The Lake Belton boys track & field team competed at the 22-5A District Championships last Wednesday and Thursday. After graduating the bulk of the team from a year ago, the Broncos were optimistic about their chances coming into the big meet. The top four finishers in each event would punch their ticket to the Area round. Wednesday started off promising with junior Xavier Wells winning the High Jump with a leap of 6-2. Shortly after that performance, sophomore Kendrick Jones Jr would break the school record with a long jump of 23’8” to take home another gold. In the Pole Vault event, sophomore Carson Yandell would come through big for the young Broncos, placing first with a vault of 12’6. Junior Caleb Loper would earn a bronze in the Discus with a 134’1, while senior Adam Walden would take 4th with a 124’10 . Walden would also take 4th in the Shot Put with a throw of 48’2. After day 1 of the district meet, the Broncos were sitting with a tight lead going into the running finals.

Day two of the finals would start off rocky, with the young Broncos struggling early on in the running events. It was not until the 100 meter dash where things would start to flip in favor of the Broncos, as Kendrick Jones Jr would place first to move on to the Area round in his second event. Freshman Keaton Washington battled until the very end of the 400 meter dash, placing 4th with a new PR of 50.46, and earning his way to the podium and the Area round. Zy Thomas redeemed himself from his 110 hurdle race, finishing 4th in the 300 meter hurdles and punching his ticket to Area. Immediately after, Jones Jr took gold in the 200 meter dash. The final event on the evening was the 4x400 meter relay, where the team of Zach Dodd, Keaton Washington, Zion Harness, and Kendrick Jones Jr looked to improve their mark from two weeks ago. The team would finish 2nd in a thriller of a race, while also shattering their school record once again with a 3:20.54. Despite the lessons and hardships along the way, the Broncos would finish at District Runner Up for the second year in a row.

The JV boys would finish 4th overall, competing hard throughout the two days and coming away with some top finishes. Brett Harmon and Evan Lazott would go 1 and 2 in the Shot Put event to get scoring going. Chance Scott would take bronze in the Discus event. The 4x100 meter relay (Ayden Mitchell, Braxtan Cope, Joey Read, Tekoa Martin) would take 3rd. The 4x200 meter relay team (Braxtan Cope, Joey Read, Cavan Pilkington, Tekoa Martin) would also go bronze. The final scoring on the night for the JV came from the 4x400 meter relay team (Zack Summy, Joey Read, Cavan Pilkington, Adam Constancio).

The Broncos will be competing in the Area Championships next on Thursday, April 11th at Magnolia High School. Below are the competitors that have earned their way to this week:

Kendrick Jones Jr - LJ, 100, 200, 4x400

Adam Walden - Shot Put, Discus

Xavier Wells - High Jump, 4x400 (alternate)

Zy Thomas - 300 meter hurdles, 4x400 (alternate)

Keaton Washington - 400, 4x400

Caleb Loper - Discus

Carson Yandell - Pole Vault

Zach Dodd - 4x400

Zion Harness - 4x400