P.R. POWER

“It feels amazing,” he said. “I expected to be in the Top 3. I wasn’t afraid. I was confident.”

 

Canete also attributes a good two weeks of practice to his win.

 

“I think practice went really well,” he said. “I practiced a lot harder and I was ready for 6’, 6”. I cleared 6’ 5” and that’s my new (personal record).”

 

Canete hopes he can continue to improve this weekend in Waco.

 

“I just need to stay focused and practice hard all week,” he said.

 

The 4x100m relay team was facing a little déjà vu as last year’s squad missed out on a regional berth because of injuries and personal issues. After a hamstring injury to junior Kylan Herrera, one of the key cogs in the machine that has finished first at every meet this year, the team could have suffered a similar fate but Cain stepped in and helped the squad set a personal best mark of 41.27 seconds to claim first-place by five-hundredths of a second over Rowlett.

 

Cain was just glad he could step up for his squad to help them get redemption for last year.

 

“It’s pretty big for a relay to have people who can all run,” he said. “It kind of feels like a dream. Last season, a lot of us were hurt and people weren’t so we couldn’t get past Area. This year, I think we can go further.”

 

It looked like the streak of wins may end at District when Cove was mid-pack at the final hand-off from Lomax to Brumfield by the senior speedster found another gear and blasted past the field for a first-place finish.

 

“I just felt like I had to catch them,” said Brumfield. “My team put me in a great position and they were only about 10 meters away so I was like, ‘I have to toughen up and catch them.’”

 

He did just that. With about 15 meters to go, Brumfield edged past Avim Lang of Rowlett for the gold.

 

“He’s one of a kind type of guy,” Lomax said of Brumfield. “On the third leg I just have to keep it close and, if I do that, I know Brumfield will take it home for us.”

 

Brumfield was among those athletes that missed out on last year’s regionals and he felt like he had a debt to pay to his teammates.

 

“‘I could have went last year but I didn’t handle my business,” he said. “I feel like I owe it to my team because I cost them last year during Area. We knew we had to get to regionals this year and, possibly, to state.”

 

Brumfield knew the injury to Herrera came at the worst time with a limited roster but he’s proud of Cain for stepping in.

 

“Our team wasn’t stacked this year,” he said. “We only had about five or six guys after injuries. Eric Cain really helped us out to bring us our (personal record).”

 

Brumfield also qualified for regionals with a second-place finish in the 100m dash and mark of 10.74 seconds. He finished two-hundredths of a second behind Joseph Sheffield of Rowlett (10.72)

 

Lomax and Lealiiee are also glad to get redemption from a disappointing 2015 campaign.

 

“It feels pretty good after last year having people hurt and missing,” said Lomax. “To have a full team here feels great.”

 

It’s also great to share it with his football teammates, says Lealiiee.

 

“It feels great,” he said. “We’re still carrying on the legacy from football season into to track season and now into the next chapter at regionals at Baylor.”

 

The squad isn’t content, however. They have big goals and a regional berth is not enough. They won’t be happy until gold is draped around their necks in Austin in May.

 

“It would be a great feeling,” said Lealiiee. “It’s been our goal from the beginning of the season. After we got first place at the Bulldawg Relay, we just wanted to carry that on and use it as motivation to get ourselves better.”

 

Lomax echoed that feeling. He doesn’t just want to qualify for state at Baylor this weekend. He wants to win.

 

“Definitely first place,” he said of his expectations for regionals.

 

“From the beginning, we said we’re going to make it all the way to state and win all of our meets, so we just want to keep that goal alive.”

 

Junior Dahmir Pearson also qualified for the Region II-6A meet with a third-place finish in the 800m run. He ran a 1:58.88 to finish behind Ellison’s Josh Branch (1:56.49) and Devin Johnson (1:58.01). Meshach Ibekaku of Naaman Forest (2:00.68) earned the final qualifier.

 

Herrera, one of the favorites in the long jump, was unable to give his full effort due to the hamstring injury. He could only muster a jump of 18’, 7” after q1ualifying for the event with a first-place finish at district with a mark of 22’, 7 1/4”. That mark would have won the area meet as LaDaireon Rose of North Garland placed first with a mark of 22’, 5 ½”.

 

Irving will compete in the triple jump at approximately 10 a.m. on Friday while Brumfield will compete in the 100m dash prelims around 4:40 p.m. and the 4x100m relay squad will race the prelims about 5:10 p.m.

 

Canete will compete at the high jump around 11 a.m. on Saturday and the 100m dash and 4x100m relay finals will be at 2 p.m. and 2:15 p.m., respectively.

 

Pearson will compete in the 800m run finals Saturday at 1:20 p.m.