Four Dripping Springs Tiger track and field athletes will sprint to the UIL state meet next month.
Freshman Marleena Mickel, senior Bobby Holt, junior Avery Kalsu and the Tiger boys 4x400 meter team all qualified for state based on finishes at the Region IV 5A meet held April 26-27 at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio.
Mickel was the first to qualify by finishing second in the 3,200 meter run in 11:22.92. Mickel was the district and area champion in the same event.
When do the Tigers hit the track at state?
Marleena Mickel (3,200m) – 9:20 a.m.
Bobby Holt (800m) – 6:20 p.m.
Avery Kalsu (400m) – 8:15 p.m.
Boys 4x400m relay – 10:25 p.m.
Holt, a Texas A&M track pledge, qualified in the 800 meter run by finishing second in 1:56.32. Holt finished fourth at last year's state meet in the 1,600 meters.
Kalsu qualified in the 400 meters, coming from behind on the homestretch to finish in second place, just five-hundredths of a second behind the first place finisher Layne Bolli from Boerne Champion. With her finishing time of 56.55 seconds, Kalsu broke her own school record in the event.
4x400 team of Tyler Herron, Andres Perry, Zyle Nance and Ty Kaatz passed the baton over the mile-long event in a time of 3:20.93 to finish in second place, just .56 seconds behind the first-place team Corpus Christi Carroll.
Competing in the finals at the regional meet, but not advancing to state, were Parker Alford in the 100 meters (eighth place in 11.14 seconds), Audrey Williamson in the 300-meter hurdles (fifth place in 46.43 seconds), Karsten Bobb (third place in 5:16.39) in the 1,600 meters and fifth place in the 3,200 meters (11:41.83), Marleena Mickel (eighth place in 5:29.23) in the 1,600 meters, Aidan Cavendar (sixth place at 13 feet) and Hunter Miller in the pole vault (no height), and Luke Lawyer in the high jump (seventh place at 6 feet). The girls' cumulative efforts scored enough points to finish in sixth place in the team standings, and the boys were tied for ninth.
Competing in Friday's preliminary rounds were the girls 4x400 relay team of Lilee McGinnis, Kassandra Sawin, Audrey Williamson and (10th in qualifying in 4:07.82), Andres Perry in the 200 meters (ninth in qualifying in 22.95),Jack Dombrowski in the 300 meter hurdles (11th in qualifying in 40.91), and Susie Alvarado in the 100 meter hurdles (10th in qualifying in 16.50).
The State Track and Field Meet will be held May 10-11 at Mike A Myers Stadium in Austin. All 5A events take place on Friday, May 10.
