The Tioga Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs burned up the track with their recent Top 5 performances at the 2A Region 2 District 13 Track Meet in Era on April 8 and 9.
The Bulldogs successfully defended their district crown, taking first overall out of eight teams with a total of 151 points.
“It was a wild ride, but it was mission accomplished,” Tioga head boys track coach Beau Burruss said. “We’re always trying to push as many kids forward in the postseason as we can. If we win some accolades along with it that’s always a bonus, so repeating as district champions was a [byproduct] of that, but it’s always good to come home with a little bit of hardware.”
Pole vaulter Jayson Stogner set the pace for the Bulldogs, winning gold with a height of 13feet.
Stogner’s district-winning jump cleared the next closest competitor by 3-feet and bested the school record of 12-feet-7inches that Stogner set early this season.
Bryson Bradley won bronze in the shot put with a distance of 46-feet-7 3/4-inches.
Bradley also finished fifth in the discus with a best of 131-feet.
Noah Vazquez rounded out the Bulldogs’ top performers in field events, placing fifth in the long jump with a distance of 19 feet 2 1/2 inches.
Garrison Black kept the momentum rolling for the Bulldogs, securing silver in both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs.
Black’s times of 4:41.64 in the 1600-meter run and 10:27.48 in the 3200-meter run broke Tioga ISD records in both events.
Alexis Santoyo-Pina finished fourth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:48.12, followed by Dominique Oranday who finished fifth with a time of 4:49.73.
Oranday also finished fifth in the 800-meter run, with a time of 2:05.96.
Tioga continued to control the meet in the sprint events, with Jaxson Hurst and August Strittmatter finishing third and fourth in the 100-meter dash, with times of 11.44 and 11.48 seconds, respectively.
Vazquez secured silver in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 22.99 seconds, followed by Hurst, who earned bronze with a time of 23.54 seconds.
Kyson Kirkland won silver in the 400-meter dash, with a time of 51.03 seconds, along with Strittmater, who took bronze with a time of 52.61 seconds.
Raul Chavez earned bronze in the 300-meter hurdles, with a time of 42.58 seconds, followed by Kallin Henderson, who finished fifth, with a time of 43.76 seconds.
The Bulldogs closed out the meet winning gold in all three relay events, with times of 43.01 in the 4x100meter relay, 1:29.87 in the 4x200-meter relay and 3:20.39 in the 4x400-meter relay.
The Lady Bulldogs finished third overall out of eight teams, with a team total of 85 points.
The Lady Bulldogs’ relay teams led the way, winning gold in all three events and recording times of 49.39 seconds in the 4x100meter relay, 1:44.06 in the 4x200-meter relay and 4:06.11 in the 4x400-meter relay.
Each of the relay team’s times set new records in the event for Tioga ISD.
Kyndall Whitley continued the Lady Bulldogs' speedy pace, winning gold in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.15 seconds.
Timber Johnson also competed in the 200-meter dash, earning bronze with a time of 27.59 seconds.
Jillian Rodriguez secured silver in the 100-meter dash, with a time of 12.99 seconds.
Tioga head girls track coach Rickey Smith spoke highly of the Lady Bulldogs’ relay teams and the team’s overall trajectory.
“Overall, we performed exceptionally well,” Smith said. “… We won gold in all three relays and the mile relay put together an unreal performance, breaking the school record, and we haven’t run that [event] all season. Our goal is to continue to advance each week and set ourselves up to advance in everything to Springtown, which will give us the best opportunity to advance to Austin.
The Top 4 finishers in each event were scheduled to compete at the UIL 2A Region 2 Area 13 & 14 Track Meet on Wednesday in Wolfe City.
The results were not available by press time.
