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Dry run: Qualifiers enjoy regional tune-up in Frisco
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Friday served as a dress rehearsal for this weekend's Region I Track and Field Championships.
Fresh off district meets, teams were given the option of competing at Memorial Stadium in Frisco for a tune-up meet exclusive to regional qualifiers in building toward regionals, which are Friday and Saturday at Texas Tech's Fuller Track in Lubbock.
The meet meshed teams from all classifications, with 3A, 4A and 5A colliding.
"I was happy the girls got a week to run," said Christopher Lillie, East head coach, "instead of having to go two weeks without competing. The weather was nice and everything turned out well."
The Lady Panthers compiled 69 points en route to victory, nearly 30 points better than second-place Richardson Berkner (40). East wasn't alone in its pre-regional efforts, with Plano West also participating and boasting a 10th-place finish on the boys side (20) while taking 32nd in the girls draw (4).
Just a shade under half of East's points were amassed by Jennifer Madu.
Madu's trek toward a hopeful state meet return was comfortably kept afloat in the form of three first-place finishes in Frisco. The Lady Panthers speedster cruised to first in the 100-meter dash with an 11.56 -- over half-a-second faster than the next closest finisher -- while adding first in the 200 (24.03) and long jump (19-5).
"I think [Madu] can get four golds and hopefully five with our relay in Lubbock," Lillie said. "She's won the 100 all three years and even though she finished third in the 200 last year, her times are much better this year without any injuries happening."
Not far behind Madu in the Panthers point totals was Madison Hansen.
Hansen will be targeting her first state meet qualification this weekend. After cracking the top five in two events at last year's regional meet, Hansen's final tune-up for Lubbock garnered second in both the 100 (14.77) and 300 hurdles (44.77), as well as third in the long jump (17-4 3/4).
"Madison is coming along great," Lillie said. "In the 100 hurdles, she PR'ed at district and PR'ed in the 300's as well."
Another Lady Panther eyeing a first-time state spot is Tori Wood, who repeated as District 8-5A champ in the discus. She replicated that effort Friday, placing first (129-5). Fellow regional qualifier and teammate Ambria Tisdall was eighth (100-10).
Other East participants to crack the top 10 at Frisco included Morgan Johnson in the pole vault (12-0, third), high jump (5-0, eighth) and long jump (16-3, 10th) and Nancy Johnson in the shot put (34-10 3/4, seventh).
West's foray on the boys side didn't run deep -- showcasing participants in three events -- but the Wolves' presence was felt, garnering all 20 of their points behind a first-place finish in the 4x200 relay (1:27.80) with Carlos Wiggins, Matt Owoseni, Oshen Matheson and Jason Stephens.
Grant Copeland added 11th in the 800 (2:05.64), a race the Lady Wolves also were productive in behind a ninth-place finish by Gena Hurst (2:24.80).
Kayla Knight added seventh in the 100 hurdles (15.70), while Ciarra Thibodeaux posted fourth in the discus (118-3).
Absent from Friday's meet were the East boys, who qualified 11 spots for this weekend's regional meet, as well as the Plano Senior girls, who will be represented by Taylor Pegram in the 100 hurdles. The stakes ratchet up Friday and Saturday in Lubbock, with the top-two finishers at regionals earning one of the nine state spots up for grabs.
"Mansfield Timberview is a very tough team with some great relays," Lillie said. "South Grand Prairie always has a consistent squad; them and Keller Fossil Ridge have speed in the 4x100 relay that will make for some good competition.
"If we have a great meet, we think we should have enough to win, so we're excited to see what we can do."
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