Chaney Turney cleared 12 feet to win the Class 4A Region IV girls pole vault competition Monday at Alamo Stadium. Hays teammates Meredith Driskell and Daryl Burrell also qualified for state in competition pole vault. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
by JASON GORDON
The Hays High School track and field team dominated the pole-vaulting competition as expected during the Class 4A Region IV Track and Field Meet Monday and Tuesday at Alamo Stadium.
Three Hays vaulters will try and follow in the footsteps of former Rebel state pole vaulting champions Britni Lawrence (2003, 2004) and Jessica Doyle (2007, 2008).
Seniors Chaney Turney, who finished eighth as a sophomore and second as a junior at state, Meredith Driskell, and Daryl Burrell all qualified for the state meet by finishing first or second at regionals.
The Class 4A UIL State Track and Field Meet will take place May 13-14 at Myers Stadium at the University of Texas-Austin.
The girls Class 4A pole vaulting event is set to begin at 3 p.m., Friday May 13, and the boys event is scheduled to begin later that day at 6 p.m.
Hays’ Mason Gill still has a chance to qualify for state in the pole vault. He cleared the same 14-foot, 6-inch mark as Burrell, but finished third at regionals on misses.
This is the first year the highest overall third place finisher in the state in each event will receive a wild card entry to state.
“It was a really strong day for the Hays track and field team,” coach Mitch Phillips said. “It was cold, windy and rainy, but our athletes overcame that with a lot of mental toughness.”
The Rebels had several others finish in the top-six at regionals.
Taylor Hough triple-jumped 43.25-feet and finished fifth, Jaleasa Jones high-jumped 5-2 and finished fourth and Tyler James finished fourth with a discus throw of 154 feet.
Mariana Sigala qualified for the finals in the 800-meters where she finished third in a time of 1:20. She still has a chance to earn the wild card spot in state.
“The younger kids on our team trained with these athletes who represented us so well at regionals, and saw the leadership qualities they possess,” Phillips said. “I’m proud of everyone who competed here and I think it will do a lot for the future of our program.”
Phillips added he expects Turney, Driskell and Burrell to finish in the top three and medal at state.
“I think we’ll have three medal winners,” he said. “They are all so competitive. They rise to the level of their competition and I expect them to do that at the state meet.”
Turney said she hopes to turn her silver medal from 2010 into a gold medal at state this year.
“I really, really want that state title,” said Turney, who will be pole vaulting for Rice University next year. “It would be a great way to finish my four years of pole vaulting at Hays.”
Lehman’s track and field squad took a hit right out of the blocks at the regional meet, as team leader Justin Torres hit the second hurdle in the 300-meter hurdle event and hurt his hamstring. Torres finished the race in 40.57 seconds, about a second off his normal time, and still qualified for the finals.
Torres came back with a surge on Tuesday, finishing third in the 300-hurdles. He has an outside chance to earn the wild card with his time of 39.73, but with the strength of some of the Dallas and East Texas regions it would be a longshot.
Because of the injury, however, he was not able to run the anchor legs of the 4X200-meter relay event or the 4X400 for Lehman later Monday.
Neither relay team advanced to the finals, nor did Lehman’s girls 4X200 relay team.
“It was a real tough break losing Justin for the relays, but those things happen,” said Lehman track coach Michael Laney. “We had a bad exchange in the 4X200 and we had to use two alternates, including a JV runner, on our 4X400 team. They ran well, but when you replace a guy that can run 51 seconds with someone who runs 54 seconds it really hurts you.”
Still, Laney said the 2011 track and field season was the best ever for the Lobo boys, as they won their own meet and finished second overall three other times.
“Justin Torres is the only senior we’re losing, and our JV team won four meets this season as well,” Laney said. “So things are definitely looking up for us moving forward.”
