LUBBOCK – The Brownwood Lady Lions track and field program continued its trend of encore performances Saturday as, after claiming district and area titles for the third year in row, Lowrey Field was the site of a Region I-4A championship repeat for head coach Chelsy Lipsey’s squad.
The Lady Lions generated 107 points – 31 points more than runner-up Canyon (76) – and five entrants qualified for the UIL Class 4A Track and Field State Championships at Myers Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin on Thursday, May 14. Brownwood will also be attempting to defend the 4A girls state championship as well.
Moving on to state as regional champions are both the 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams.
The 4×100 saw the return of Icess Hall, who has been out since the prelims of the District 6-4A meet with a hamstring injury. The foursome of Hall, Kaya Phillips, Jade Morin and Aniah Hines – the reigning Class 4A state champions in the event – posted one of their best times of the season at 47.34 to slip past runner-up Canyon West Plains (47.68).
In the 4×200, Lipsey stuck with the Lady Lions foursome that placed second in the prelims Friday, but shaved almost two seconds off a 1:42.53 qualifying effort as Morin, Eboni Baker, Hines and Phillips clocked a time of 1:40.79 to outdistance runner-up Greenwood (1:41.81) by more than a second.
Phillips, the reigning state champion in the 200 meters, also posted the second-best prelim time in her event with a 24.34 Friday. But with a gold medal on the line Saturday, Phillips churned out a time of 23.99 to clear runner-up Adalia McNeal of Lubbock Estacado (24.57) by more than half a second.
Securing their spots in Austin with second-place regional efforts were Hannah Deen – no stranger to the state meet as she will make her third appearance in four years – while Grace Sparks is the youngest Lady Lion to advance, only a sophomore.
Deen and Andree Baer of Greenwood both high jumped 5 feet, 5 inches, but the Brownwood senior missed on only three tries compared to five for Bear to get the runner-up nod. Decatur’s Ava Green won the regional title by clearing 5-6.
Sparks later punched her ticket by clearing 12 feet even in the pole vault, which trailed only the 12-6 by Brock’s Ava Tucker.
The Lady Lions came painfully close to advancing to Austin in a handful of additional events as Deen placed third in the long jump (17-6.5), as did Nylah Hall in the triple jump (37-0.75), Kaydence Allen in the shot put (39-5) – with a new personal best effort – and Rebekkah Delgado in the 800 meters (2:17.98) by 2 hundredths of a second.
Only the top two finishers at the regional meet are guaranteed state berths, while the best third-place effort among all four regions moves on as the wild card. According to Lipsey, however, the Lady Lions bronze medalists are all on the outside looking in when it comes to a trip to Austin.
Also contributing points to the Lady Lions’ regional championship total were the fourth-place 4×400 relay of Sparks, Delgado, Jentry Coalson and Morin (3:59.16); Phillips was also fourth in the long jump (17-5.25); Sparks came in fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.12); and Deen turned in a sixth-place effort in the 300-meter hurdles (46.54).
Other competitors for the Lady Lions Saturday were Deen in the triple jump (9th, 34-10.5) and Trinity Roberts in the discus (10th, 95-6).
Blayne Stegemoller was the only Lion to make the weekend trip, as he placed 10th in the discus with a best effort of 131-9.
