Trailing by 7 points going into the final event of Thursday’s District 7-3A Track & Field Meet in Iowa Park, the Vernon Lions rallied to grab the Boys Division district title by winning the last event of the night -- the mile relay. The Lady Lions finished second in the Girls Division.
Heading into the boys’ mile relay, City View had 116 points, while Vernon had 109 points. The Lions’ mile relay team of Ty Scott, Kameron Plyler, Julius Dawkins and Jackson Aydelott blistered the competition, with their winning time of 3-minutes, 26.93-seconds being five seconds faster than second place. Vernon earned 20 points for first place, while City View finished fourth and earned 8 points. That gave the Lions 129 points, while City View had 124 points, Holliday had 108 points, followed by Jacksboro 70 points, Henrietta 65 points, Iowa Park 64 points and Bowie 59 points.
The Lions also won the 800-meter relay, with the quartet of Plyler, Case Fleming, Jerick Weaver and Dawkins hitting the tape with a time of 1-minute, 29.67-seconds. The team of Fleming, Plyler, Weaver and Ty Scott finished third in the 400-meter relay with a time of 43.56 seconds. All three relays qualified for the Area Track & Field Meet, as the top four finishers in each event advance.
Four Lions qualified for the Area Meet in individual track events. Aydelott won both the 400-meter and 200-meter dashes. His time of 21.74 seconds in the 200-meter dash was a personal best and is in the Top 50 in Class 3A in the state. His time in the 400-meter dash was 49.31.
Fleming was second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.03 seconds, while Jevon Fanner took fourth in the 400-meter dash and Weaver was fourth in the 200-meter dash.
T.J. Thomas was fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles, while Curtis Johnson was sixth in the 100-meter dash and Mason Ballard was sixth in the 300-meter hurdles.
In the Girls’ Division, Vernon was leading after the field events were completed on Monday, but Holliday stormed back on the track to run away with first place. The Lady Eagles had 191 points, while the Lady Lions finished with 108 just edging Jacksboro for second place. The Lady Tigers had 103 points and were followed by Henrietta with 92 points, Bowie with 53 points, Iowa Park with 41 and City View with 25.
Two Lady Lion relays and three individuals will move on to the Area Meet in track events. The Lady Lions 800-meter relay team of Ka’Liyha Fanner, Klancy Sherrill, Zayleigh Sweet and Key’Maria McBride grabbed gold with a time of 1-minute, 47.70-seconds. Vernon’s 1600-meter relay team of Emily Rodriguez, Brooklyn Harjo, Jasana Goodrum and Juanita Salazar finished fourth with a time of 4-minutes, 37.88-seconds.
Sherrill won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.50 seconds, which is a personal best, and she was third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.70 seconds. Sweet finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.05-seconds, and McBride was fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.81-seconds.
The Lady Lion sprint relay finished sixth, and Sweet also finished sixth in the 300-meter hurdles.
The Area Track & Field Meet, which will have athletes from schools in District 7-3A and 8-3A competing against other for spots in the Class 3A Region 1 Meet, will be held Thursday, April 20, in Jacksboro.