Canyon junior Abree Winfrey won three gold medals at the District 3-4A/ 4-4A Area Track and Field Meet at West Texas A&M on Wednesday. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
Damp, cold conditions couldn’t stop Canyon from having a stellar day by making it a clean sweep at the District 3-4A/ 4-4A Area Track and Field Meet at West Texas A&M on Wednesday.
The Lady Eagles won handily stacking up 215 points, which was 132 points better than Lubbock Estacado’s 83.
Abree Winfrey, Breanna Stuart and Kashlee Dickinson all made a combined 11 trips to the medal stand to help pace Canyon to an area title.
Stuart is headed to the Region I-4A meet in four events. The junior started the morning off with her best performance of the year in the 3200 meter race, setting a new season-best 10:56.26, beating her old mark by an eye-opening 10 seconds.
Stuart wasn’t done by a long shot. During the running finals in the afternoon, Stuart took gold again in the 1600 meter run with a 5:08.34, then turned around and ran first leg for the victorious 1600 relay squad that clocked a 4:12.14.
Winfrey matched Stuart by taking home three gold medals of her own. The sophomore opened her meet with a win in the 800 meter run (2:23.31), earned another gold thanks to a time of 47.84 in the 300 hurdles and was the final leg on the mile relay.
Canyon’s Kashlee Dickinson qualified for regionals in five events Wednesday. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
Dickinson opened her morning by clearing 11-feet to take a victory in the pole vault event, and took silver in the high jump (4-feet-10 inches). In the afternoon the sophomore helped the 400 meter relay place second (50.53), then qualified for 100 meter dash (13.29) and also placed third as a part of the 800 meter relay (1:50.32).
Other competitors making a splash at the area meet was Perryton’s Alyssa Rutz, Pampa’s Lexi Maul and Karina Puentes of Dumas.
Rutz won the 100 meter hurdles running a 16.48 and qualified in the 300 hurdles by getting a bronze medal with a time of 51.12.
Maul advanced in two long distance events. Maul earned silver in the 3200 meter run with a new personal-best time of 11:07.67, and claimed bronze in the 1600 meter run (5:29.58). Puentes tied a Texas Panhandle season-best by leaping 17-9 in the long jump to grab a silver medal.
Canyon’s Rafe Butcher crosses the finish line to win the 400 meter run Wednesday. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
In boys action Wednesday, the Canyon Eagles totaled 145 points to beat Dumas (99 points) for the area championship.
Eagles senior Rafe Butcher continued his red hot running by sprinting to a new Texas Panhandle season-best time of 48.45 to win the 400 meter run. It’s the third straight week for the West Texas A&M football commit to break his own personal-best time. Butcher was also part of the 1600 meter relay team that ran a season-best 3:22.52 that placed second.
Teammate Samuel Ashley impressed and then some in the long distance races. Ashley, a senior, clocked a 9:42.34 to dominate the 3200 meter run. Later in the day, Ashley was at it again pacing a 4:28.61 for a victory in the 1600 meter run.
After putting on a show last week in Borger at the district meet with a Texas Panhandle season-best 3:21.94, the Dumas mile relay team of Oliver Ortiz, Emmanuel Ibanez, Christian Carrera and Cade Cox, followed up with a 3:22.43 to hold off Canyon by .09 seconds and qualify for regionals.
The Demons sprint relay of Ortiz, Carrera, Cox and Louis Ortiz also claimed gold blazing a 42.66.
Borger’s Kaleb Hughes won double gold medals in the shot put and discus on Wednesday. [Jason Vance/ For Press Pass Sports]
During the field events no one had a bigger morning than Borger’s Kaleb Hughes. Hughes went double gold, putting on a career performance in the process. The senior uncorked a season-best throw of 154-02 for the discus crown, and won his second gold launching another new personal-mark of 48-9 in the shot put.
The Region I-4A Track and Field Meet is set for next Friday and Saturday at Lowrey-Field at PlainsCapital Park in Lubbock.
