Orona going to area meet in two events

Running comes natural for Clay Orona.

He’ll get to keep running for at least another meet.

Orona finished fourth in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600 meter runs at the District 32-A track and field meet Saturday at McMullen County High School in Tilden.

By placing in the top four in both events, the Waelder junior advanced to an area track and field meet April 13 in Sinton.

Orona had a time of 5:05 in the 1,600 and 11:09.87 in the 3,200.

In addition to Orona, Joseph McCook, Marissa Ramirez and Jalissa Avila competed in the 32-A Meet for Waelder.

McCook participated in the boys 200-meter run, while Ramirez competed in the 400 and 800 runs, and Avila ran in the girls 400.

The top four finishers in each event at area advance to the Region IV-Class A Meet April 27-28 at Judson High School in Converse.

Gonzales

With a pair of first-place finishes and all three relay teams finishing in the top four, the Gonzales boys track and field team took fourth with 74 points in the Randolph Ro-Hawk Relays Saturday at Randolph High School.

Don Cartwright had a hand in both of the Apaches’ first-place finishes.

Cartwright won the 100 with a time of 11.46 seconds, and ran with Troy Hernandez, Darrance James and Chris Cerda to win the 400 Relay with a time of 44.12 seconds.

Cerda, Hernandez and James teamed with Marco Rodriguez to finish second in the 800 Relay with a time of 1:33.69, and with Coltin Russell in the 1,600 Relay to claim fourth with a time of 3:40.43.

Cody Jurek had a pair of third-place finishes in the shot put with a throw of 41 feet, 3 inches, and the discus with a throw of 118-10. Thompson Ince took third in the pole vault (11-0), while Russell was sixth in the 400 (54.15) and Cartwright sixth in the long jump (19-3.5).

The Gonzales girls track and field team recorded 55 points to finish fifth in the Ro-Hawk Relays. All three relay teams finished in the top three as the 400 Relay team of Bailey Connell, Kendall Fougerat, Danyelle Glass and Melanie Hunt took third (53.07), the 800 Relay team of Harris, Fougerat, Hunt and Kelsey Hardy finished second (1:51.59), and the 1,600 Relay team of Harris, Hardy, Krisslynn Sexton and Contessa Baird took third (4:23.02).

Connell also finished third in the 100 (13.53), while Harris (4-6) and Fougerat (4-4) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the high jump. Sexton took fifth in the 400 (1:04.52) and Baird sixth in the triple jump (30-5.5).

Both the Apaches and Lady Apaches competed in the Goliad Relays Thursday. They will return to competition for the 28-3A Meet Wednesday and Thursday in La Vernia.

Nixon-Smiley

With 34 points, the Nixon-Smiley girls track and field team finished seventh in the Karnes City Badger Relays Saturday at Karnes City High School. The Lady Mustangs’ 400 and 1,600 Relay teams both took third with times of 54.27 and 4:35, respectively, and the 800 Relay team was fifth (1:56.86).

Maegan Stone was fourth in the high jump (4-4) and D’Laine Palacio took fifth in the long jump (14-10.5). In addition to the girls, the Nixon-Smiley boys track and field team also participated in the Badger Relays.

The Mustangs finished 10th with 24 points, and were led by Josh Newman, who won the 300 hurdles (42.29) and finished second in the triple jump (38-9.5). Victor Coronado took fifth in the 1,600 (5:05) and Victor Evans was fifth in the shot put (42-5.75).

The Mustangs and Lady Mustangs will participate in the 29-2A Meet Wednesday and Thursday at Randolph High School.