Panhandle sprinter Mackie Land won three events and set a new 400 meter dash record during the 66th Amarillo Relays Meet of Champions on Saturday at Dick Bivins Stadium. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
Amarillo High may have won the team title, but it was Panhandle’s Mackie Land stealing the show at the 66th Amarillo Relays Meet of Champions on Saturday afternoon at Dick Bivins Stadium.
As expected, Land, a Texas Tech signee, took advantage of the beautiful weather exciting the estimated crowd of 3,000 fans with her dominating performance.
Land opened her afternoon breaking Sommer Wilder of Canyon’s 400 meter dash record set in 2014 of 56.19. Land left the field in the dust after the first curve, and finished with a sprint to the finish line all by herself for a new meet record and season-best time of 55.25.
“I was so excited about getting this record,” said Land, who won this event for a second straight year. “I was hoping that it would be a good day, and I didn’t spend too much energy yesterday.”
Land then went on to change things up. She had been running the 100 meter dash all year, but instead head coach Corby Maurer had her run the 200 meter dash to get a feel for doing a little bit of everything. That didn’t phase Land one bit, as she once again blazed past the field for a winning time of 25.13.
“I wanted to put Mackie in the grinder this week,” Maurer said. “Running at a meet of this level is hard to do. But make no mistake, she was tired after this meet. After qualifying Friday, and running again Saturday, that’s a lot. But I wanted to see if she could handle that, and she handled it like I thought she would.”
Land then capped her day off gaining a third gold medal with her 1600 meter relay team of Avery Sides, Sydnee Adee and her younger sister, Leah Land. Running the anchor leg, Panhandle left Amarillo High and Randall behind clocking a 4:05.70.
“It was a great day,” Land said. “Getting a win in the other races was great, and I always love winning with my teammates. I feel like our mile relay team is getting better each week. After we ran against Canyon a couple of weeks ago we just keep getting stronger.
Sophia Quiles was part of Crockett’s 8th Grade relay team that set two records during the 66th Amarillo Relays Meet of Champions on Saturday at Dick Bivins Stadium. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
Amarillo Relays Meet of Champion notes
The varsity teams are usually the highlight of the Amarillo Relays, however, it was Crockett Middle School that made the most noise Saturday breaking three eighth grade records. The 400 meter relay team of Memori Hibbler, Ellen Head, London Gilbreath, and Sophia Quiles blazed to a 50.86 breaking Plainview’s 2014 record of 52.18. Hibbler, Head, Gilbreath, Quiles put their names back in the record books during the 800 meter relay when they left the field behind to run a 1:48.38 setting a new meet record, which shattered Borger’s 2005 mark of 1:52.26.
Hibbler wasn’t done, as she shined in the 200 meter race to set yet another meet record. Hibbler sprinted to a 26.19 that broke Brittany Hemphill’s record from Travis Middle School of 26.91.
“It was an unbelievable day,” Crockett track coach Jared Webster said. “These girls work so hard and have a ton of natural talent. I’m just so proud of what they accomplished.
The Amarillo High girls team dominated the meet stacking up 139 points, winning the Amarillo Relays for a third straight year. Randall came in second with 102 points.
Bree Mixon of Amarillo High had a big Saturday afternoon. The sprinter won the 100 meter dash clocking a 12.37. Mixon was also a part of the
800 meter relay team with Elise Eldridge, Brittney Brantley, and Kynlee Jesko, that found the gold medal stand with a season-best time of 1:43.64. Mixon also earned a bronze medal as a part of the 400 meter relay.
The Bushland Lady Falcons sprint relay continues to impress. The 400 meter relay squad made up of Ellie Frye, Kenley King, Bayleigh Eason, and anchor Jesse Fowler won one of the more exciting races Saturday. Fowler held off Palo Duro’s Juantai Shay Williams by .1 of a second for the thrilling win. Bushland ran a season-best time of 49.24 for the victory. The Lady Dons were right there with a 49.25.
Randall’s Kailee Benton followed up her gold medal triple jump performance of 17-8 1/4 on Friday with another gold on Saturday winning the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 46.15.
Hannah Stuart of Canyon won two gold medals during Amarillo Relays. The sophomore won the 3200 meter run Friday pacing an 11:31.89. Stuart followed that effort by claiming a gold medal in the 1600 meter run Saturday with a time of 5:17.55.
For a full look at the girls 66th Amarillo Relays Meet of Champions results, please click the link below.
https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/445391/results/m/1/100m
