REGIONAL TRACK
KINGSVILLE—Despite being nestled close to the Texas border, Kingsville has become Milano country.
The Eagles stacked up 94 points to easily outdistance Refugio’s 66 points to grab their second consecutive Class 2A, Region IV track championship at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Thorndale was 11th with 24 points.
The Milano girls were 14th with 13 points and the Thorndale girls were 22nd with nine points.
Devonte Jones fueled Milano with duel wins in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 39.45 and also took the long jump with a leap of 23-feet. Jones was also a integral part of the winning sprint relay and 1,600-meter relay teams.
Jones won a silver medal at the 2017 state meet in the 300 hurdles.
Tim Demeritt took the 400-meter dash in 49.63, easily outdistancing Dharius Nobbie of Refugio’s 51.26.
Milano blazed to victory in the sprint relay with a clocking of 43.04 with anchor Jones, Demeritt, Ronnie Messer and Kyle King.
The Eagles also crossed the finish line first in the 1,600-meter relay after being timed at 3:28.10 with anchor Demeritt, Jones, Messer and Kaleb Dodd in the quartet.
Milano picked up a silver medal in the sprint relay at last year’s state meet.
Eagles long distance specialist Parker Jones captured first in the 1,600-meters after being clocked in at 4:33.00 and was also second in the 3,200-meters at 9:58.02.
It’s Jones first trip to state.
In a photo finish, Lulu Mitchell turned in the best effort for the Milano girls with a third place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.82, just behind winner Refugio’s Alexa Valenzuela’s 12.63 time and Refugio’s Aubrey Rose’s 12.79.
For Thorndale, weight-man Corey Preusse is returning to the state meet after placing second in the discus with a toss of 152-feet.
Preusse just missed out on making the trip to Austin in the shot put, finishing third with a measurement of 49-9, two feet behind Ryan Pickett of Granger.
Preusse just missed out on a medal at last year’s state meet, placing fourth in the discus. The junior established a new school record in the event last year at regional with a 153-3 effort, breaking a 37-year-old mark.
Michael Herzog will join Preusse after placing second in the triple jump at 43-5, less than a foot behind winner Ryan Reyes of Sabinal.
Madison Smith had the best showing for the Thorndale girls with a fourth place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.69. Landri Leschber was also fourth in the long jump at 16-11.
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