Track finds success in young athletes at area meet

The+Coppell+girls+and+boys+track+teams+finished+first+and+second+in+the+area+track+meet+at+Garland+High+School+on+Thursday.+In+total%2C+the+team+will+send+26+different+athletes+to+the+Class+6A+Region+II+meet+next+weekend+in+Waco.+

Marcus Krum

The Coppell girls and boys track teams finished first and second in the area track meet at Garland High School on Thursday. In total, the team will send 26 different athletes to the Class 6A Region II meet next weekend in Waco.

Marcus Krum, Executive Sports Editor

GARLAND — As a freshman participating in her first area track meet, Lauren Kellett could have let the pressure get to her. The moment could have been too young for the young athlete.

 

Yet, she did not let this happen.

 

Placing fourth in the triple jump and second in the long jump, Kellett helped lead the Coppell track team to a first place finish on the girls side and second for the boys in the area meet at Garland on Thursday evening, moving a plethora of athletes on to the Class 6A Region II Meet in Waco next weekend.

 

“I can keep my cool pretty well, I’ve been in pressure situations a lot,” Kellett said. “[Moving to the region meet] was kind of surprising, not going to lie, but it was exciting. It was a good experience for my first area meet.”

 

Starting off well in the field was huge for the Cowgirls, as they were able to grab the majority of their points in the early events, gaining a points lead they would hold onto for the remainder of the meet. With another clean sweep of pole vault and three girls who placed in shot put, the girls took 60 points into the afternoon’s events on the track.

 

“As you look at a whole team, if we’re scoring more points in the field events, that allows us an opportunity to be in a position where we can win the meet,” Coppell coach Karl Pointer said. “If we can have a well-rounded team, rather than a team that can only focus on relays or something like that, then that just makes us better all the way around.”

 

The boys, while they only had two regional qualifiers from field events in junior Gabe Lemons’s third place finish in triple jump and senior Trever Larson’s win in pole vault, headed into the afternoon with confidence abound. The group proved why they were District 9-6A champions, as the Cowboys placed in every track event except the 200m dash.

 

In addition to Kellett’s dominance in the field, Coppell had numerous young athletes participating in their first area meet who put in stellar performances. The team will send 10 underclassmen to the Region II meet in individual events.

 

“Both boys and girls performed really well,” Pointer said. “We’ve got some great senior leadership, but we’ve also got a great nucleus of young kids that are buying into what we’re asking them.”

 

Below is a full list of results from Coppell athletes who placed. Each athlete in the top four will move on to the region meet.

 

Girls – first place

 

Discus

Chidera Nwaiwu (12) third; 95-01

Claire Barden (12) fourth; 93-09

 

High Jump

Rachel Okereke (11) sixth; 4-10.00

 

Long Jump

Lauren Kellett (9) second; 16-10.50

Rachel Okereke (11) fifth; 15-09.00

 

Pole Vault

Rebecca Fuselier (11) first; 11-06.00

Emily Pridgen (12) second; 10-06.00

Lauren Stukey (10) third; 9-06.00

 

Shot Put

Claire Barden (12) first; 36-11.50

Nicole Obialo (9) second; 34-09.00

Pierce Woodall (10) sixth; 32-02.50

 

Triple Jump

Lauren Kellett (9) fourth; 36-04.50

 

3200m run

Madeline Hulcy (10) third; 11:28.88

Isabella Iseley (9) fourth; 11:31.39

Shelby Spoor (9) fifth; 11:54.61

 

800m run

Ashley Scrivner (12) third; 2:25.39

Alexandra Saunders (11) fourth; 2:26.92

 

100m Hurdles

Rebecca Copple (11) fifth; 16.08

 

100m dash

Rachel Okereke (11) sixth; 12.68

 

4x200m relay

Amarachi Osuji (10), Lauren Kellett (9), Lauren Cunningham (12), Rebecca Copple (11) fifth; 1:43.56

 

400m dash

Kaitlyn Hernandez (11) sixth; 59.93

 

1600m run

Madeline Hulcy (10) third; 5:20.30

Isabella Isley (9) fifth; 5:29.74

 

4x400m relay

Lauren Cunningham (12), Sikyra Castle (9), Alicia Nash (10), Kaitlyn Hernandez (11) fourth; 3:58.46

 

Boys – second place

 

Discus

Jay Dempsey (10) fifth; 137-11

 

Long Jump

Matthew Dicken (11) sixth; 21-06.50

 

Pole Vault

Trever Larson (12) first; 15-00.00

 

Triple Jump

Gabe Lemons (11) third; 44-07.50

Matthew Dicken (11) fifth; 43-03:00

 

3200m run

Nathan Sims (12) fourth; 10:05.69

 

4x100m relay

Josh Freeman (12), Gabe Lemons (11), Matt Dorrity (12), Timmie Heard (12) fourth; 42.24

 

800m run

Alan Huo (12) second; 1:59.17

Andres Abrego Guerra (12) fifth; 2:05.00

 

110m hurdles

Phillip Frank (11) third; 14.91

Carson Reynolds (12) fourth; 15.03

 

100m dash

Timmie Heard (12) sixth; 11.06

 

4x200m relay

Christian Leffingwell (10), Gabe Lemons (11), Matt Dorrity (12), Josh Freeman (12) third; 1:28.95

 

400m run

Zach Dicken (12) first; 48.20

 

300m hurdles

Carson Reynolds (12) fifth; 40.52

 

1600m run

Nathan Sims (12) fifth; 4:47.80

 

4x400m run

Matt Dorrity (12), Christian Leffingwell (10), Gabe Lemons (11), Zach Dicken (12) fourth; 3:21.79