, James Williams, Groveton, 56.68.6, Halston French, Centerville, 56.75.

1600 run

Second, Jarrett Loftin, Groveton, 5:21.59; sixth, Caden Alexander, Groveton, 5:26.56.

3200 run

Second, Jarrett Loftin, Groveton, 11:52; fifth, Caden Alexander, Groveton, 12:07.

110 hurdles

Fourth, King Jones, Groveton, 18.56; fifth, Ian Utz, Groveton, 19.18.

300 hurdles

Fourth, King Jones, Groveton, 45.37. 5, Tuff Reynolds, Groveton, 46.34.

4x100 relay

Third, Groveton (Phoenix Bowman, Byron Thomas, David Ayala, Malachi Stewart), 45.31. 4.

4x200 relay

Second, Groveton (Navid Pat, Bryon Thomas, David Ayala, Malachi Stewart), 1:36.88.

4x400 relay

Third, Groveton (David Ayala, Navid Pat, Chase Blair, Haden Lee), 3:47.52.

Long Jump

Sixth, James Williams, Groveton, 17-9 ¾.

Shot put

First, Tyler Allen, Groveton, 40-2.

Discus

Third, Tyler Allen, Groveton, 99-10 ½.

Triple jump

Third, Chase Blair, Groveton, 37-2 ½; fourth, Navid Pat, Groveton, 37-1; fifth, James Williams, Groveton, 36-11 ½.

High jump

Fourth, Malachi Stewart, Groveton, 5-8; fifth, Chase Vycital, Groveton, 5-6.

Pole vault

Second, Dalton Chandler, Groveton, 10-0; third, Haden Lee, Groveton, 9-0.

JASON CHLAPEK I TCNS Trinity athlete Shelby Walters clears her height during the Districts 23/24-3A Area Meet on April 12 in Coldspring. Walters won the event with a vault of 9 feet.

COLDSPRING — April 12 was a banner day for Trinity athletes Shania English and Shelby Walters.

English was part of a trio of fourth-place finishes and Walters won her event at the Districts 23/24-3A Area Meet last week in Coldspring. The top four finishers in each event qualified for the Region III-Class 3A Meet Friday and Saturday at Midway High School in Waco.

English finished fourth in the girls high jump (4 feet, 10 inches), 400-meter run (1:06.38), and ran a leg on the fourth-place 400-meter relay team (53.60). Joining English on the 400 relay were Yasmin Moore, Anaya Weathersby and MyOna Wilson.

Walters won the pole vault with a vault of 9 feet. She didn’t start vaulting until the height reached 7 feet, and Walters cleared the height with ease to clinch the area title in the event.

The second-place finisher in the girls pole vault cleared 6-6, but failed to clear 7 feet. The top two finishers and top third-place finish statewide in each event at the region meet qualify for the state track and field meet May 6-8 in Austin.

COURTESY PHOTO Troy Fortenberry clears the bar on his leap during the Region 3 3A Track Meet in Waco on Saturday. Troy heads next to the state meet next week.

SJNT staff

WACO — Coldspring-Oakhurst Trojan Troy Fortenberry will represent the district in the state track meet next week.

Fortenberry placed second in the pole vault with a leap of 12’6 at the Region 3 3A meet, held Friday and Saturday at Midway High School in Waco.

Region 3 Track Meet

Boys Results

400 meters

Curtis Parker, third, 50.95 finals (50.34 prelims)

300-meter hurdles

Troy Fortenberry, 16th, 48.40 (prelims)

4x400 relay

Jared Curry, Reagan Roberts, Gavin Trejo, Curtis Parker, sixth, 3:30.37 (fourth, 3.31.77 prelims)

Shot put

Dante Eldridge, sixth, 44’ 2.75

Pole Vault

Troy Fortenberry, second, 12’ 6.

Carter Currie, eighth, 11’

Girls

100 meters

Miya Ellis, 14th, 13.22 (prelims)

Shot put

Shanaya Gilbert, third, 35’ 8.25

Alexis Moore, 11th, 30’ 5

High jump

Amanda Ready, fourth, 5’ 2

Triple jump

Alexis Chandler, seventh, 33’ 9.75

COURTESY PHOTO Troy Fortenberry accepting award from Rep. Ernest Bailes

Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD Trojan Troy Fortenberry receives a recognition from the State Legislature, presented by Rep. Ernest Bailes, noting his participation in the State Track Tournament, held May 6-8 in Austin. Fortenberry, the lone high-school student participating from San Jacinto County, placed ninth in the Pole Vault with a leap of 12 feet 6 inches.