Like everyone else in the state last year Ballinger felt the pains of having their track season halted so early due to Covid. Luckily many of the competitors had one more year to come back and try to accomplish their goals of being state champions. Ballinger took 15 total athletes to the Regional Track meet to represent the athletic program and these athletes did not disappoint. The boys even managed to finish 2nd overall as a team out of 40 participating teams.
JoeMarcus Guerrero made it to the finals of the 400M dash, but came up just short of state qualifying in 4th place overall. Weston Rollwitz found himself in the same position in the 110M hurdles coming in 3rd place in the finals. Dylan Hostetter was one spot away from qualifying for the finals as he came in 9th in the prelims. Weston was able to snatch victory in the 300M hurdles as he topped Brocks Jake Lindberg with a new PR in maybe his most important race thus far. Weston’s new time of 39.46 seconds puts him 2nd in the state of Texas in 3A track. The State Meet 300M hurdle race looks to be a great competition as ranks 1-4 are seperated by just .32 seconds
For excitement purposes look no further than the 4x400M relay team. As the event that that Ballinger has dominated in district recently the Bearcats are looking to add to the trophy room with the event this season. The team of Gavin Martinez, Landen Landers, Weston Rollwitz and JoeMarcus Guerrero set a new season record to take first place in the finals of the Regional Meet. Going into the State Meet the Bearcats are just behind Mineola and ranked 2nd. This looks to be another nail-biter finish as ranks 1-5 are separated by less than 1 second.
Garrett Dixon will also be headed to State in the discus after finishing second. He and Wall’s Tate Williams have pushed each other all season long and both will be headed to State each with a good chance to medal.
Danielle Pena finished 4th in the finals of the 400M dash and despite setting a new PR it was not enough to move her on to state. Addison Martin also set a new PR and finished 4th in the 800M dash. A sophomore look for Addison to come back strong again next season. Chelsea Martinez had a new season record in the discus, but against fierce competition she was not able to advance, placing 8th. Sophomore Jillian Halfmann finished 8th in the pole vault, but with two more years look for her to continue to improve. Also impressive for Ballinger are two Freshman competing at Regionals. Annabelle Reed was 3rd in the Triple Jump and currently has the 8th best distance in the State even though she will not be advancing, this is highly impressive. Kendall Smith also will have three more years to improve on her performance and attempt to make the State Meet.
Congratulations to all the competitors and good luck to those moving on!
