Saturday provided an epic finale to the West Texas AAU National Qualifying meet at Ratliff Stadium, as dozens of boys and girls from the area looked to punch their tickets to the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
The stakes were high, as the top four finishers in each race would move on to the important summer meet later this month in North Carolina.
The action kicked off with the finals of the 100 meter dash, which saw both expected and unexpected results.
In the eight-and-under division, Odessa’s Jalyn Bishop stood atop the podium after finishing third in the prelims on Friday.
His time of 16.33 seconds gave him the win over Princeton Henry of Abilene, who finished second after clocking in at 17.01.
In the 10-year-old division, Cash Henry of Abilene once again dominated after winning his prelim by nearly two seconds.
He claimed his gold medal with a time of 13.42 in the final, with Odessa’s Chaniyan Johnson finishing in second with a time of 15.32.
Henry also won the 400 meter dash by over 11 seconds with a time of 1:07.
The oldest division in the competition proved to be the most competitive, as Odessa’s Deacan Armendarez (11.85) edged out Cedar Hill’s Jackson Forte (11.88) by just three one-hundredths of a second.
His performance becomes even more impressive considering that Armendarez was just under three-tenths behind Forte in the prelims on Friday.
On the girls side, Midland’s Saylor Elam put on another clinic in the 11-year-old division, clocking a 14.91 in the finals to take the gold over fellow Midlander Ketsia Moale, who ran a 15.92.
She would also go on to win the 200 meter by over three seconds with a 30.76.
Memori Hibbler of Amarillo, won the 14-year-old division with a 13.38, while Midland’s Esther Adeehintim took home the silver with a 14.17.
The eldest division on the women’s side saw yet another prelim winner defend from the first lane, as Anna Hudson of Miami took home the gold with a 12.79.
Brielle Bracken of Midland finished in second with a 13.29.
The hurdles competitions also saw some intense action across the age divisions.
In the 14-year-old girls 100 meter hurdles, Midland’s Milana King took home the gold with a time of 19.50.
She also ran the 200 meter hurdles, where she placed second to Esther Adeehintim who ran a 34.48.
On the boys side, Odessa’s Caleb Cruz won the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 28.65 over Midland’s Maddux Jones, who ran a 30.85.
In the boys 400 meter hurdles, Christian Davalos of Midland took home the crown with a time of 1:03:46 over Abilene’s Steven Reece Jr. who ran a 1:09:82.
Following the meet, many local track athletes will compete in the AAU Junior Olympic Games that will take place from July 30 to Aug. 6 in Greensboro, N.C.
>> Follow Nicholas Pursley on Twitter at @nicholaspursley
