Wise County freshmen steal the Friday night show in Austin
By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, June 7, 2009
When it comes to experience, Wise County was well represented at the high school track and field championships this weekend where four athletes have competed in a combined 11 events in the past three years.
However, it was youth who stole the show Friday night as a pair of freshman turned in spectacular performances in front of more than 15,000 fans at Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin. Decatur's Zuleima Palomo and Alvord's Jordan Ward ranked in the bottom half of the qualifiers, but each rose to the occasion and came away with a pair of third-place finishes.
Palomo made her first trip to Austin one she won't soon forget. The freshman jumped out to a fast start in the 3,200, breaking two records en route to a third-place finish.
Palomo, the first Wise County athlete of the day to get on the ceremonial stage, earned the bronze medal with a blazing time of 11:29 minutes, which crushed her personal record of 11:41 she set two weeks ago at regionals. Her new mark also broke the Decatur High School record of 11:36 which was set in 2002 by Savannah Matzinger.
"This feels great. I wanted to get on stage so bad but I did not think I would because of how good the girls were in the race," the giddy 14-year-old said. "Getting third is as great an accomplishment as winning state as a team in cross country. In cross country it takes a whole team to win, but this was just me and I'm so happy to finish in the top three."
Palomo had the tough task of starting the race in lane eight, but her strategy to avoid getting blocked in work out perfectly. She sprinted at the sound of the gun and managed to jump in front of the other seven runners to take the lead in the first lap.
The lead disappeared after the first mile as the two favorites in the race moved ahead of the pack. However, Palomo kept things in cruise control and maintained the third spot throughout the final five laps.
"I could have done better," Palomo said. "I should have surged more like the first two girls did. At the end I focused more on the girl behind me instead of the two in front of me because I wanted to get on stage."
Teammate Hanna Galloway, the District 5-3A champion in this event, was unable to match her season-best time as she finished sixth overall at 11:59. Argyle's Colbea Harris won the state title with a time of 11:07, just ahead of second-place Heather Sterling of Canton at 11:11.
Ward, who competed in the 800 relay just 30 minutes before chasing the gold in the 300 hurdles, came through with her best time of the season. She ran a steady race and and held the third spot for the final 200 meters of the race for a bronzed time of 45.45 seconds, just behind winner Lauren Garrott of San Antonio Cole at 44.43.
Friday night's action got under way for Wise County with the girls' 800 race as Boyd's Katie Mark competed for the second straight year. After holding the second spot for the first half of the race, the sophomore slipped back in the last 400 meters and finished eight with a time of 2:27. Alvord's Paige Klein, who held the fastest 100 time in the state, was unable to finish in that spot, finishing second overall with a time of 12.40 seconds, just behind winner Jasmine Armstead at 12.27. This was the second straight year for the Alvord senior to take the silver medal. Klein wrapped up her high school career 20 minutes later in the 200. The Tarleton State signee finished sixth with a time of 25.62, behind champion Shakita Webb of Anahuac at 25.07.
In the boys' 100 race, Alvord's Travis Montgomery also brought in the state's fastest qualifying time of 10.57 seconds, but he was unable to duplicate that in Austin. However, the senior did post a blazing time of 11.08 to finish third and take home the bronze medal. Aarhon Flores of Floydada won the title at 10.81. Montgomery's second and final event was the 200 where he was ranked sixth. That's exactly where he finished, posting a time of 22.03, which was better than his regional time of 22.09. Klein was also on the track between her sprints to anchor the 800 relay team. Freshmen Jordan Ward and Sam Rogers, as well as Kailey Watkins, made up the quartet that finished fourth with a time of 1:45.14, more than one second better than at regionals three weeks ago. Alvord ranked sixth going into the state finals.
