All three local schools earned track and field district championship titles last week. There may be perhaps no better gauge to the health of an athletic department than sustained superior performance in track and field.   

The Alba-Golden boys and Mineola boys squads claimed first place finishes at their respective district meets in Cooper and Winnsboro. The Quitman Lady Bulldogs also garnered a district title.

For the Panthers it was a decisive victory. The team recorded an 82-point winning margin over second-place Cooper. Eight-two point margins are seldom seen in the sport, as they communicate dominance throughout the events. 

The Alba-Golden boys combined five first-place finishes in individual events with point contributions from 17 athletes throughout the meet to secure the District 15-2A title.

Jake Hallman brought home gold in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.62. Otis Lee and Micah Smith won their respective distance races, with Lee taking the 800 meters in 2:19.19 and Smith winning the 3,200 with an 11:54.83. Thai Peterson out-leapt the competition to win the triple jump, flying 41’ 7 1/2”.  Alba-Golden swept the pole vault and Luke Morrison won the event with a vault of 11.’

Quitman’s athletic phenom Brooklyn Marcee took home three gold medals to boost the Lady Bulldogs to a district title. Marcee won the 100-meter hurdles (15.90), the long jump (17’12/4”) and the pole vault (12’).

The Lady Bulldogs’ performance was far from a one-person show. The team tallied eight second and third place finishes to build the winning point total. Thirteen Lady Bulldogs contributed points. 

Also making their mark in Winnsboro last week were the defending boys track and field champions from District 13-3A, the Mineola Yellowjackets. 

The Jackets were buoyed by seven individual event first-place finishes: Jamarcus Kennedy (200 meters - 22.37). Andres Granocchia (800 meters - 2:00.00), J.J. Gandy (300-meter hurdles - 39.84), Dawson Pendergrass (long jump  - 21’61/2”), D.J. Newsome (shot put - 43’1”), Stephen Ogueri (discus - 132”), and Adam Blalock (pole vault - 13’).

The Jackets collected an additional 15 scoring finishes to round out their District 13-3A title.

Three district championships were not the only notable events. The Mineola Lady Jackets finished second while the Quitman boys team came in fourth in a strong field. The Alba-Golden girls team claimed third place behind Como-Pickton and Cumby.

Remaining District 13-3A results:

Boys

400 meters – 2, Lipscomb, Mineola, 53.82; 5, Breding, Quitman, 54.82.

800 meters – 3, B. Jimenez, Quitman, 2:03.81; 5, D. Jimenez, Quitman, 2:07.62.

1600 meters 2, Granocchia, Mineola, 4:40.65; 3, Jimenez, Quitman, 4:49.84; 6, Plata, Quitman, 5:04.15.

3200 meters – 2, Granocchia, Mineola,  10:30.9; 5, Plata, Quitman, 11:05.02; 6, Omar Perez, Mineola, 11:06.74.

110-meter hurdles – 1, F. Tannebaum, Quitman, 15.78; 2, Gandy, Mineola, 16.12; 4, Pendergrass, Mineola, 16.48.

300-meter hurdles – 2, F. Tannebaum, Quitman, 40.93; 3, Robertson, Mineola 42.21.

400-meter relay – 4, Quitman (Johnson, J. Tannebaum, Crowson, Reynolds), 44.38.

800-meter relay – 4, Quitman (Dickens, Johnson, J. Tannebaum, Crowson), 1:33.84; 5, Mineola (Karch, Kennedy, Rossie, Pendergrass), 1:33.9.

1600-meter relay – 1, Quitman (Jimenez, Johnson, J. Tannebaum, Crowson), 3:27.15; 2, Mineola (Gandy, Kennedy, Lipscomb, Robertson), 3:30.31.

Shot put – 2, Ogueri, Mineola, 41’1.75”; 5, Medelin, Mineola, 39’5.25”.

Discus – 2, Newsome, Mineola, 115’3”; 6, Gardner, Mineola, 106’9”.

Triple jump – 3, Pendergrass, Mineola, 42’4.5”; 5, Sabedra, Quitman, 40’2.5:.

High jump – 2, Pendergrass, Mineola, 6’; 4, Thompson, Quitman, 5’10”.

Pole vault – 3, Reynolds, Quitman, 11’6”; 4, Floyd, Quitman, 11’6”; 6, Jones, Mineola, 9’6”.

Girls

100 meters – 2, Elkins, Quitman, 12.84.

200 meters – 2, Elkins, Quitman, 26.51; 4, Hartzog, Mineola, 27.46.

400 meters – 1, Hughes, Mineola, 62.14; 2, Kozbie Riley, Mineola, 63.78; 3, S. Vander Schaaf, Quitman, 66.69; 4, Hoover, Quitman, 67.0; 5, McWilliams, Mineola, 67.99; 6, Smith, Quitman, 68.06.

800 meters – 1, Hughes, Mineola, 2:24.84; 2, Kratzmeyer, Mineola, 2:34.9; 4, Wood, Quitman, 2:39.97; 5, Palacios, Mineola, 2:44.55; 6, Flores-Franco, Quitman, 2:45.78.

1600 meters – 2, Wood, Quitman, 5:52.21; 3, Zoch, Mineola, 5:56.24; 4, Davis, Quitman, 5:57.37; 5, Keilee Riley, Mineola, 6:10.31.

3200 meters – 2, Davis, Quitman, 12:54.65; 3, Keilee Riley, Mineola, 13:12.65; 4, Wood, Quitman, 13:15.93; 6, Zoch, Mineola, 13:26.3.

100-meter hurdles – 2, Smith, Quitman, 16.9; 4, Hooton, Mineola, 17.96.

300-meter hurdles – 2, B. Marcee, 47.48; 5, Smith, Quitman, 51.92; 6, Hooton, Mineola, 53.55.

400-meter relay – 4, Mineola (Carrasco, Jackson, Hartzog, Kozbie Riley), 52.14; 5, Quitman (S. Vander Schaaf, B. Vander Schaff, A. Marcee, Hoover), 53.96

800-meter relay – 1, Mineola, (Carrasco, Jackson, Hartzog, Ktratzmeyer), 1:49.15; 4, Quitman (Pence, Murlin, A. Marcee, Elkins), 1:51.68

1600-meter relay – 1, Mineola (Carrasco, Hughes, Kratzmeyer, Kozbie Riley), 4:11.18; 2, Quitman (S. Vander Schaaf, Pence, Murlin, B. Marcee), 4:22.84.

Long jump – 3, Kozbie Riley, Mineola, 16’6.25”; 6, Murlin, Quitman, 15’7.25”

Shot put – 2, Freeman, Mineola, 33’11.5”; 4, Flanagan, Quitman, 32’1.5”

Discus – 4, Flanagan, Quitman, 80’; 6, Spigner, Mineola, 72’.

Triple jump – 4, Berry, Quitman, 33’2”; 6, A. Marcee, Quitman, 31’8”

High jump – 4, S. Vander Schaaf, Quitman, 4’10”

Pole vault – 2, Kratzmetyer, Mineola, 9’9”; 5, Palacios, Mineola, 7’6”; 6, Linley, Mineola, 7’.