Decatur girls dominate distance events to earn trips to state
By Robert Morgan | Published Thursday, May 28, 2009
There were no state qualifiers after one day of the Class 3A, Region I track and field finals in Lubbock despite several spectacular performances on Friday. However, everything changed on Saturday when it was time for the distance runners to compete in front of the capacity crowd at the R.P. Fuller Track at Texas Tech University.
Two thrilling girls races' that came down to the final stride produced three state qualifiers from Decatur as senior Cynthia Carrillo, sophomore Hannah Galloway and freshman Zuleima Palomo came through like champions. In addition, Decatur freshman Bianca Morrisson and Northwest junior Chris Bain also surprised the competition with personal-best times in their events to secure a trip to Austin June 5-6.
The group will join a host of other Wise County athletes that qualified for state at the Class 2A, Region II meet two weeks ago. Joining them in Austin after finishing in the top two places at regionals will be Paige Klein (100, 200, 800 relay), Jordan Ward (300 hurdles, 800 relay), Kailey Watkins (800 relay), Madi Lynch (800 relay) and Travis Montgomery (100, 200), all of Alvord, Slidell's Bobbi Clemmer (400, 800) and Boyd's Katie Mark (800).
The action in Lubbock could not have been any more thrilling for the Lady Eagles and coach David Park as there was gold and silver at the end of the two longest races. There was also plenty of celebrating as a pair of heroic efforts paid off in the biggest meet so far this season, which helped propel Decatur to a third-place finish in the team standings.
Carrillo, who has been battling an illness for the last six weeks, was still not up to par as evident in the 800-meter race where she didn't make it out of prelims and was violently coughing well after the end of the race. Refusing to let her high school career end on anything but a good note, the senior ran twice as far in the 1,600 race and put on one of the greatest efforts Park has seen in his long career.
Carrillo overcame her chronic cough, two of her teammates and nearly two dozen of the region's fastest runners to win the 1,600 for the first time since February. In fact, her regional championship time of 5 minutes, 24.33 seconds was 29 seconds faster than what she recorded four weeks ago at the district finals.
"What more can you say about Cynthia? What she did was unbelievable," said Park.
The Midwestern State signee made it clear that her season was not ending in West Texas as she jumped out in front of the pack from the very beginning and kept the pace for four laps. In fact, her only competition was her own teammates - Galloway and Palomo. The trio ran together the entire way and led the other 21 runners by almost 100 yards.
It was all Carrillo and Galloway down the final 50 yards of the race as they sprinted to the finish line. The duo ran shoulder-to-shoulder for 49 of those yards before Carrillo inched in front in the final three steps of a one-mile race.
That was the second of two incredible races as Friday's action ended with another thrilling race that went down to the wire. Galloway and Palomo, who have the region's two fastest times in the 3,200, trailed Graham's Abigial Gonzales, for nearly the whole race except that part that mattered most.
Gonzales took her biggest lead of the race going into the eighth and final lap when she pulled in front of the Decatur girls by 10 yards in the final 300 meters. Galloway passed Gonzales springing around the last curve, and Palomo moved into second place in the last three meters of the race to send the Decatur contingency into a frenzy.
"The Graham girl ran a real good race," Park said. "We did not plan on Hannah and Z running behind her the whole time, that's just the way it played out. The Graham girl used her last kick going into the last lap, and that played into our hands because Hanna and Z were able to get their push there in the last 100 meters and Gonzales was out of gas."
Morrison, who barely made it into the finals of the 800 after she posted the eighth fastest time at 2:24, proved that she had more in the tank with a surprising run on Saturday. She jumped into the second spot within the first 200 meters of the race and never let up as she ran away with a personal-record time of 2:18.74 and a trip to Austin.
"That's the Bianca I've been waiting for. I don't think she knows how good she is," Park said. "Even though she beat her PR by four seconds, I think she can run a 2:17 at state."
Freshman Allie Handlon sprained her ankle during the pole vault competition, but she still found a way to set a personal record. Handlon, who had a heavily-wrapped ankle, limped whenever she was not running, but that did not prevent her from a new milestone as she cleared 8 feet, 6 inches. Teammate Payton Boner was injured during warm-ups and was not able to complete.
Bridgeport's Haley Meekins put on quite a show in shot put where she battled through celebration and heartbreak. The sophomore threw farther with every heave and shattered her own personal record with a toss of 39 feet, 4 inches which drew applause from her fans.
The new mark was good enough to put her on the regional stage for the first time as she took third place. However, she missed going to state by one inch as Eden Sultemeir of Burnet was second at 39-5.
Decatur's Cassie Partridge, a state qualifier last year, was unable to make it two years in a row. She made it into the finals but could not get futher than her best of 37-1.75.
Bain, a standout on the football team, is going to state in two events after he struck gold twice. He won the 100 in 10.61 seconds and the 200 in 21.80. NHS pole Vaulter Angela Rabalais, who had the second best height this year, opted to wait and open at 10-6 but did not clear on any ofher three attempts.
Also on the boys' side, Decatur's closest shot at getting to Austin came in the 400 where Matt Huddleston took on the best. The senior got back on stage for the second straight year with a third place time of 49.92 seconds, just behind Thomas Freed of Liberty Hill at 49.34.
"Third place two years in a row at regionals," said a dejected Huddleston. "I wanted to get to state this time."
Decatur qualified for regionals in all three relays but was unable to get any to Austin. Senior Brad Gamm pulled a hamstring while running the 800, which crippled the team's chances.
"Injuries have been our story this year. I think we have had more hamstring pulls this year than we have had since I've been the coach," said DHS coach Dennis Cobb. "It's just been tough on these boys, and they have all done a great job this year. I hate it for them."
Injures did not slow the DHS boys' pole vaulters as all three of them set new personal bests. Sophomore Nick Crohan had the best day for DHS as he cleared a personal record 13 feet on his first attempt to beat his old mark by six inches. Sophomore Chris Tate broke his own record twice as he had his best showing ever, clearing 12-6.
"The guys were ready to get after it," said coach Heath Tullous. "We went to a warm-up meet in Bowie last week, and we did not do very good. I'm glad we went and got that out or else that could have been today. These guys are young but are getting better all the time. We will have two more next year, so we will have a lot of good pole vaulters in the next few years."
Jacob Walker also came through with a personal record as he cleared 12-6 to mark the end of a successful freshman season.
Also, in field events on the first day, Bridgeport's Stewart Price had trouble with his footing and did not qualify for state in the shot put. The senior made it to the final round with a heave of 47-5 but fouled on his final three heaves.
