Boys’ track wins Texas State meet in San Marcos; girls finish third

By TJ Maxwell
Cove Leader-Press

SAN MARCOS - The Copperas Cove track and field team performed well in San Marcos on Thursday in the Texas State Hugh School Meet in San Marcos.
The boys took home the top spot with a total of 148 points to edge Leander Rouse (109) and hosts San Marcos (95) to take the first-place honors.
Cove swept the podium in the pole vault with junior Kyle Stifflemire setting a new personal record with a first-place vault of 15 feet, 6 inches. Sophomore Jacob Penman finished second with a mark of 12 feet and senior Chris Penman finished third with a vault of 11 feet.
Junior Tommy Connell added to the point total with a first-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with his time of 16.14 seconds. Javon Lee finished third with a mark of 17.04 seconds.
Connell also lead the 4x00-meter relay team to a first-place finish with a time of 43.38 seconds along with Jameel Rice, Isaiah Hawkins and AJ Acosta.
The senior Hawkins also finished second in the 200-meter dash with a mark of 22.85 seconds.
Acosta and Rice also led the 4x200m relay team to a second-place finish with a time of 1:32.39 with Dimitri Bell and Kameron Spruill. Bell also finished sixth in the 200m dash.
Senior Daveon Thomas won the shot put with a throw of 47 feet even while junior Quentin Ford won the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 4 .75 inches.
Sophomore Jerome Gallard earned a second-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 41 feet, 6.5 inches while junior Quinton Lewis finished fourth in the event with a leap of 40 feet, 10.5 inches.
Stifflemire just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the discus with a toss of 125 feet 2 inches and junior Jaylon Brown finished fifth with a mark of 123 feet.
Senior Jayren Key added a third-place finish in the 400m dash with a time of 52.82.
The 4x400m relay team of Gallard, Key, Louis Yvel and Micah Cox earned a fourth-place finish with a mark of 3:39.96 while Gallard, Yvel, Key, Isaiah Haines finished fourth in the 4x800m relay with a time of 9:06.26.
The girls’ team finished third with a score of 100.5 behind Leander Rouse (174.5) and Kyle Lehman (114).
The 4x200m relay team of Anayah Copeland, Ashli Hawkins, Tiyionnah McClain and Samirah Cunnigham took first place with a time of 1:49.72 while the foursome of Madison Griffon, Hawkins, She’Kailah Davis and Nadia Robinson earned a second-place finish in the 4x100m relay with a time of 50.36. Copeland also took fourth in the 400m dash with a time of 1:03.55 followed by freshman Jalyn Ayala (6th – 1:04.90).
Junior Aidan Chace added to the points tally with a first-place finish in the high jump. She cleared 5 feet, 6 inches for the top spot. Sophomore Jaela Rice (4-8) and Junior Jada Close (4-8) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
The 4x400m relay team of Mikayla Devins, Madisen Honea, Mariyah Reynolds and Copeland also landed on the podium with a third-place finish and mark of 4:22.28 while the 4x800m relay team of Emily Armstrong, Ayala, Honea and Tristan Carel finished fourth with time of 10:43.62.
Sophomore Tiana Barker earned a podium spot with the third spot in the 100m hurdles with a time of 17.78 while Robinson placed third in the 100m dash with a time of 12.96, Livonna Wallce placed third in the 200m dash with a time of 27.24 and Honea finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 32-08.
Senior Megan Dudgeon added a sixth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 30-07.5 and senior Destiny Miller finished seventh in the discus with a throw of 87-07.
Chace and McClain also finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the long jump with marks of 15-06.75 and 15-05.
Cove track and field gets back to action Friday at the Killeen ISD Varsity meet at Leo Buckley Stadium.