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April 11, 2024
Lady Bulldogs qualify for regionals in five events
By Brady Keane
The Bandera Prophet
The Bandera girls varsity track team took care of business Wednesday afternoon at the area track meet as Kinlee Lawlis, Gabby Barrera, Jayla Blake, and Sydney Moore all advanced to the Class 4A Region IV track meet to be held April 19-20 at Texas A&M Kingsville.
Lawlis started the day off with a strong showing in the long jump, posting a mark of 17’3 to place second and secure a spot at regionals. Lawlis jumped 16’8.25 at the district last meet and was seeded sixth entering the competition before placing second behind Cuero’s Mauryana Dasilva (17’10).
“We knew she could do it because she had jumped 17’4 a few weeks ago, it was just about bringing it all together and getting her mark right,” Bandera Head Girls Track Coach Brooke Ashcraft said. “I know she was excited beating some of the competitors that had previously beaten her in district.”
Sydney Moore seeded third in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.98, had a strong run and posted a time of 15.92 to secure her spot at regionals with a third-place finish as well. Moore finished behind Baylee Gold (Wimberley, 15.17) and Mariah McCoy (Wimberley, 15.77) in the race.
“Things are rally coming together for her since district,” Ashcraft said. “We have continued to see her drop her time in the hurdles in the last two weeks and she did a great job. She’s really good at the little things, and in that event, you have to be.”
Lawlis continued the strong showing for Bandera with a third-place finish in the 100m dash, posting a time of 12.19. Lawlis was seeded first after running a 12.26 at district but qualified behind Cuero’s Dasilva (12.14) and Canyon Lake’s Oberholtzer (12.17).
In the 200m dash, Lawlis proceeded to break her own school record by placing first with a time of 24.79. The next closest competitor, Davenport’s Macie Fallon, ran a 25.45.
“Kinlee was disappointed in the 100 even though she tied her school record,” Ashcraft said. “She didn’t get as good of a start as she has been in that race. We did a mental reset before the 200 and talked a lot about her strength and her goals. She is really good at the latter half of the race and picks it up as other kids are shutting down, and we definitely saw that pay off with another school record in the 200.”
The Lady Bulldogs also qualified in the tightly contested 4x200m relay, placing third with a time of 1:44.12. The relay team, comprised of Barrera, Blake, Moore and Lawlis, finished just behind Davenport and Cuero to advance to the regional meet.
“I feel like the girls let some uncontrollable factors affect them a little bit,” Ashcraft said. “We were in lane 8 and had been in lane 4 for most of the year. The starter held the starters in the blocks a little longer than normal, but we’ve addressed all of those things and are looking forward to moving on from it at regionals.”
Bandera also scored two points in the 400m run as Merry Robinson, who was seeded fifth in the race, placed fifth with a time of 62.96. Robinson will be an alternate for the regional meet behind Canyon Lake’s Ayren Lightfoot (59.43), Gonzales’ Jayda Glass (60.32), Boerne’s Savannah Seibert (61.15) and Fredericksburg’s Taylor Grona (61.15).
“I have really been impressed with Merry and how she has attacked the race,” Ashcraft said. “She was the youngest one in the race and wasn’t afraid to get up and challenge runners who have been at the state meet before.”
The Lady Bulldogs will have just over a week to prepare for the Class 4A Region IV meet in Kingsville, where they hope to continue their push for a showing at the state track and field meet at the University of Texas on May 2-4.
“We want to continue to maintain the conditioning aspect but tweak the little things,” Ashcraft said. “We’ll be focusing a lot on the mental aspect of each of their races, and I think that gets overlooked a lot of times. It’s important for us as we get ready to compete for a chance to go to state.”
Lawlis started the day off with a strong showing in the long jump, posting a mark of 17’3 to place second and secure a spot at regionals. Lawlis jumped 16’8.25 at the district last meet and was seeded sixth entering the competition before placing second behind Cuero’s Mauryana Dasilva (17’10).
“We knew she could do it because she had jumped 17’4 a few weeks ago, it was just about bringing it all together and getting her mark right,” Bandera Head Girls Track Coach Brooke Ashcraft said. “I know she was excited beating some of the competitors that had previously beaten her in district.”
Sydney Moore seeded third in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.98, had a strong run and posted a time of 15.92 to secure her spot at regionals with a third-place finish as well. Moore finished behind Baylee Gold (Wimberley, 15.17) and Mariah McCoy (Wimberley, 15.77) in the race.
“Things are rally coming together for her since district,” Ashcraft said. “We have continued to see her drop her time in the hurdles in the last two weeks and she did a great job. She’s really good at the little things, and in that event, you have to be.”
Lawlis continued the strong showing for Bandera with a third-place finish in the 100m dash, posting a time of 12.19. Lawlis was seeded first after running a 12.26 at district but qualified behind Cuero’s Dasilva (12.14) and Canyon Lake’s Oberholtzer (12.17).
In the 200m dash, Lawlis proceeded to break her own school record by placing first with a time of 24.79. The next closest competitor, Davenport’s Macie Fallon, ran a 25.45.
“Kinlee was disappointed in the 100 even though she tied her school record,” Ashcraft said. “She didn’t get as good of a start as she has been in that race. We did a mental reset before the 200 and talked a lot about her strength and her goals. She is really good at the latter half of the race and picks it up as other kids are shutting down, and we definitely saw that pay off with another school record in the 200.”
The Lady Bulldogs also qualified in the tightly contested 4x200m relay, placing third with a time of 1:44.12. The relay team, comprised of Barrera, Blake, Moore and Lawlis, finished just behind Davenport and Cuero to advance to the regional meet.
“I feel like the girls let some uncontrollable factors affect them a little bit,” Ashcraft said. “We were in lane 8 and had been in lane 4 for most of the year. The starter held the starters in the blocks a little longer than normal, but we’ve addressed all of those things and are looking forward to moving on from it at regionals.”
Bandera also scored two points in the 400m run as Merry Robinson, who was seeded fifth in the race, placed fifth with a time of 62.96. Robinson will be an alternate for the regional meet behind Canyon Lake’s Ayren Lightfoot (59.43), Gonzales’ Jayda Glass (60.32), Boerne’s Savannah Seibert (61.15) and Fredericksburg’s Taylor Grona (61.15).
“I have really been impressed with Merry and how she has attacked the race,” Ashcraft said. “She was the youngest one in the race and wasn’t afraid to get up and challenge runners who have been at the state meet before.”
The Lady Bulldogs will have just over a week to prepare for the Class 4A Region IV meet in Kingsville, where they hope to continue their push for a showing at the state track and field meet at the University of Texas on May 2-4.
“We want to continue to maintain the conditioning aspect but tweak the little things,” Ashcraft said. “We’ll be focusing a lot on the mental aspect of each of their races, and I think that gets overlooked a lot of times. It’s important for us as we get ready to compete for a chance to go to state.”