By Rustin Klafka
What a weekend! The Tigerettes competed at the Region 1-3A Regional Track Meet in Abilene at Elmer Gray Stadium in hopes to advance to the State Track Meet in Austin in two weeks. The Top 2 Teams for each of the 4 regions in Texas qualify for the State Track Meet in Austin on May 12 – 14, 2016.
Our 4x200m Relay team consisting of Erin Olmos, Quanasia McDaniel, Hannah Rodriguez and Ro Sangster competed both days, Friday and Saturday. Ro Sangster, Erin Olmos and Quanasia McDaniel also competed in the 200m Dash after taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd place at the Area Meet the previous week. Lane assignments on Friday were randomly assigned for prelims. The 4x200m Relay had a bad draw and got lane 8. Lane 8 in the 4x200m Relay is a tough lane to run well simply because of the mental toll it takes on the runners due to a huge stagger in the start and exchanges. We had a decent run at prelims and came in .01 seconds behind Littlefield in our heat for 2nd place. After Heat 2 we sat in 4th going in to Finals on Saturday which placed us in Lane 6 for finals.
Ro Sangster, Quanasia McDaniel and Erin Olmos competed in the 200m Dash in Prelims Friday. Ro came in 2nd in her heat to advance to Finals on Saturday. Quanasia McDaniel and Erin Olmos just missed the cut to make Finals.
At the Finals Friday, four 4x200m relay teams came in within one second separating 1st to 4th prelim times. The Top 4 teams going in the Finals based on prelim times were Shallowater, Wall, Littlefield and Slaton. Erin Olmos ran the first leg incredibly well and we got the baton in 1st place, as the baton moved through our relay, our exchanges were smooth from Erin to Quanasia McDaniel, then Q to Hannah Rodriguez, all running strong legs. Hannah handed Ro the baton and we sat in 3rd place around 10m behind 2nd place Wall. Ro shot out of the curve and passed Wall to finish in 2nd to help the Team qualify for the State Meet!
Ro also ran the 200m Dash 30 minutes after the 4x200m relay. She was in lane 3 for the Finals. She had a good clean start and had a great run to take 2nd behind Eastland, which qualified her to compete at the state meet.
We couldn’t be more proud of our Tigerettes. They have fought for every meter, every win. Two more weeks and we get to compete with the best in the State of Texas.
We have had huge support from the Slaton community and we can’t thank you enough. We’ve also seen a big support from other communities in our district, particularly Denver City. Our athletes created a bond with the athletes from DC and I witnessed athletes that competed against each other all year yell for each other and share in the joy of success alongside them. The support didn’t end on the sidelines but spread into the stands as DC parents and fans yelled for our Tigerettes and Tigers, and Slaton parents and fans yelled for Denver City athletes.
On behalf of the Tigerette coaching staff and our athletes, we are incredibly thankful for all of the support we saw, heard and felt this year and look forward to cheering each other on as DC and Slaton athletes compete together in Austin. Make the trip down to Austin and get ready to lose your voice cheering on these athletes.
