by MARK CAUL
Lehman’s Anthony Bradshaw is seen here finishing fourth in the long jump at the district meet. The Lobos will be well represented at the regional meet May 3-4 in Huntsville. (Photo by Nathan Crippen)
The Lehman Lobos boys track team found themselves in unchartered waters as the district meet came to a conclusion over the weekend.
Not only were they in the mix for a couple of individual titles but with only a few events to go they were also in the conversation for the team title.
When the dust settled, the Lehman boys were able to boast several regional qualifiers even though they came up a bit short in trying to secure the district team championship.
Two members of the Lehman boys squad were able to secure individual titles despite the rainy conditions in Elgin, posting personal bests in the process.
Junior Justin Torres won the 300-meter hurdles with a school record time of 39.51 seconds and sophomore Jaylon Hardaway took the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.07 after posting a 50.99 in the prelims.
Torres and Hardaway are also regional qualifiers as a part of the mile and 800-meter relay teams.
Torres is looking forward to competing at regional in a few weeks and hopes to improve upon his times at the district meet.
“I’ve been working hard all season to get to where I’m at,” Torres said. “It would be huge for myself and my team to do well at regionals and have a chance to make the state meet.”
Joining them in Huntsville at the regional meet May 3-4 will be Darius Jones (2nd in Mile Relay and 3rd in the 800 Meter Relay), Ethan Martin (who finished 2nd in the Mile Relay and 3rd in the 800 Meter Relay), Andrew Longworth (who was third in the 300 meter hurdles), Ramon Martinez (who placed 3rd in the 3200m run in a school-record time of 10:02) and senior Anthony Bradshaw (who was third in the high jump, and will be the alternate in the long jump after posting a school record of 21’10”).
“Our guys went out there and represented Lehman very well,” Lehman boys head coach Michael Laney said. “The weather conditions weren’t great but we were still able to get some good performances. We’re looking forward to competing at regionals.”
Elgin claimed the boys team title with 114 points followed by Manor (99) and Del Valle (92).
Lehman can also boast a district champion on the girls side as Jessica Castro finished first in the 3200-meter run.
The Lady Lobos mile relay team (Kerry Robinson, Cydney Ervin, Michelle Hernandez and Stephanie Favela) finished second behind Manor to qualify for the regional meet while the 4 X 200 meter relay team (Robinson, Ervin, Hernandez and Monique Johnson) finished just ahead of Lockhart and will also compete at the regional meet.
Other regional qualifiers on the girls side include senior BriAnna Garza, who finished second in the discus throw and senior Ashley Morgan, who was third in the 3200-meter run.
The girls team title went to Manor with 151 points followed by Elgin (120) and Hays (90).