Ballinger Track and Field has been rolling along through the season taking top finishes at every meet they have been at. Against stiff competition Bearcat athletes continue to stand out and the March 18 meet in Jim Ned was no different.
On JV boys there were several standout performances. In the 100M dash Payton Harris was 5th. Trent Helms was 7th in the 400m dash and 5th in the 800M dash with Evan Busenlehner finsihing . A tough 800M run resulted in a 5th place finish for Evan right behind in 6th. Evan also ran the 1600, finishing 4th. Monty McKinnon took 3rd in the 110M hurdles. The 4×100 of Hayden Foster, Jeremiah Bullingor, Nathan Rivera-McDuffee and Johnny Wheeler finished in 3rd place this week. The 4×200 team of Payton Harris, Jeremiah Bullingor, Nathan Rivera-McDuffee and Johnny Wheeler came in 2nd as did the 4×400 team of Hayden Foster, Jeremiah Bullingor, Payton Harris and Johnny Wheeler. Robert Roman took 3rd in the shot put and 2nd in the discus. Nathan Rivera-McDuffee was 2nd in the pole vault with Owen Duke in 3rd. Miguel Rangel was 7th in the long jump
The Junior Varsity Girls team continued a very strong season with another six 1st place finishes. Christy Zhuang was 3rd and Kira Garcia 4th in the 100M dash. The 200M dash had Mikaela Gonzalez finish in 1st and Abby Herrera in 3rd. Stephanie Rangel would finish in 2nd place in the 400M dash. Emma Rutledge was 3rd, Piper McBrayer was 4th and Caysen Collier was 5th in the 100M hurdle and in the 300M hurdle Megan Booher was 1st. Finishing first in the 4×100 relay was Piper McBrayer, Kira Garcia, Emma Rutledge and Abby Herrera. The 4×200 relay was a 2nd place finish with Mikaela Gonzalez, Kira Garcia, Megan Booher and Christy Zhuang while the 4×400 relay was another victory as Stephanie Rangel, Christy Zhuang, Megan Booher and Mikaela Gonzelez took 1st. In the field events Jasmine Patino was 5th in the shot put and 2nd in the discus. Christy Zhuang was 1st in the high jump and the long jump. In the triple jump Meghan Booher took another 1st place win for the LadyCats.
The LadyCats Varsity had a very productive day with some standout performances. Alyssa Aguero was 6th in the 100M dash. Danielle Pena took 3rd in the 200M dash and 2nd in the 400M dash. Kendall Smith continued a dominating season in the distance runs with another 1st in the 3200 M and 2nd in the 1600M. Addison Martin competed in the 300M hurdle and finished 3rd. The 4×200 team of Alyssa Aguero, Grace Hoelscher, Jillian Halfmann and Annabelle Reed was 2nd as was the 4×400 team of Danielle Pena, Jillian Halfmann, Grace Hoelscher and Addison Martin. Chelsea Martinez has not looked back this year putting yet another 1st place victory on her resume in the discus. Alexia Villareal took 3rd in the shot put. Emma Harrison, Jessa Mcintyre and Jillian Halfmann took 3rd, 4th and 5th in the pole vault. Annabelle Reed took 3rd in both the high jump and the long jump.
The Ballinger Bearcats Varsity looked strong with five 1st place finishes of their own. In the 400M dash Landen Landers was 2nd. Also in 2nd in the 1600 M was Javion Zavala. The 100M hurdle was Dylan Hostetter with a 1st place finish. While in the 300M hurdle was Weston Rollwitz in 1st with Carter Arrott 4th and Dylan Hostetter 5th. The 4×100 relay of Gavin Martinez, Luke Rollwitz, Carter Arrott and Garrett Dixon was 2nd. While in the 4x400M relay the team of Gavin Martinez, Carter Arrott, Landen Landers and Weston Rollwitz were 1st. Garrett Dixon took 4th in the shot put and 1st in the discus with a new PR of 153’9″ as he and Wall’s Tate Williams have been pushing each other all season as both currently rank in the top 10 in 3A discus. Briley Clinton and Javion Zavala went 1 and 2 in the pole vault and Landen Landers took 2nd in the high jump and 3rd in the long jump.
Congratulations to all Ballinger athletes that competed. Ballinger has one more season meet in Wall on March 25th and the District meet will be split up into JV and Varsity days. The JV District track meet is scheduled for March 29th and Varsity District Meet is scheduled for April 1st.
