Monahans Track Team Leads District 2-3A
    by Jessica Ray, Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, April 13, 2007

After day one, Monahans is leading in three out of four divisions at the district 2-3A track meet.  Tuesday, April 10 was day one of the meet and determined the district standing in all field events and the 3200-meter run.  The Loboes and the Varsity Lady Loboes are all in first place while the JV Ladies are in third place.

Varsity Boys

The Varsity boys hold the most commanding lead.  With 130 points the Loboes lead the second place team, Fort Stockton, by 77 points.  Pecos is in third place with 23, and Presidio is last with eight.

Jarod Till won the high jump with a height of 6-0.  Arnold Rodriguez placed second with a height of 5-10.  Blake Hughes had a jump of 5-4 to tie with Pecos' Lucas Macha for fifth place.

Teammates Hughes and Josh Smith were the last men standing in the pole vault.  Hughes out-vaulted Smith with an 11-6 vault for first place.  Smith took second with 11 feet.  Bobby Fabian vaulted 9 feet and placed fourth in the event.

The Loboes took three of the top four spots in the long jump.  Rodriguez took first, Devon Fann earned second, and Chris Roberson placed fourth.  They had respective jumps of 20-4.75, 20-2.5 and 19-4.5.

Russell Covington won gold in the triple jump with a distance of 41 feet, 1.5 inches.  Devon Fann placed fourth with 40-6, and Tanner Owens placed fifth with 36-3.

Michael Murphree won first place in the shot put, as expected.  His 49-4 throw out-distanced second-place Jacob Carpenter from Fort Stockton by six and a half feet.  Shaquille Smith placed fifth with a put of 40-9.5 and Anthony Santiago placed sixth with a throw of 40 feet.

Murphree also placed first in the discus with a throw of 147-9.5.  Santiago placed fourth with a distance of 110-1.

The top three finishers in the 3200-meter run were Loboes.  Brian Azuaje, Aaron Forest and Josh Munoz finished in first, second and third, respectively.  The placing times were 11.24, 11.34, and 22.49.

Varsity Girls

The Varsity girls are in first place with 97 points, just 8 points ahead of Pecos.  In third place is Fort Stockton with 16 points, followed closely by Presidio with 15.

Kati Holly high jumped 5-2 for her usual first place finish.  Jordan Latham finished in second place with a jump of 5-0.  In fourth place, Kali Lewis jumped 4-6.

In pole vault, Kelsi Hayes placed second with an 8-6 vault.  Brittany Bustos vaulted 7-0 for 6th place.

Latham took her characteristic gold medal in the long jump with a distance of 16-5.75.  Kristi Holly placed fifth with a jump of 14-8.

In the triple jump, Monahans captured fourth, fifth and sixth places.  Kristi Holly's triple jump was 31-2.5, Kali Lewis jumped 31-0 and Yasmin Valenzuela had a distance of 29-6.

Bethany Willmon placed second in the shot put with a 36-4.  Kim Wilson's put of 32-7 put her in third place.

In the discus, Eureka Roy placed second with 103-foot throw.  Wilson was just inches behind her at 102-4.5 for third place.  Willmon placed fourth in the event with a distance of 97-10.

Michelle Azuaje won the 3200-meter run in a time of 13:27.12.  Jennifer Forest placed fourth in the event.  Her time was 14:08.31.  In sixth place was Ashley Horak in 14:59.72.

JV Boys

The JV Loboes are in first place with 102 point, which is double what second-place Stockton has.  Pecos is in a close third place with 49 points.  Presidio is fourth with 12.

Austin Grigry placed second in the shot put with a throw 36-10.  Phillip Barnwell placed second in the event with a distance of 34-7.  In fifth place was Blake McDaniel with a put of 34-3.

Barnwell placed third in discus, while Grigry placed fourth.  They had throws of 103-3 and 100-10.

Quincy Titus won the high jump with a 5-8 jump, followed by Calvin Franks in second with a jump of 5-6.  Sammy Garcia high jumped 4-10 for sixth place.

Matthew Montoya won first place in the long jump with a distance of 18-4.5.  Bean Britton had a long jump of 17-6.75 for third place.

Britton placed second in the triple jump with a 34-9 jump.  Aranda placed sixth in the event with a jump of 32-4.

In the pole vault, Daniel Layton placed second and Bryan Pippen placed third.  They had vaults of 9-0 and 8-0.

JV Girls

The JV Lady Loboes did not have entries in all field events and were unable to score as much as the teams in the other divisions.  With 14 points, the JV Ladies are in third place.  Fort Stockton leads with 96, followed by Pecos in second place with 35 points.

Raquel Robledo placed fifth in the shot put with a distance of 21-11.  Robledo placed first in the discus with a 70-7.5 throw.  Robledo's finishes earned 12 points for her team.

Walker placed fifth in the long jump for two team points.

The top two finishers in each of the varsity events qualify for regionals.  Day two, Thursday, will decide the final district finishes and regional qualifiers in the remaining running events.