T&F: Davis, Brown earn trip to State
200-meters. (Photo by John Krueger)
The Tenaha Tigers and Shelbyville Dragons had to take a six-hour bus ride to take part in the Class 1A Region IV Track & Field Meet in Converse. After being moved from Region III to Region IV, the athletes overcame the change in scenery with some impressive performances at the regional meet last week.
Tenaha junior sprinter Reginald Davis advanced to the State Track and Field Meet this weekend in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while Shelbyville senior Jesten Brown also earned a trip to State in the 100-meter dash.
Tenaha Track
The Tenaha Tiger and Lady Tiger Track teams showed up in Converse with something special for the Region 4 schools in Class 1A. Despite the long trip, the Tigers and Lady Tigers were strong in their efforts when the competition started, even in record cold temperatures for May in the San Antonio region.
La Darren Cooks placed ninth overall in the shot put with a throw of 41-2.5 feet. He outdistanced the other representatives from the area meet and showed that this junior would be back as a force to be reckoned with next year.
Also competing in a field event was Lady Tiger senior Okievia Bratchett. Dealing with nagging leg injuries, Okievia placed 12th at the meet with a long jump of 31-6, narrowly losing 11th place by less than an inch.
In the running events, Davis represented Tenaha and all of East Texas by winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.96 seconds. His time was by far the fastest, even topping the best time in the Class 2A boys race. He also placed second in the 200-meters with a time of 22.35 seconds. Both results place Reginald on the way to Austin to compete in both events at the State Track Meet on May 14.
The Tiger 400-meter relay team of Shaquille Mitchell, Jose Campos, Chavis Gregory, and Cody Lampley ran a time that would have qualified them for the finals. However, due to a baton exchange mix up, the team was disqualified.
The Lady Tiger 400-meter relay team of Tia Thomas, Okievia Bratchett, Tiara Williams, and Courtney Edwards also ran a time in the prelims that would have been a qualifying time for the finals. But due to another baton exchange mix up, the team was disqualified.
The same four Lady Tigers did however run their best time of the year in the 800-meter relay. They placed 6th in the region, running a time of 1:52.61 and gave district nemesis Zavalla an exciting race to the very end. This was the first time in several years that the Lady Tigers had a relay running in the regional finals.
Lady Tiger Courtney Edwards competed in the 100 meter dash also.
"The Tiger and Lady Tiger Track coaches are very proud of these athletes and their efforts during this year," said Tenaha Coach Chad Ashby. "We look forward to improving for next season and making a return trip to Converse to compete with the teams in the southern part of the state."
Shelbyville Track
Shelbyville's Brown placed second to Tenaha's Davis in the 100-meter dash, finishing the race with a time of 11.21. He will compete at the State meet on Friday of this week.
In other competition, Brandon Gillaspie placed eighth in the triple jump with a distance of 42-0.5.
The Dragons' Jeffrey Cagle placed seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:16.02.
Temeria Lathan, Shemeria Lathan, Kadeshia Turner and Tamera McKinney ran fourth in the 400-meter relay, posting a time of 52.11
The Lady Dragon 4x200-meter relay was disqualified in the preliminaries and McKinney suffered a pulled hamstring in the 4x100-meter relay finals, which means they'll have a shot to make a return trip next year as all members of the relays are sophomores.
(Tenaha track coach Chad Ashby contributed to this story.)