Using the work of their strong relay teams as well as a couple of outstanding individual performances, the Amarillo High Sandies were able to pull away from the field and claim the team title of the Amarillo Relays Meet of Champions on a windy, brisk afternoon at Dick Bivins Stadium.
The Sandies racked up a total of 137 points which was comfortably ahead of second place Lubbock-Cooper’s 98 points. Dumas placed third with 55 points and Palo Duro came in fourth with 53.
The Sandies started strong on the back of the sprint relay team of Bryson Brown, Pius Vokes, Landon Barker, and JQ Ervin. That four-some with Ervin anchoring clocked a time of 4:23 to hold off Randall (4:32).
Vokes went on to have a superb perfomance in the 100-meter dash. Though running down wind, the senior speedster picked up his second gold medal of the afternoon after sprinting to a time of 10.61 to beat Lubbock Monterey’s Timothy Tillman (10.77).
After grabbing a bronze in the 800-meter relay, AHS once again left its mark on the last two races of the day behind University of Oregon signee Adam Burlison.
With most fans getting their first look at the highly touted University of Oregon signee on Friday during his gold medal performance in the 3200-meter race, Burlison once again shined on Saturday.
The senior left the field behind in the 1600-meter run despite heading into a gusty wind with a time of 4:27.14, which was seven seconds better than Clovis’ Samuel Fuentes second place finish of 4:34.17.
After a quick rest, Burlison took the stick as the anchor leg of the mile relay and edged Dumas’ Andrew Flores down the stretch for a thrilling victory as the Sandies clocked a 3:24.96 just four tenths of a second better than the Demons 3:25.
The high profile Burlison is as good as advertised ending the relays with three gold medals. Vokes ended the afternoon with a pair of gold medals of his own.
Amarillo High also won the junior varsity division with a tally of 129 points and Randall won the eighth-grade division getting 87.50 points.
Saturday’s championsÂ
Here’s a look at the rest of Saturday’s gold medal winners.
Palo Duro’s Vern Blair had a great afternoon claiming a pair of gold medals. Blair first won the 110-hurdles running a time of 14.80. Blair then followed that effort by nabbing his second gold in the 300-meter hurdles clocking a 41.04.
Caprock’s Alhosan Sheriff opened action on Saturday leaping 44-feet-5 inches to get a gold medal in the triple jump event.
Alex Niemiec of Canyon was flat out impressive despite the strong winds by putting the field away in a hurry with a time of 1:55.84 to win gold in the 800-meter run.
The Lubbock-Cooper 800-meter relay team took gold with a time of 1:29.88.
Lubbock Monterey’s Zion Daniels sprinted to a time of 51.99 for a gold medal in the 400-meter race.
Lubbock-Cooper’s Callan Ritz won the 200-meter race with a time of 21.76.