As it has gone the entire postseason, the Panhandle Ettes and Wellington Skyrockets have been dominating with that not changing one bit during the UIL Region I-2A track and field meet on a very cold Saturday at West Texas A&M.
The Ettes flexed their muscle once more, especially in the relay events, racking up 98 points to beat second place Farwell by 49 points.
The Ettes quest at a third UIL Class 2A state championship is alive and well as Panhandle keeps a stronghold on the region winning a fourth team title in the past five years.
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““I think the girls have been great all year long and I think peaking at the right time and we want to see that. Been the heart of this team with relays and worked hard to get back.
“This team works so hard all the time,” Panhandle track coach Corby Maurer said. “We have some girls that work towards this all year and some that come from basketball. The great thing is every one of these girls knows the expectation of what it takes to be winners. They have a high expectation, and they all want to be part of a great tradition.”
Panhandle set the tone with its fearsome foursome of a sprint relay team that hasn’t been contested all year. That squad of Ell Robinson, Carly Land, Lexi Durst and Leah Land, left the field in the dust to clock a 48.37 for the first gold medal. The 800-meter relay of Robinson, Makennah Austin, Durst and Land won the second gold with a time of 1:43.77. This race was much closer until Leah Land got the stick as the anchor leg and left the rest of the competition in the dust.
The Ettes closed out the day with their best race yet. The mile relay team of Robinson, Carly Land, Addison McCoid and Leah Land basically ran by themselves all the way through getting to a gold with an impressive 3:57.34.
On top of those 60 points, Carly Land helped in a huge way earlier in the meet gaining her third gold by dominating the 300-meter hurdles running to a time of 43.85. Teammate Nelly Thiessen also did her part qualifying for state in the shot put with a silver medal throw of 40-11 3/4.
“These girls are a team,” Maurer said. “They work hard for one another and love competing. It was awesome to watch this weekend.”
Farwell had a dynamic duo rack up the hardware with four gold medals Friday and Saturday.
Bella Jaime is headed back to state for a fourth straight year after putting on quite the showcase in the cold weather Saturday. Jaime set the tone early going wire-to-wire to get gold in the 800-meter race with a 2:22.51. Later in the day, Jaime got off to a strong start and finished strong down the stretch to run away with the 400-meter championship clocking a 59.09.
“I’m so excited to get back to state,” Jaime said. “My goal now is to medal. I’ve never medaled at state, and I want to do that. I’m very proud of how I ran to win in these races. I just ran how I wanted to and got the job done.”
Teammate Alexis Wade also went double gold showing out in the long-distance events. Wade was impressive winning the 3200-meter race running a 11:57.51. Wade earned her second gold in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:35.93.
Other Texas Panhandle girls’ athletes advancing to state are Madilyn Benson of Clarendon who took silver in the 800-meter race (2:25.67). Stratford’s Madi Braden punched a ticket with a toss of 132-3 to get silver in the discus while Sanford-Fritch standout Saydee Williams leaped to a 37-2 1/2 for a silver in the triple jump. Gruver’s Tyerin Aranda is also headed to Austin with a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles (15.40).
Wellington didn’t have it quite as easy as the Panhandle Ettes did. The Skyrockets had to win the mile relay to secure a regional championship, however, Wellington was able to accomplish that mission and finish the meet with 68 points to hold off Reagan County (64).
The Skyrockets started the meet getting a big-time performance from Major Brown who made a major statement in the jumping events and gain 20 points. Brown was outstanding landing his first gold in the long jump with a leap of 22-4 1/2. The triple jump was even more eye-popping. On his final jump Saturday morning, Brown hit the board and leaped a 45-11 1/4 for his second gold medal of the meet.
With Brown setting the tone, Wellington went to work in the afternoon running events. The 800-meter relay team of Travon Lewis, Anthony Ortiz, Brenden Garcia and DeMarcus Lewis got on the silver medal stand with a 1:29.47. Later in the meet, DeMarcus Lewis came up clutch with a silver in the 200-meter race sprinting to a 21.70. To close the meet out, the mile relay team of Travon Lewis, Garcia, Ortiz and DeMarcus Lewis stepped up to run a 3:25.34 for the gold medal and the team title.
“I am unbelievably proud of our young men and the way they competed over the weekend,” Wellington track coach Greg Proffitt said. “We had to battle through some injuries, adversity and terrible weather to get the job done. We knew going into the mile relay today that we had to win the race to win the regional track meet. We have a core group of seniors who have been at the regional track meet for four years and it’s really special to see them go out winning the mile relay and regional championship. Major Brown had a heck of a weekend in the jumps and the relay guys put together a solid weekend. It was a true team effort.”
Stratford’s Bryce Braden is making it a family affair joining his little sister Madi at the UIL Class 2A state meet. Braden, the multi-sport talent and Air Force commit, has been a power all year as that was on display one more time tossing a 176-7 to win the discus by more than 20-feet. Braden also earned a spot in Austin in the shot put with a silver medal throw of 53-1.
Gruver is getting a pair of athletes to the state meet after strong showings. Brock Butler kept the Greyhound pole vault tradition alive clearing 13-6 for a gold medal. Teammate Mason Lankford is capping off a tremendous rookie year with a trip to state after getting two silver medals in the hurdle events. Lankford, a freshman, won silver in the 110-meter race sprinting to a 15.16. He then earned his second silver in the 300-meter event with a time of 40.01.
Others joining the state meet are Caiden Crook of Panhandle who took off for an explosive jump of 6-6 to win the high jump. Crook also qualified as a part of the mile relay team that won silver behind Wellington running a 3:29.15.
Farwell’s Ryder McElroy placed second in the discus (154-2), Sunray’s Justin Bain got silver in the pole vault (12-6) to advance, as did West Texas High’s Rylee Buck who qualified in the triple jump with a silver medal (45-3 1/4). Rounding out the meet was Bovina’s Jose Carranza winning silver in the 400-meter race with a 50.65.
Check out the results
The top two competitors from each event qualified for the UIL Class 2A state track and field meet set for May 1-3 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
For a look at the full results from the Region I-2A meet, please visit https://www.spatotrack.com/results/highschool/2025/wtreg/