Lions, Lady Lions continue to build momentum
By David H. Waller
Albany’s high school track teams closed out their home meet with a solid showing on March 27, at the Albany High School track. Both the Lions and Lady Lions used the meet as a final tune-up before heading into this week’s district competition.
The District 10-2A Meet was held Wednesday, April 2, in Cisco. Results from the district meet will appear in next week’s edition of The Albany News.
Lady Lions head coach Lauren Peacock said her athletes performed well, despite some technical issues with the meet timing. “Zayne (LeFevre) placed second in the 200 meters,” Peacock said. “Ashlyn (Miller) got second in the 400 against district teams.”
Peacock noted the results posted online were not accurate. “We had a little hiccup on our timing system, so some of the results that you probably see are incorrect,” she said. “But the girls still competed well.”
Heading into district, Peacock said she’s confident in several of her top athletes. “Ashlyn and Zayne both have a good chance to win,” she said. “Ashlyn’s pretty consistent, so I’m feeling good about her. Avery (Everitt) probably has the toughest competition in the 300 hurdles, so we’re fine-tuning this week ahead of the district meet.”
On the boys’ side, Lions head coach Rod Britting said his team turned in one of their best performances of the season in field events. “We had our best day throwing all year,” Britting said. “Wesley Gleitz, Aiden Vickers, and Jakobi Roberson all advanced in the high jump. Jakobi, had his personal best of the year, jumped over 40 foot in the triple jump. He won that event, so that was real exciting for him.”
Britting also highlighted strong efforts in the pole vault. “Braxton Henry won the JV vault, and Tony Wheeler, had a personal best in the pole vault—11 foot plus.”
Britting said several running events showed improvement, even if online results did not reflect that. “In the 400 it doesn’t show the results to be correct, but Jayce Tinkle got second, and Wesley Gleitz got fourth.” He added, “Jayce was around a 52.5, and Wesley was at a 54.1. What they had posted was incorrect on the internet.”
Despite the confusion, the relays performed well. “The 800 relay ran our fastest time of the year. The mile relay ran its fastest time of the year,” Britting said. “The mile relay placed second. The 800 relay—we placed fourth.”
Looking ahead, Britting said training will focus on getting stronger and more consistent in key events. “We’re just hoping to continue to bring our times down. And in the jumping events, we just want to get more consistent,” he said. “Make sure that we’re being able to do those same jumps every time, and not just once in a blue moon.”
The Lions and Lady Lions will now turn their attention to the area meet, scheduled for April 10 in Graham. Athletes who finish in the top four at district will qualify for the meet. Britting said the ultimate goal is getting athletes to the regional and state levels.
“We’ve always been a program that wanted to see what we can get to the state meet,” he said. “We use that goal to figure out what we’ve got to be running at regionals, so we know what it’ll take to get to state.”
