Track performs strong at WT Classic
By Melissa McCaghren
Slatonite GM
The Slaton Tiger and Tigerette track teams competed in the West Texas A&M High School Classic Saturday (Feb. 29) at West Texas A&M University in Canyon.
There were many big schools at the event.
Boys meet
Tiger Head Coach Jacob Dangerfield said the team did well overall. “We ran in a very tough meet on Saturday at West Texas A&M (with) lots of big schools,” he said.
Placing in the meet were:
• Zephron Ortiz, finishing sixth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.75 seconds.
• Kevondrick Gober, placing sixth in long jump with a distance of 20 feet, 5 inches.
• The 800 meter relay of Josh Chavarin, Damion Tagle, Elijah Williams, Zephron Ortiz placed fifth with a time of 1:33.87.
• Quevon McDaniel placed first in the Triple Jump with a distance of 42 feet, 4 inches.
Girls meet
Head Coach Rustin Klafka said girls had competed recently in the Don Black Relays hosted by Frenship High School. The team is still getting their feet on the ground, between a late start for basketball and other sports.
“There are a handful of girls that are both varsity track and varsity softball. Softball was gone to San Angelo for a tournament so we decided to take who was here to run individual events,” he said. “I wanted the girls to get back into competition mode. We can have hard practices but the one thing we cannot simulate is the level you have to run at a meet, so I was fortunate that Coach (Stefani) Shortes at FHS let us join last week.
“Our goal this year is to be pushed by the best teams in the Region so we want to go to big school meets.”
He was overall pleased with the results of the meet, as many of the runners did better than last season.
“Standouts this week were Alice Cogburn, Mary Jo Parker, Xazari Naylor and Ta’kaja Robinson,” he said,
Cogburn ran the 3200 meter run with a time of 13:05, which Klafka said is five seconds off her best time from Regional last season.
Parker ran the 800 meter dash in a time of 2:39. “(That) is great for being two weeks out of basketball season,” said Klafka.
Naylor and Robinson both set personal records in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes.
Naylor ran the 100m in 12.28 second place and the 200m in 25.30 for fourth place.
Robinson ran the 100m in 12.05 for first place and 200m in 24.38 for first. She also won first in the long jump and third in the triple jump.
The teams will compete in the Abilene Christian University meet, which began today (March 5).
