Track and Field

Bearcats run regular-season win streak to nine

Posted Wednesday, March 8, 2023 7:28 am

Aledo athletes among state leaders

Entering their own meet at press time, several members of the Aledo Ladycats and Bearcats are among the state’s leaders in their respective track events, including two who lead all competitors in Class 5A.

Pole vaulters Sean Gribble and Taylor Hindman top their events in Class 5A, with Gribble having cleared 16 feet and Hindman having gone more than 12 feet, 1 inch. Gribble is second among all classifications.

Also in 5A pole vaulting, Brad Campbell’s clearance of 14-06 has him tied for fourth in the state and Braylon Campbell is tied for eighth at 13 feet. Among the girls, Maggie Kilburn has vaulted 10-06 and is tied for ninth in 5A.

Thrower Lauren St. Peters is among the top five in two events. She is fourth in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 10.75 inches and is fifth in the discus with a 134-06 toss.

Teammates Sofia Brandenburg and Sarah Tillotson are eighth and ninth in Class 5A in the 800-meter run with times of 2:18.22 and 2:18.83, respectively.

- Rick Mauch

By Rick Mauch
The Community News

It was close, but the streak continues.

The Aledo Bearcats have won 10 consecutive regular-season track meets following their championship in the Northwest Texan Invitational on March 3 in Justin. The last time the Bearcats did not win a regular-season meet was in 2021 at the Decatur Fit N’ Wise Invitational.

Aledo scored 113 points at Northwest to edge District 5-5A rival Denton Ryan.

“Varsity ran great in what will be our toughest invitational meet of the year,” first-year Bearcats coach Andrew Clark said. “We were injured and missing some key pieces to the relays, and we still ran good enough to win the varsity division.

“Obviously, times were slower without our fastest athlete (Hauss Hejny) on the track and our second fastest athlete (Jaden Allen) limited, but the guys competed well enough in the field events and the other running events to outpoint Denton Ryan.”

Hejny and Allen have been battling some tightness, Clark said.

The Bearcats were down by 12 points to Ryan going into the 1600-meter relay and the quartet of Nathan Wood, Blake Burdine, Christopher Johnson, and Aven Lawrence ran the team’s fastest time of the year in the event, a 3:26.87.

“Again, without our fastest athlete,” Clark said.

The Bearcats won the meet despite winning just one gold medal. Sean Gribble cleared a career-high 16 feet to win the pole vault.

The Bearcats also won six silver medals and four bronze medals.

In addition, Aledo had two competitors place fourth, one place fifth and four place sixth to score points.

Along with besting Ryan, Aledo topped another District 5-5A foe as Northwest placed fourth with 68 points.

The Bearcats were scheduled to compete in their own Bearcat Relays at press time.

“I'm hoping our times come down even more this week as we hope to win both divisions at our home meet,” Clark said.

Northwest Texan Invitational

Boys varsity

Team score: 113, first place (Denton Ryan second with 109).

Top individual results (distances in meters)

400: 2. Nathan Wood, 52.68.
800: 2. Vincent Luffey, 1:59.21 (PR).
1600: 3. Luffey, 4:26.61 (PR).
3200: 3. Henry Zedler, 10:14.91.
110 hurdles: 2. Evan Thompson, 15.37.
300 hurdles: 3. Thompson, 42.77.
400 relay: 2. Caden Hix, Keiran Patrick-Daniels, Jaden Allen, Aven Lawrence, 42.80.
1600 relay: 2. Wood, Blake Burdine, Christopher Johnson, Lawrence, 3:26.87.
High jump: 2. Lawrence, 6-02 (PR).
Pole vault: 1. Sean Gribble, 16-00 (PR); 3. Brad Campbell, 14-06.