Copperas Cove track gets under way at Denise Petter Big Red Relays

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The 2022 track and field season officially got underway Saturday with the Denise Petter Big Red Relays that hosted 14 teams at Tiger Stadium in Belton.
Senior Malaya Thorpe led the Lady Dawgs with a personal record time of 17.12 seconds and a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles. Round Rock senior Francesca Mathurin won the events with a state top 50 mark of 16.17 seconds. 
Thorpe also notched a fourth-place finish in the 100m dash with a time of 13.12. Belton senior Ayana Jones won the race with a top 50 time of 12.57. Cove freshman Jastin Sandoval finished 11th with a mark of 13.75.
Sophomore Trystin Garcia added two more points to Cove’s toal with a fifth-place finish and time of 52.76 seconds in the 300m hurdles. Lake Belton junior Layloni Watson won the race with a National top 50 and Texas top 25 time of 48.31 seconds.
For the Bulldawgs, sophomore Caeden Swanner led the way with a fourth-place finish in the 110m hurdles with a time of 17.81 seconds. Belton’s Noaj Newman won the event with a USA top 50 and Texas top 25 time of 15.11 seconds. Senior Stephan Glass finished sixth with a PR time of 18.08 and junior Dayne Holden set a PR of 18.84 for eighth place. Swanner also had a PR in the 300m hurdles with an eighth-place finish and time of 45.38.
Junior Kevin Dale also notched a fourth-place finish in the high jump with a personal best mark of 5 feet, 6 inches. Lake Belton junior Giovonni Walker won the event with a USA top 10 and Texas top 10 leap of 6 feet, 4 inches, edging out teammate junior Easton Hammond who also cleared 6-4.
The 4x200m relay team of Malcolm Roberts, Jayden Triplett, Tyrese Francis and Nakeem Freeman earned a fifth-place finish with a mark of 1:32.56. MAnor won the relay with a time of 1:29.79.
The girls finished 10th overall with 14 points with Lake Belton taking the top spot with 109 points followed by Harker Heights with 106.
Other results for the Lady Dawgs are listed below.
The 4x100-meter relay team of junior La’Tajonia Worlds, sophomore A’mya Moss, Bostic, and Sandoval finished sixth with a time of 51.15 seconds.
Senior Khylaa Sandoval, Moss, Garcia and Thorpe finished 7th in the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:24.25.
The foursome of Bostic, Worlds, senior Princess Sprauve and Sandoval finished ninth in the 4x200m relay with a time of 1:52.90. Lake Belton won the relay with a time of 1:46.83.
Sophomore Peyton Brewster led the Lady Dawgs in the 800m run with a 2:57.22 mark. Junior Bianca Novakowski finished 23rd with a time of 3:11.24 and senior Grace Taylor finished with a mark of 3:36.23. Brewster also led the Lady Dawgs in the 1,600m run with a 19th-place finish and personal best mark of 6:31.84. 
K. Sandoval led the Lady Dawgs in the 400m dash with a 19th-place finish and time of 1:10.51. Novakowski finished 24th with a time of 1:20.96 and senior Alexus Rose-Mackey finished 27th with a mark of 1:27.85. K. Sandoval also had an 18th-place finish and personal best 28 feet, 3 inch mark in triple jump. 
In the 200m dash, junior Ta’Shayla Marrie finished 24th with a time of 29.91, Sprauve finished 29th with a time of 31.15 and senior Iyanna Watts finished 33rd with a time of 33.71. Marrie also finished seventh in the shot put with a throw of 29 feet, 11.50 inches.
The boys finished 10th overall with 13 points with Round Rock taking the top spot with 148 points followed by Harker Heights with 109.
Other results for the Bulldawgs are listed below.
Senior Ayden Seymour finished 14th in the 1,600m run with a time of 4:51.21 while junior Kane Reyes finished 23rd with a mark of 5:04.44 and Calderon set a personal best time of 5:13.53 in a 26th-place finish.
Triplett finished 15th in the 200m dash with a time of 24.34 while senior LaShaun James finished 26th with a time of 25.21 and junior Preston Anderson finished 32nd with a personal best time of 27.23. Anderson also had a 15th-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 18-11.
Sophomore Nakeem Freeman finished 16th in the 100m dash with a time of 11.99 while senior Bra’dyn Brooks set a PR time of 12.23 seconds for 22nd place and junior Saymon Taylor finished 28th with a PR mark of 12.34.
Sophomore Trevon Hodge finished 18th in the triple jump with a personal best mark of 35-5.
Freshman Jeremiah Calderon finished 22nd with a personal best in the 800m run of 2:13.63 while junior Kane Reyes finished 23rd with a time of 2:16.13.
The 4x400m relay team of Stephan Glass, Francis, Amari Snead and Kevin Dale finished nith with a time of 3:53.13.
The junior varsity boys had the best finish for Cove with 41 points for fifth place while the junior varsity girls finished 13th with 11 points. Junior Bryce Smith finished first in the high jump with a USA top 50 and Texas top 25 mark of 6 feet while freshman Trishtin Glass finished second with a personal best leap of 5-9 to lead the JV boys.
For complete results, visit http://milesplit.live/meets/448899.
The Bulldawgs and Lady Dawgs will be back in action this Saturday as they host the Bulldawg Relays at Bulldawg Stadium.