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.

The DHS boys missed the state cut, but the Lady Eagles did not. In fact, the only two to advance to regionals this year are also going to the state championships May 9-10.

Juniors Cynthia Carrillo and Cassie Partridge were the only DHS girls to compete at regionals. However, they proved that even the smallest team can do some damage as they both finished second in their events to earn a trip to Austin next week.

The top two finishers in each event advance to the state finals at the University of Texas next week.

"What can I say about them? They both did a great job and on their best day of the season so far," said DHS coach David Park, who is the only coach at the meet to qualify 100 percent of his regional qualifiers. "They will have to both step it up another notch at state because it's going to be tough."

Carrillo, who is no stranger to Austin, secured her ticket in the 800-meter race in dramatic fashion. She took the silver medal with a time of 2 minutes, 21.7 seconds, which was six seconds faster than she ran in the preliminaries.

The standout Lady Eagle trailed Kassidy Lee of Andrews in a two-person race that was more like a chess match. After exchanging several sudden bursts of speed, Carrillo dropped head down in the final 30 meters and pushed ahead of Lee who had crossed the finish line at 2:22.91.

"When Cynthia did that at the end I knew it was over," said Park. "If you're the other person, that's something you don't want Cynthia to do because that means she is about to come get you."

Partridge did not disappoint in shot put where she broke her personal best record three times within two hours. The final mark was her ticket to Austin as she had a heave of 37 feet, 1.5 inches on her fifth of six throws.

Also in girls' action, Bridgeport's Kassie Daugherty is Austin-bound for the second straight year. She repeated as the regional discus champion with a throw of 131-4. She was also fifth in shot put with a toss of 36-5.5

BHS's Kaitlyn Waynen competed in the long jump and 400 race. Her best showing was in the 400 where she was fifth with a time of 1:00.97.

On the boys' side, Decatur had two athletes just miss the state cutoff. Tim Metts and Matt Huddleston finished third in their events and got on the regionals stage for the first time.

Huddleston, who also ran on the regional-qualifying relay teams, took third place in the 400 with a time of 49.98. Metts also captured a bronze medal after he cleared 6-2 in the high jump.

The Eagles qualified for regionals in all three relay events but it was in the 800 race that they liked their chances of getting to Austin. The quartet of Chad Harrison, Reece Madden, Josh Trant and Zack Zamzow fell just shy as they got on stage with a third-place time of 1:30.02.

The Eagles were fifth in the 400 relay and seventh in the 1,600 relay. Trant was fifth in the 100, while Brennon Lemiuex, a state-qualifier in the 110 hurdles last year, was unable to make it back after battling a hamstring injury most of the season.

State qualifiers and Decatur/Bridgeport results
Boys

Team standings -1. Argyle, 118; 2. Abilene Wylie, 67.5; 3. Snyder, 48; 4. Breckenridge, 42; 5. Graham, 38.5; 6. (tie) Whitesboro, 38; Sanger, 38; 8. Canyon, 32; 9. Lubbock Cooper, 31; 10. Decatur, 30; 11. Sweetwater, 20; 12. Dalhart, 16; 13. Clyde, 12; 14. Wichita Falls Hirschi, 11; 15. Midland Greenwood, 10; 16. (tie) Perryton, 9; Fort Stockton, 9; 18. (tie) Iowa Park, 6; Andrews, 6; Borger, 6; Bowie, 6; 22. Brownfield, 5.5; 23. (tie) Pilot Point, 4; Vernon, 4; Monahans, 4; 26. Seminole, 3.5; 27. (tie) Fabens, 2; Burkburnett, 2; 29. Anthony, 1.

Discus: 1. Hayden Baillio, Whitesboro, 189-11; 2. Darrell Harden, Graham, 154-11

Long jump: 1. Spencer Sims, Graham, 21-4.50; 2. Kenneth Turner, Snyder, 21-3.50

Pole Vault: 1. Trevor Hall, Sanger, 14-6; 2. Samuel Retzloff, Argyle, 14-0

3,200 meters: 1. Sann Allison, Canyon, 9:36.00 (record); 2. Blake Woolums, Argyle, 9:40.00

High jump: 1. Cory Meals, Whitesboro, 6-6; 2. Colby Gilbert, Midland Greenwood, 6-4; 3. Tim Metts, Decatur, 6-2

Shot put: 1. Hayden Baillio, Whitesboro, 66-0 (new meet record); 2. Daniel Rodriguez, Breckenridge, 53-3

Triple jump: 1. Colby Oberle, Argyle, 45-6.50; 2. Troy Roberson, Breckenridge, 45-2

400 relay: 1. Argyle 43.01; 2. Snyder, 43.05; 5. Decatur (Reece Madden, Josh Trant, Matt Huddleston, Zack Zamzow), 43.69

800: 1. Drew Seale, Abilene Wylie, 1:59.95; 2. Connor Hughey, Argyle, 2:00.00

110 hurdles: 1. Keke Wallace, Sweetwater, 14.91; 2. Matt Burton, Whitesboro, 15.39

100: 1. Kenneth Turner, Snyder, 10.91; 2. Chauncey Bradford, Breckenridge, 11.13; 5. Josh Trant, Decatur, 11.39

800 relay: 1. Sanger, 1:29.21; 2. Abilene Wylie, 1:29.72; 3. Decatur (Chad Harrison, Reece Madden, Josh Trant, Zack Zamzow), 1:30.02

400: 1. Garrett Hughey, Argyle, 48.13 (new meet record); 2. John Lee, Graham, 49.96; 3. Matt Huddleston, Decatur, 49.98

300 hurdles: 1. Keke Wallace, Sweetwater, 39.39; 2. Gavin Pucciarello, Argyle, 29.84

200: 1. Kenneth Turner, Snyder, 22.26; 2. Cesar Lujan, Dalhart, 22.80

1,600: 1. Stephen Curry, Argyle, 4:27.03; 2. Blake Woolums, Argyle, 4:27.92

1,600 relay: 1. Lubbock Cooper, 3:22.09; 2. Abilene Wylie, 3:22.24; 7. Decatur (Chad Harrison, Matt Huddleston, Cole Fuller, Eliuth Sanchez), 3:32.38.

Girls

Team Scores - 1. Canyon, 109; 2. Abilene Wylie, 87.5; 3. Argyle, 86; 4. Clyde, 32.5; 5. (tie) Lamesa, 25; Dalhart, 25; 7. Andrews, 24; 8. Iowa Park, 21; 9. Sanger, 20; 10. Decatur, 18; 12. (tie) Graham, 14; Bridgeport, 14; 14. Monahans, 11; 15. Gainesville, 10; 16. Wichita Falls Hirschi, 8; 17. Breckenridge, 6.5; 18. Borger, 6; 19. (tie) Lubbock Cooper, 4; Whitesboro, 4; Seminole, 4; Anthony, 4; 23. Levelland, 3; 24. (tie) Perryton, 2; Pecos, 2; 26. Vernon, 0.5.

Discus: 1. Kassie Daughtery, Bridgeport, 131-4; 2. Cristi Jackson, Clyde, 121-9

High jump: 1. Kati Holly, Monahans, 5-8; 2. Emily Eisenrich, Andrews, 5-4

Long jump: 1. Katie Grimes, Canyon, 17-10; 2. Brittany Abney, Andrews, 17-7

3,200 meters: 1. Kelsey Johnson, Iowa Park, 11:07.47 (record); 2. Aries Bazaldua, Canyon, 11:36.05

Shot put: 1. Amy Franklin, Gainesville, 38-4.50; 2. Cassie Partridge, Decatur, 37-1.50; 5. Kassie Daughtery, Bridgeport, 36-5.50

Triple jump: 1. Katie Grimes, Canyon, 38-8.25; 2. Morgan Shelton, Sweetwater, 36-6.25

Pole vault: 1. Jessica Bonfield, Argyle, 11-6 (record); 2. Emily Grant, Abilene Wylie, 11-0

400 relay: 1. Abilene Wylie, 48.65; 2. Clyde, 49.48

800: 1. Kristie Krueger, Argyle, 2:17.97; 2. Cynthia Carrillo, Decatur, 2:21.72; 3. Kassidy Lee, Andrews, 2:22.91

100 hurdles: 1. Katie Grimes, Canyon, 14.62; 2. Lisa Maez, Dalhart, 15.53

100: 1. Whitney Grimes, Canyon, 12.70; 2. Toiesha Cooper, Wichita Falls Hirschi, 12.97

800 relay: 1. Abilene Wylie, 1:43.55; 2. Canyon, 1:44.31

400: 1. Whitney Grimes, Canyon, 57.54; 2. Nicole Mitchell, Abilene Wylie, 59.16; 5. Kaitlyn Waynen, Bridgeport, 1:00.97

300 hurdles: 1. Katie Grimes, Canyon, 43.70; 2. Lisa Maez, Dalhart, 44.44

200: 1. Bessie Edwards, Abilene Wylie, 25.98; 2. Ravenn Rudel, Sweetwater, 26.46

1,600: 1. Kelsey Johnson, Iowa Park, 4:55.85 (record); 2. Kristie Krueger, Argyle, 4:57.75; 5. Cynthia Carrillo, Decatur, 5:39.51

1,600 relay: 1. Canyon, 3:51.41 (record); 2. Abilene Wylie, 3:56.02