TROY—Going into a week where Rockdale High School head track coach Chris VanCleave opted to rest many members of his team, RHS still seemed to perform at a high level, with 19 medals won throughout Thursday evening at Troy’s Trojan Relays.
“We had kids in a lot of different events,” Van-Cleave said. “But both boys and girls hit personal records for the season.”
For the Lady Tigers, freshman Raelynn Jackson earned her first varsity gold medal with a time of 28.21 in the 200-meter dash. Junior teammate Ciara Miles was two spots behind her in third with a time of 28.51. Jackson also took home bronze in the 100 with a time of 13.32. Earlier in the day, RHS sophomores T’Niyah Miles and Tanisha McBride picked up some hardware, with Miles getting silver in the shot put (348 1/2) and McBride earning bronze (333 1/2). Freshman Jernee Mitchell also placed sixth in the shot with a distance of 31-8. As a team, the Lady Tigers finished fifth overall. The Tigers, despite not having their sprinters competing in the 4x100 or 4x200-meter relay events, thrived in Bell County. Ninth grader De’Andre Stephens won gold in both the high (6-2) and triple jump (43 5), marking the first time he has been victorious in either event. Teammates Erik Sheppard (42-7 1/4) and Robert Owens (41-9) didn’t finish too far behind Stephens in the triple jump, placing third and fifth, respectively. Rockdale senior Devon Hicks was back in the top three for the second straight week, this time placing second in the pole vault with a 13-6, increasing his height by an entire foot from last week’s Rockdale Relays. The only competitor to beat Hicks was 2022 state qualifier Nathan Westbrook (Troy), who vaulted a 14-0.
RHS runners also excelled later in the d ay, w i th Owens earning gold in the 100-meter dash while Aiden Hirt won silver in the 400. In the 300-meter hurdles, Stephens picked up another medal with a second place finish. Rockdale’s distance with senior Yovanney Delgadillo placing second in the 3200 and third in the mile. VanCleave also had compliments for Cristo Hernandez, who placed fourth with a time of 2:08 in his first time ever competing in the 800-meter run. Rockdale’s mile-relay team made up of Hirt, Stephens, Tristan Galvan and Tim Grice also placed third, with a time of 3:41.94.
THIS WEEK— Both Rockdale High School track-and-field teams are on spring break this week and are scheduled to have time off from competition.
For VanCleave, the timing is ideal since Grice, a 2022 state silver medalist tweaked his hamstring during the Rockdale Relays a week before. Injuries have also kept Tiger junior Gerren Marrero from running in a meet this year as well as Galvan, who hadn’t competed until this past week. Following the break, the majority of Rockdale track and field athletes will head to Caldwell on Thursday, March 23, while the varsity boys will head back to Bell County for the Temple Wildcat Invitational the following day. The meet, primari-www.
primarily made up of Class 5A and 6A programs, will include competitors such as host Temple High School and Waco’s Midway High School.
VanCleave also said the varsity boys might head to Fredericksburg this upcoming Saturday for another meet. If Rockdale ultimately heads west this weekend, results will be in the next edition of The Reporter.
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