KFDM COOP Posted April 29, 2007 Report Posted April 29, 2007 LC-M’s Bean superior again Tom HalliburtonThe Orange LeaderHUNTSVILLE — Little Cypress-Mauriceville senior Drew Bean made it comfortable enough in the final lap, coasting to double gold medals Friday and Saturday at the Class 4A regional track and field championships.After setting a new Region III mark in the boys 4A 3,200-meter run on Friday night with a time of 9:23.44, the determined LC-M standout simply followed it up by producing his season-best outing in mid-afternoon on Saturday with a 1,600-meter run time of 4:20.39.The winning time easily outdistanced Chase Rathke of Katy Seven Lakes in second place at 4:25.57. Bean's previous season-best had been 4:22.56Another season-best and another regional gold medal from the Golden Triangle was produced in Friday's mid-afternoon hot sun as Vidor sophomore Jared Parker cleared the bar with a personal best 14-9 to win the boys pole vault.Beaumont Ozen freshman A'Lexus Brannon continued to impress, bringing home three regional gold medals. Brannon won the long jump in 18-10.75, the triple jump in 38-2 and the 100-meter hurdles in 14.44. Brannon already owned the Golden Triangle-area lead with better performances in two of those three events. She established a new Golden Triangle season best in the long jump by going 18-10.75.Brannon was the lone Beaumont winner but not the only Ozen athlete to become a state qualifier. Lady Panthers sophomore Sojourner Brown was a close second in the 800 meters with a time of 2:18.28. The area leader in that event, Sojourner's previous season-best time had been 2:25.58. The lone BISD state qualifier was in the 4A boys ranks was Ozen sprinter Damien Celestine, a silver medalist in the 200 meters with a time of 21.58. Celestine had clocked a 21.18 earlier this season. Ozen also sported two bronze medalists — Tiara Robinson in the girls long jump (17-5.5) and Jarrade Lee in the boys discus (162-11).LC-M junior Phillip Richard eqauled a season-best 6-4 in the high jump to tie for fourth place.The closest brush with a state meet berth for the Nederland Bulldogs occurred in the boys 800-meter run where senior Philip Rogers missed a state trip by less than a second. Rogers duplicated his season-best with a third-place time of 1:57.94. Brenham's Justin Preuss won the race in 1:57.36, followed by Houston Yates' Joseph Anderson in 1:57.87. One of the more pleasing Nederland developments came from encouraging sophomore Justin Krautz who finished fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 50.65.Nederland senior Chelsea Yaws ended a very impressive high school career with a fifth-place finish in the 3,200 meters and a season-best time of 12:12.54 on Friday evening. Yaws bounced back and also delivered a season-best in Saturday's afternoon heat but she finished sixth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:32.00.The two hurdles races had to be a disappointing conclusion for Nederland senior Brock Walker who had expected to advance into the state meet. The Golden Triangle area leader in both events, Walker ran a 15.01 in the 110-meter hurdles and a 40.89 in the 300-meter hurdles. Both times were seventh-place finishes and not near his season-best clockings of 14.00 in the 110s and 39.53 in the 300s.Walker ran slightly faster times at Bowers Stadium in Friday night's prelims, going 14.83 in the highs and 39.69 in the intermediates.The Nederland girls also showed fine marks in two events. Ashley Washburn recorded her season-best with a sixth-place time of 2:25.06 in the 800 meters. Savannah Desmarais was seventh in the triple jump with a hop, step and a jump of 34-10.5While the 4A regional was held at Sam Houston State's Bowers Stadium once again, the Huntsville campus also hosted the 1A regional meet which previously had been held in Nacogdoches.Sabine Pass did not qualify any contestant for the 1A state meet but the Sharks did succeed in bringing home one medal in the girls division. High jumper Tabitha McCray cleared 5-0 and captured the bronze medal by having having fewer misses in her tie for third place.Sabine Pass sprinter Aaron Clark finished fifth in the 100-meter dash with an 11.54 in Friday night's qualifying race.
Recommended Posts