It has been a long time coming for Lehman senior Jason Euresti, who has suffered through his share of near misses at regional meets over the past three years.

But after falling short of his goal of competing for a state title, he will finally get that opportunity.

Euresti becomes the first Lobo athlete to reach the UIL state track meet after he finished second in the 800-meter run at the Region III Class 4A meet in Huntsville on Tuesday.

“It feels great to be able to compete at the state meet in my last competition,” Euresti said. “I was very focused, so that really helped me run two of my best races of the year.”

Euresti sprinted to a season high 1 minute, 57.82 second finish to best regional favorite and three-time state finalist James Bonn of Lockhart in the prelims.

However, Bonn responded with a state record jaunt of 1:53.15 in the finals to hold Euresti at bay and secure the regional title.

Euresti was able to use the three-week layoff due to concerns about the spread of swine flu in the area to his advantage.

“(The layoff) affected me positively,” Euresti said. “I was able to get a lot of extra practice time to prepare me for what I needed to do at regionals. So for me, it all turned out for the best.”

The much heralded mile relay team featuring Euresti, Matt Wehr, Justin Torres and Jaylon Hardaway finished out of contention for a berth in the state meet, sprinting to a disappointing time of 3:30.42 in their preliminary heat.

“I think this long season really took its toll on our guys,” said Lehman head track coach Michael Laney. “It came down to the fact that our freshmen and sophomores were just physically exhausted because of the long season they had. Not to mention that fact all the teams in this regional can really compete.”

Senior RJ Hardaway, finished 11th and 13th respectively in both of his events – the shot put and the discus throw.

Both Ramon Martinez and Jaylon Hardaway also came up a little short in their bid for a state berth in their individual events.

The state track meet will take place on June 5-6 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.