Ten Northwest High School track and field athletes survived a brutal District 5-5A meet to earn a trip to regionals last weekend in Lubbock. However, the competition was tough and that led to the end of a banner season for nearly a dozen local standouts.
Alvord's Paige Klein is a soft-spoken junior who does not brag about her talent in track. She leaves all the talking to her feet, and they spoke loud last weekend in Stephenville.
Going into the Class 3A, Region I finals in Odessa over the weekend, it appeared the Decatur High School boys' team had the best chance of any athlete earning a trip to the state championships in Austin. The group had some of the best times among the regional competition and had a state qualifier returning from last year.
Kassie Daugherty said she did not have the best of practices last week in preparation for the Class 3A, Region I meet this weekend. She said most of her throws were well short of the personal-best mark of 132 feet that she recorded at the qualifiers in Glen Rose last weekend.
There will be 75 Wise County track and field athletes competing in three regional meets this weekend with one goal in mind - capturing a ticket to the state championships in Austin May 9-10.
It came as no surprise that Southlake won both the girls' and boys' team titles at the District 5-5A track and field championships Tuesday in Justin. All eight teams had a shot at first place after the first day, but the Dragons literally ran away with it on the final day behind a spectacular showing in the running finals.
The finale of the District 10-2A track meet last Wednesday in Godley was anything but easy for Boyd High School. The last few hours of the event took place in a steady rain that later produced damaging hail across the Metroplex.
This has been a challenging season for the track program at Paradise High School. Both the boys and girls programs had significantly fewer athletes competing this year, and that was reason enough to leave both groups out of title contention at last week's District 10-2A finals.
Alvord track standout Paige Klein has had some good days in her decorated career. What the junior did at this week's District 9-2A track and field meet in Chico could hardly be described as good - probably more likely great.
The Alvord High School boys' track team doesn't usually make a lot of noise at the district track meet. This year, however, the group turned in one of their best performances in recent years and have nine regional qualifiers to prove it.
For the second straight year Wise County will have a limited number of girls attending the Class 3A, Region I track and field meet in Odessa. Four total - two each from Decatur and Bridgeport high schools - came through with top-three performances at the District 8-3A finals in Sanger over the weekend.
For the second straight year the Decatur High School boys' track team fell shy of winning the district championship. That was hard to believe based on the amount of celebrating by Decatur athletes, coaches and fans at Monday night's 8-3A finals in Sanger.
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