Krautz roars to gold in 400, 800

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Krautz roars to gold in 400, 800

DISTRICT 22-4A TRACK & FIEL

By Jerry Michalsky

The News Sports Correspondent

DAYTON --  After taking first place in the 800-meter run Wednesday night, Justin Krautz wanted to make it two in a row and capture the 400-meter dash.

  Krautz, a Nederland junior, had the confidence and the will to win the 400, but he did not know he was going to run an all-time best in the District 22-4A track and field championships.

  After defeating Ozen's Frederick Granger in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:01.81, Krautz ran a 49.44 in the 400 to defeat Javon Dartez of Ozen for the district championship.

  The two first-place finishes helped the Nederland boys capture third place in the district standings behind Central who won the boys side and Ozen who finished second.

  The top three finishers in each event advanced to the 4A Region III track and field championships on Apr. 25 and 26 at Huntsville's Sam Houston State Bowers Stadium.

  "In the 400 we were close coming around the final turn (Krautz and Granger) then I went ahead and I knew it was over," said Krautz.

  "In the preliminaries I ran a 50.41 so it was nice to shave a second off my run."

  "I have one more year to work on my times and get better," added Krautz.

  For now, Krautz has improved his Port Arthur News Honor Roll best time. He already had been the Golden Triangle's leader in the event with a 49.72.

  Senior Matt Johnson of Port Neches-Groves also turned in a nice meet with a first-place finish in the boys triple jump and then winning the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.99 to edge out Cory McGee of Vidor. The Indians finished fifth on the boys side with 61 points.

  The Lady Bulldogs finished third in the girls division with 108-points behind first place Ozen and Central.

  Nederland racked up 24 points in the shot put alone as Reagan Richard threw 36-7. Teammates Shaquirra Malveaux and Alyssa Remo finished second and third respectfully. Port Neches-Groves finished fifth with 53-points.

  Besides Krautz's best-ever time in the open quarter, three other Golden Triangle-best times were established during Wednesday night's windy running finals in Bronco Stadium.

  The 22-4A champion Ozen Lady Panthers clocked an area-best 1:42.81 in the 800-meter relay with a team of Yoshana McEachin, Ebony Bourgeois, Alexis Vaults and A'Lexus Brannon sharing the honors.

  Another strong member of that Ozen girls team, junior Sojourner Brown, recorded the area's fastest time in the girls open quarter, running a 58.00. Brown had owned the previous area best, 58.79.