Abilene Wylie Ends Loboes Title Run At West Texas Relays
    By Randy Hogan, Staff Writer  ~  The Monahans News, March 14, 2006

The team title came down to the final event of the day at the West Texas Relays in Odessa Saturday. Unfortunately, Monahans fell just a few seconds short of repeating their championship run of the past three years at Ratliff Stadium.

Only one point separated MHS and Abilene Wylie going into the final event of the meet but a fourth place finish in the 4X400 meter relay by Monahans was not enough to hold back the Bulldogs from winning the overall team title, outscoring the Loboes 132-123.

Wylie's silver medal finish in the relay provided the nine-point victory over defending meet champion Monahans, ending the Loboes' reign in Odessa.

MHS powered their way out to a huge lead after Friday's field events, as the Loboes amassed 57 total points on the opening day.

Monahans went 1-2-3 for the second week in a row in the shot put, highlighting the men's field events and gaining a huge point advantage over the competition.

Michael Murphree earned the gold medal by uncorking a monster throw of 51-2, followed by Josh Truex with a throw of 51-2 for second place. Lobo iron man Steven Richardson took third place with a toss of 50', giving MHS a clean sweep in the events.

Colby Latham brought home the bronze medal in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5'10". Justin Till claimed sixth place in the event, also with a jump of 5'10".

In the triple jump, Russell Covington added a silver medal to the Lobo loot with a jump of 41' 9 3/4."

Ben Banegas and Andrew Arredondo finished  one-two in the pole vault, pushing Monahans out to a commanding lead after the first day.

Banegas won the gold with a vault of 13'6," and Arredondo finished on his heels in second place with a vault of 13 feet in the finals.

For Banegas and Arredondo. it was a role reversal from the previous meet in Pecos, where Arredondo edged Banegas for the title.

On Saturday, things began to heat up, and ultimately tighten up, as Abilene Wylie overcame an over 30-point lead by the Loboes, before going toe-to-toe with the Green for the team title in the final event.

Josh Truex started the day by adding a bronze medal to the MHS count with his third place finish in the Discus. His throw of 142' 2" was an improvement over the 139' 3.5" in Pecos last week that earned him the silver medal.

Wylie nipped Monahans in the sprint relay, as the Loboes' 4 X 100 meter relay team claimed second place with a time of 44.28.

Chris Collins earned a gold medal in the 800-meter run by clocking a 2:00.76 in the event.

Colby Latham claimed a sixth place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17:66, and Chris Bates added sixth place finish in the finals of the 100 meter dash by posting a time of 11.62.

The Monahans 4 X 200 meter relay team beat the previous record at the West Texas Relays set by MHS last year, however, Midland Christian was able to pull away from Monahans late in the race to win gold and set the new mark at 1:30.32. The Loboes finished second with a time of 1:31.16, which beat the old meet record of 1:31.48 (set by Monahans in 2005.)

Chris Collins added a bronze medal in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.65 in the finals.

Miguel Garza claimed a fifth place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.07 in the event.

Going into the final event of the day, Wylie led Monahans by only one point on the leader board, and each team knew what they had to do to win the overall championship.

Abilene Wylie finished the 4 X 400 meter relay with a time of 3:29.40 to take second place and end the Loboes' standing hold on the West Texas Relays title. MHS finished fourth in the relay with a time of 3:31.43, and finished as the meet's runner-up. Monahans will host a talented field on competition once again this weekend at the annual Sandhills Relays at Estes Memorial Stadium.

Keyed by Jason Dimm, Senior