For the third time in four years, Lehman Lobo long jumper Nikayla Fitzgerald will take on the best in Texas when she competes at the UIL State Track and Field meet in Austin. On Friday April 23, Fitzgerald captured second place in the UIL Region IV-5A girls long jump competition held at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio. Fitzgerald won the silver medal with a jump of 18-feet, catapulting her into the 5A girls state long jump competition, to be held May 7 at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin. The 2021 season marks the third time Nikayla has qualified to compete in at least one event at state. Fitzgerald competed at the state meet in her freshman and sophomore seasons in 2018 and 2019 and was on track to potentially reach state in 2020 before the season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also on April 23, Fitzgerald won the bronze medal in the Region IV-5A triple jump competition with a leap of 37-feet, 11-inches.
photo by Moses Leos III/Hays CISD
