Boys Track Defends San Angelo Title

Apr 02, 2008 - 14:51:52 CDT.

BILLIE PITCHER Janice Aleman lasers a strike to first base to force out an Antler hitter Tuesday during the Billies’ 3-2 loss at home to Tivy. - Standard-Radio Post Photo by Lisa Treiber-Walter

They not only defended their title, they far outdistanced every challenger as the Fredericksburg High School varsity boys track team reclaimed the Division II title at the San Angelo Relays Saturday.

The boys scored 204 points in the two-day meet -- far ahead of second-place Wolfforth Frenship’s 146 -- and scored eight first place wins.

The boys were scheduled to go to Wall for the Cotton Patch Relays tomorrow but made the decision yesterday not to make the trip because of a probable late return on Thursday night before team members had to return to class on Friday.

Consequently, their next competition as a team will be at the District 27-AAAA meet Monday and Wednesday at Antler Stadium in Kerrville. See separate schedule with this story.

Texas Relays Draw Five

Five members of the team will be headed to Austin Friday and Saturday to take on top-notch national and state competition at the Texas Relays at Mike Myers Stadium.

Senior Josh Weirich will be going in both the pole vault and the high jump, seniors Nick Alejandro and Travis Maner will compete in the shot put, senior Clay Smith will throw the discus and sophomore Ansel Berber-Thayer will long jump.

Smith placed third at the Texas Relays last year and went on to place fourth in AAAA at the state meet.

Alejandro placed sixth at state last year and Weirich was a regional qualifier in the pole vault.

Early Performances

Set Pace For Win

Senior Rolando Limon started the FHS team on the right track at the 50th Annual San Angelo Relays with a win in the 3200 meter run.

Limon’s 10:06.31 was his fastest time of the year and was 14 seconds ahead of second place. Teammate Alfredo Duque, a junior, had a personal record, finishing third in 10:20.83.

Junior Caleb McCrea was also well in front of the competition as he took first in the 800 with a time of 1:58.70 that was two and a half seconds in front of the nearest competitor and a personal record for him.

“These performances seemed to fire up the group,” Coach Mike Stevens said, “and we just kept rolling after that.”

Junior Brendon West set a new school record in the 200 meter dash. His 21.93 just edged Manuel Gonzales’ 21.95 set in 1999. West cruised to the win in San Angelo, over a second-and-a-half ahead of Michael Connor of Wolfforth Frenship (23.59).

Josh Weirich again accumulated more points on his own than some of the rival track teams at the meet. He had 38 points from wins in the high jump and pole vault, a second in the 300 hurdles, a third in the 110 hurdles and a fourth in the long jump.

Weirich led a 1-2-3 sweep of the pole vault by the FHS team as he jumped 13’6”, his brother, Kevin, was second at 13’ and Sam Henke was third at 12’6”.

Weirich didn’t come close to his best high jump of the year (6’8”) but won the event with a 6’2” leap.

Weight men Nick Alejandro and Clay Smith, who have become pillars in wins for the boys’ team, again took first places in the shot and discus. Smith won the discus with a throw of 156’3” and Alejandro took the gold in the shot put with a toss of 56’9¾”.

The 4x4 relay team also stepped up to record their best time of the year -- a 3:21.06 with Diaz, Craig Petty, McCrea and West.

Senior James Perez saw his first action since his appendectomy earlier this year. He brought home a silver in the triple jump and while the 42’6½” was not his best jump ever, Stevens said, “it was good to have him back and he gets better every day.”

He added that the hurdlers ran well, with Trevor Ahrlett and Petty placing along with Weirich in those events.

“I think we scored points in every event except the 100 meters, so it was truly a team win,” Stevens said.

Sophomore Taylor Eden moved up from JV to contribute in the 4x200 relay and the 200 meter dash, Stevens added.

SAN ANGELO RELAYS

March 28-29

DIVISION II

1. FHS 204

2. Wolfforth Frenship 146

3. Lubbock Estacado 74

4. Brownwood 57.33

5. Big Spring 51

6. Lampasas 40

7. San Angelo Lake View 20.33

8. Marble Falls 19.33

Triple jump: 2-James Perez 42’6½”.

Long jump: 2-Ansel Berber-Thayer 20’9”, 4-Josh Weirich 20’2½”.

Discus: 1- Clay Smith 156’3”, 2-Nick Alejandro 148’8”.

Shot put: 1-Nick Alejandro 56’9¾”:, 3-Travis Maner 48’9¼”, 5-Bradley Dittmar 47’6½”.

High jump: 1-Josh Weirich 6’2”.

Pole vault: 1-Josh Weirich 13’6”, 2-Kevin Weirich 13’, 3-Sam Henke 12’6”.

3200 meter run: 1-Rolando Limon 10:06.31, 3-Alfredo Duque 10:20.83.

800 meter run: 1-Caleb McCrea 1:58.7.

1600 meter run: 3-Rolando Limon 4:42.8, 6-Alfredo Duque 4:57.99.

110 meter hurdles: 3-Josh Weirich 16.10, 6-Trevor Ahrlett 16.44.

300 meter hurdles: 2-Josh Weirich 40.32, 3-Craig Petty 40.79.

200 meter dash: 1-Brendon West 21.93.

400 meter dash: 3-Porfie Diaz 52.59.

4x100 meter relay: 3-FHS (Craig Petty, Sean Atkins, Porfie Diaz, Brendon West) 44.44.

4x400 meter relay: 1-FHS (Porfie Diaz, Craig Petty, Caleb McCrea, Brendon West) 3:21.06.

4x200 meter relay: 4-FHS (Sean Atkins, Ansel Berber-Thayer, Taylor Eden, Corey Munoz) 1:34.15.