The Whitharral Lady Panthers and Anton Lady Dawgs track & field programs competed at the Girls 1A District 5 & 6 Area Championships in Dawson this past Thursday. In every event, the top four finishers advanced to the Regional Championships, which the Lady Panthers and Lady Dawgs capitalized on.
In the 100-meter dash, Kalyn Bates (Whitharral) placed runner-up with a time of 12.90 and Ashtyn Potter (Whitharral) placed fourth with a time of 13.64.
In the 200-meter dash, Valeria Frias (Whitharral) placed third with a time of 29.63, and in the 800-meter run, Emma Gonzales (Whitharral) placed fourth with a time of 2:56.90.
In the 3,200-meter run, Brooklyn Nickelson (Whitharral) placed fourth with a time of 15:51.41, and in the 100-meter hurdles, Alyssa Mancias (Anton) placed runner-up with a time of 18.71.
Mancias would be the 300-meter hurdles Area Champion with a time of 53.32, followed by Mylie Carlock (Anton) placing fourth with a time of 59.33.
In the 4x100-meter relay, the Lady Panthers team of Paige Smith, Aaliyah Sanchez, Potter and Bates placed runner-up with a time of 53.30. In the 4x200-meter relay, the Lady Panthers placed runner-up with a time of 1:54.78.
In the 4x400-meter relay, the Lady Panthers team of Neal, Smith, Sanchez and Natalia Marin placed fourth with a time of 4:52.09.
In the high jump, Sanchez placed runner-up with a jump of 4’-2”. In the triple jump, Neal placed third with a jump of 30’-0.75” and Emberley Prowell placed fourth with a jump of 29’-11.25”.
In the Area team standings, the Lady Panthers finished third out of 11 teams with a total score of 89 points.
“The Lady Panthers are advancing 10 athletes in nine different events to Regionals. They were extremely productive, but I was more proud of their grit this time around,” Lady Panthers Head Track & Field Coach Payton Shipley said. “We had some changes made, alternates called upon, and everyone stepped up and helped carry the team. Shout out to our lone senior, Kalyn Bates, for getting out in the 100-meter dash, and being our anchor for our Regional qualifying 4x100-meter & 4x200-meter relays. We have lofty goals set for those events.”
Meanwhile, the Lady Dawgs tied for sixth with a total score of 38 points.
Both teams will return with their Regional qualifiers at the 1A Region 1 Championships at South Plains College on May 1-2.