Three Mustangs headed to state track-and-field meet
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — Three members of the Marble Falls High School track-and-field team qualified for the Class 4A state meet thanks to finishing in the top two of their events at the regional meet April 27.
And they did it in dramatic fashion.
Senior Cody Schulz was second in the 400 meters in 49.39 seconds, breaking his own school record in the process. Sarah Lewis was second in the 300-meter hurdles in 46.65 seconds. And senior Rey Baltazar won the discus on his final attempt, marking 166 feet 1 inch to set a new personal record by 8.5 feet.
Head coach Kyle Futrell said the meet was very competitive.
Schulz beat Leander’s Caleb Woodward. The two have raced four times and are 2-2 against each other this season, Futrell said.
“Cody won the ones that were the most important,” he said.
Lewis was running stride for stride with Mercedes’ Alyssa De Leon. The two were leading the race, but De Leon tripped over the sixth hurdle.
In qualifying for the finals, the girls 4×400-meter relay broke its own record by clocking 4:04.27. The next day, the Lady Mustangs were fourth in 4:05.33, still under their old record of 4:09.72 they set April 18 at the District 25-26 area meet.
“All the races were close,” Futrell said. “There were times they had to keep running way past the finish. We were pleased with all of them.”
Three Mustangs at the state track are the most since 2004 when Marble Falls sent Wes Simpson, Anissa Angelosante, Ashley Laughlin and Leonel Manzano.
Laughlin won the pole vault, while Manzano won the 800 meters and finished his career with nine gold medals from the state meet. Manzano has since captured a silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the London Olympics last summer.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
RESULTS:
Boys — 400: (2) Cody Schulz, 49.39 (new school record); 3,200: (10) Jordan Wright, 10:02; discus: (1) Rey Baltazar, 166-1; shot put: (4) Rey Baltazar, 52-0; long jump: (4) Carson Bowen, 21-5.5.
Girls — 800: (8) Sarah Stripling, 2:25.55; 300 hurdles: (1) Sarah Lewis, 46.65, (9) Natalie Schulz, 47.83; 4×400 relay: (4) Marble Falls (Sarah Lewis, Natalie Schulz, Sarah Stripling, Chase Martin), 4:05.33
UP NEXT: Class 4A State Track and Field Meet at Mike A Myers Stadium, 707 Clyde Littlefield Drive in Austin, May 10-11