Faith girls place second at Florence, set several personal bests
FLORENCE — Despite scoring 150 points in the Florence track and field meet March 12, the Faith Academy Lady Flames track team finished in second place.
But Coach Steve McCannon wasn’t all that disappointed.
“Liberty Hill is a strong, deep team,” he said, “so that’s how you can score 150 points and lose. We did get several personal bests.”
Faith Academy freshman Molly Marrs leaps as far as she can go. Photo by Virgil Belk/Hill Country Sports Images
The Liberty Hill girls dominated the meet, racking up 293 points. But going into the event, McCannon and the Lady Flames knew the Lady Panthers would come loaded.
The Field sisters — Brooke and Kendra — once again showed their strength in the shot put and discus. Kendra Field earned second place in the shot with a throw of 35-feet, 9 3/4 inches. McCannon said that was right at her personal best.
Brooke Field finished third in the shot, but pulled in a silver in the discus with a 112-foot, 7 inch throw. Kendra Field was less than a foot off her sister’s mark for third.
“Our throwers get our meet started off strong,” McCannon said. “We need our other field events and the 3200-meter (run) to match what Kendra and Brooke do. We are a team and need to react with strong performances.”
Taylor Vaughn ended the day with four medals. She finished second in the 1,600-meter run; third in the 3,200-meter run; third in the pole vault; and was part of the third place 4×400-meter relay squad.
“We really started to push (her) at practice and begin to get in position for district, region and state,” McCannon said. “If she competes, she can win in the 3,200 meter and 1,600 meter. She is very important to the team, and we need her.”
Kentlee Cozby set her personal best in the 400-meter run in 1 minute, 5.19 seconds for second place. Her triple jump was 32 feet, 1 inch for third.
“That really helps with seeding for district,” McCannon said. “With more work, she can get into contention.”
Tori Diamond cleared 7 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault for second place. McCannon said she looked strong and had a good shot at clearing the 8-foot mark.
The 4×100-relay squad of Kristyn Stagner, Kendra Field, Cozby and Diamond finished second in 54.90 seconds. The 4×200-relay squad of Stagner, Kendra Field, Molly Marrs and Bailey Brinkley earned silver as well with a time of 1:58.01.
“We continue to improve each week,” McCannon said. “We will be on Spring Break and then come back to work hard the next four weeks. We have work to do to get ready for district (April 22), especially in the jumps.”
The Lady Flames’ next meet is March 27 at Burnet High School.