sports 2

VOLUME 135 - NO. 39 WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2014 DECATUR, TEXAS 20 PAGES IN 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS $1

INDEXOpinion . . . . . . . . 6AObituaries . . . . . . 7ASports . . . . . . . . . 1BWise Business . . . 7B

BEST OF BUTTERFIELDFolks celebrated Butterfi eld Stage Days with a festival and rodeo last weekend. See photo page 12A

WATER COSTS RISEThe city of Decatur faces a raw water price increase, an expense sure to trickle down to homeowners. See page 8A

STATE BLING Wise County athletes brought home nine medals last weekend from the UIL Track and Field Championships in Austin. SPORTS, page 1B

Wise County MessengerP.O. Box 149 • 115 South Trinity

Decatur, Texas 76234www.wcmessenger.com

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Taking on Austin

JOE DUTY/WCMESSENGER • Buy reprints at wcmessenger.com/reprints

FILLED WITH JOY — Decatur’s Brandon Rivera celebrates as he crosses the fi nish line to win the Class 3A title in the 800 at the University Interscholastic League Track and Field Championships Saturday in Austin.

DECATURWISE COUNTY

Wrong-way driver crashesBY KRISTEN [email protected]

A Paradise man was seriously injured when he wrecked his pickup in DecaturFriday night after driving the wrong way on U.S. 380.

Kenneth Solomon, 50, crashed just before 9 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 380 and Business 380 near the Wise County Sheriff ’s Offi ce in Decatur. Prior to the crash, he was driving the wrong way on the highway, traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes.

Decatur Police Offi cer Michael Hors-ley said Solomon’s vehicle slid off the road and started to roll, but the driver’s side door, which was held shut with a bungee cord, popped open when Solo-mon was ejected through the driver’s side window.

The open door stopped the pickupfrom completing the roll, and when the door hit the ground it pushed the pick-

See Crash on page 9ASee Fires on page 9A

BY KRISTEN [email protected]

Monday afternoon’s thunder-storms brought much-needed rain to Wise County, but also intense lightning that started at least two fi res.

The Country Cowboy Church near Runaway Bay and three tank batteries southeast of De-catur were struck by lightning within minutes of each other.

Wise County Deputy Fire Mar-shal J.C. Travis said the tank battery fi re was reported at 3:46 p.m., and the fi re at the church was called in at 3:50 p.m.

The church is located next to Bay Landing on U.S. 380, just east of Runaway Bay. Travis

said a woman who works at the Bay’s gated entrance saw the lightning strike a wall on the side of the church building.

“She said it was about 20 min-

utes before she saw any smoke, though,” he said.

When fi refi ghters arrived, there was a softball-sized hole in the exterior wall with smoke

and fl ames pouring out. Tra-vis said there was an electrical wire running along the stud

Lightning ignites

2 blazes

JOE DUTY/WCMESSENGER

CHURCH DAMAGED — Firefi ghters make sure the blaze is extinguished Monday afternoon at Country Cowboy Church on U.S. 380, just east of Runaway Bay.

See Election on page 2A

WISE COUNTY WISE COUNTY

Early voters settle races

BY KRISTEN [email protected]

Wise County voters made their choices known in local city council and school board elections last week — and with the exception of one en-tity, all had more votes cast early than on election day May 10.

When the fi nal numbers were tallied, a cast of new players was revealed.

AlvordMore than 400 people vot-

ed early in the Alvord school board race while just more than 100 trekked to the polls on election day.

They elected newcomers Lance Thweatt to place 6 and Charles Matthews to place 7, by overwhelming margins. Thweatt received 396 votes to Tracy Parker’s 152. Lex Williams received three votes for the place 6 post, but he informally with-drew from the race a few weeks ago, asking his sup-porters to vote for Thweatt.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2014 • WISE COUNTY MESSENGER • SECTION B

Photos by Joe DutyIllustration by Peter Franco

Northwest’s Desiree Freier, Decatur’s Taylor Clayton and Brandon Rivera and Alvord’s Savannah Williams captured top prizes in Austin. They won fi ve of the nine medals by Wise County athletes at the University Interscholastic League Track and Field Championships.

2B WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Wednesday, May 14, 2014

UIL TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Previous disappointment leads duo to golds

BY RICHARD [email protected]

T a y l o r Clayton and Brandon Ri-vera both left Austin in 2013 disap-pointed after missing out on medals in their state debuts.

Rivera fi nished fourth in the 800. Clayton brought home fi fth in the 3200 and sixth in the 1600.

But instead of sulking over the missed opportunity, the Decatur duo used it as fuel for the 365 days of workouts and training. Saturday the two unleashed that pent-up frustration and motivation to capture gold medals.

Both let out similar ex-pressions of joy and satisfac-tion upon crossing the fi nish line with titles.

“I was pretty emotion-al,” Rivera said. “I was so pumped. Happiness over-fi lled me. I was ecstatic.”

For much of Rivera’s race Saturday, it looked like the brutal training he put his body through over the past year would not be enough. Taylor’s Mylik Kerley built a several-second lead on Rivera and the rest of the fi eld.

But the veteran Rivera waited him out — and in

the fi nal 300 meters walked Kerley down. He made the pass with 100 meters to go, and with a clear track ahead of him, Rivera took a look behind him as he cruised to the fi nish.

Clayton’s title also came with some drama — and after more disappointment. On Friday, he led the 3200 for the fi rst seven laps, only

to watch his chief rival, Sanger’s Jacob Perry, run away from him with 300 me-ters to go.

As Clayton put it, he set-tled for second but found a little extra fi re for Saturday.

“I had a bad taste in my mouth coming out of the two-mile,” he said. “I got embarrassed in front of ev-erybody, and I didn’t want to

go out like that. I’ve worked too hard for it. I didn’t want a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted nothing less than a gold medal around my neck.”

Clayton again jumped out to the lead in the 1600 and led entering the fi nal 200. When Perry tried to make a move, Clayton refused to let him get by, staying to the

inside and drawing on every ounce of energy he had to stay in front of him.

The Decatur Eagle even began to move toward the outside lanes to keep Perry’s purple singlet behind him.

“I could see his shadow, and I knew if I could keep going out a little bit that he couldn’t get around me,” Clayton said. “They can’t

disqualify you for that. I justused strategy and speed.”

Both Rivera and Claytonneeded strategy and speedto make it to the front. But their refusal to give up is what made them champi-ons.

Q

Richard Greene is thesports editor of the Messen-ger.


WINNING EXPRESSIONS — Brandon Rivera, (top) celebrates after winning the 800 Wednesday. His Decatur teammate, Taylor Clayton (right) followed with a win in the 1600.

Rivera, Clayton rise to top


With 300 meters left in the 3A 800-meter fi nals, Brandon Rivera’s quest for a gold med-al looked to be in jeopardy as Taylor’s Mylik Kerley built a 50-meter lead.

But the Decatur senior stuck with his plan, running Kerly down in the fi nal 100 meters Saturday to sprint to the top of the medal stand. Rivera won the Class 3A title at the University Inter-scholastic League Track and Field Championships at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin in 1:54.97.

“It means so much to me,” said Rivera looking at the medal. “It’s four years of hard work and a second state championship. It’s my fi rst one as an individual. I want-ed this since I was a fresh-man. I was .08 off the school record I think. But hey, I have that gold medal.”

Rivera was part of the De-catur boys cross country team that won the 2012 title. He fi nished just off the medal stand at the 2013 state track meet, taking fourth in the 3A 800.

Once the cross country sea-son ended in the fall, Rivera dedicated himself to bringing home the gold, working out relentlessly.

But to accomplish his goal on the state’s biggest stage, his mind played as big a role as his legs. When Kerley sprinted out to the large, ear-ly lead, he stayed calm.

“Coach [David] Park told me if a rabbit goes out that he’d come back to you,” Rive-ra said. “That’s exactly what happened. He came back to me with about 200 meters

left, and I knew I had it.”His coach, Kristina Ed-

wards was proud to see Ri-vera keep his composure and not try to go out with Kerley.

“We told him going into the weekend that someone would go out like that and if you go with him you won’t get that medal you wanted,” Edwards explained. “We told him to trust what we taught you.”

Rivera cut Kerley’s lead down from 50 to less than 10 meters with 150 left. He made the pass with 100 left.

“The fi nal 100 meters I had so much left in me,” Rivera said. “I could see his running form go, and I knew if I fi n-ished the way I always do that I had him. That’s exactly what happened. A lot of hard work paid off.”

Sprinting to the fi nish line, Rivera fl ashed a smile and looked back at Kerley and Kaufman’s Dylan Evans, who ended up second in 1:55.62. Kerley was third in 1:56.10.

After crossing the fi nish line, he pumped the fi st that would soon hold the gold medal.

“I was pretty emotional,” Ri-vera said. “I was so pumped. Happiness overfi lled me. I was ecstatic.”

Decatur’s Rivera rallies to capture 800 title3A Boys 800

1. Brandon Rivera, Decatur, 1:54.97; 2. Dylan Evans, Kaufman, 1:55.62; 3. Mylik Kerley, Taylor, 1:56.1; 4. Samuel Studebaker, Freder-icksburg, 1:59.55; 5. Emory Lobley, Dalhart, 2:01.06; 6. Caleb Johnson, Levelland, 2:01.41; 7. Pierre Valencia, Dalhart, 2:01.74; 8. Joseph Lunn, LaFeria, 2:02.07;9. Jeremy Matlock, Car-thage, 2:02.09


RUNNING AWAY — Decatur’s Brandon Rivera passes Taylor’s Mylik Kerley on his way to winning the Class 3A title in the800 Wednesday at the University Interscholastic League Track and Field Championships in Austin.

GREENE

WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 3B



Decatur took just three qualifi ers to the University Interscholastic League Track and Field Championships over the weekend.

But the mighty trio brought home plenty of hardware, including two gold medals, a silver medal and a fourth-place fi nish. That added up to a runner-up overall team fi n-ish in Class 3A.

Decatur tallied 32 points to fi nish in a tie for second with Gilmer. Kennedale won the class with 50 points.

“You can’t ask for anything better than what happened today. I’m so proud of the guys,” said Taylor Clayton, who won the 1,600 and fi n-ished second in the 3,200. “They came out and worked their butts off. One came up short of a medal. But he’s got another year, and that boy works his butt off. Brandon worked tremendously for fi ve months consecutively. He deserved it. The best man

won today.”Brandon Rivera won gold

in the 800.The third and youngest

member of the trio, Jacob Ke-vetter, was fourth in the 300 hurdles. He missed bringing home Decatur’s fourth medal

by three hundredths of a sec-ond.

“They all worked hard and did a lot to earn this,” said Decatur boys track coach Nick Stokes, holding the 3A runner-up trophy. “The whole team worked hard every day

to lead up to this. It’s not just those three — even though they did what they needed to do to score the points.”

The meet was Stokes’ fi -nal outing with Decatur. He is headed to Frisco Indepen-dence High School.

“It’s an awesome way to go out. But it’s about the kids,” Stokes said. “Decatur has been successful and is going to continue to be successful because of the kids and the support we get from the par-ents and the community.”


After fi nishing second Friday in the 3200, Decatur’s Taylor Clayton gave himself one mission in the 1600 — win.

The Decatur senior accomplished that mission Saturday at Mike My-ers Stadium, winning his fi nal duel in the sun against rival Jacob Perry.

Clayton took the Class 3A title at the University Interscholastic League Track and Field Champion-ships, holding off Perry in the fi nal 100 meters to win in 4:25.97. Perry took second in 4:26.97.

“I had a bad taste in my mouth coming out of the two-mile,” Clayton said. “I got embarrassed in front of everybody, and I didn’t want to go out like that. I’ve worked too hard for it. I didn’t want a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted nothing less than a gold medal around my neck.”

The victory gives Clayton two-thirds of the 3A distance triple crown. Clayton won the 3A cross country title in the fall and fi nished second in the 3200 to Perry.

“Obviously it hurts because I came up one short,” Clayton said. “But hey, there’s tons of kids in the state of Tex-as who would kill to have two gold medals in their events. I’ve just got to know that I’m one of the blessed ones, that I had the great career and great coaching.”

Clayton led wire-to-wire. He took the fi eld out in 67 seconds for the fi rst lap and hit the 800 at 2:17.

“Coach wanted me to originally

take it out in a 2:06,” Clayton said. “I tell you that every single time. I thought this was going to be the chance to do it. But then I stepped out on the track and felt how hot and windy it was.

“I told myself that you’re going to have to dig deep and try to lead from start to fi nish. Just keep everyone be-hind you, keep pushing forward and try to hit that 200 and don’t let any-one pass you.”

Clayton never backed off the pace, hitting the 1,100 mark at 3:17 and 1,200 at 3:25.

With 300 meters to go, Perry tried to make a surge similar to the one he used to win the 3,200 the previous day. But this time, Clayton did not go away.

“It was a good race,” Perry said. “I wanted to take off like I did in the two-mile, but I couldn’t get going un-til the 200.”

Clayton stayed inside of Perry and a step ahead through the fi nal turn. In the fi nal 100, he kept pushing across the track to make sure Perry couldn’t get around him.

“I was just telling myself not to fall. I could feel my legs going out from under me,” Clayton said. “I could see his shadow, and I knew if I could keep going out a little bit that he couldn’t

get around me. They can’t DQ you forthat. I just used strategy and speed.”

Perry was surprised to see Claytonswinging wide.

“I thought he was going to take me to lane 8,” Perry joked.

With the fi nish line in sight, Clay-ton stayed on the gas, completing a60-second fi nal lap. He said he knewthe title was his midway through thefi nal straightaway.

“I felt [Perry] let up with about 60 meters to go. I knew that’s when Ihad it,” Clayton said. “I could see thatfi nish line getting closer, and closerand I couldn’t see any purple besideme.”

Clayton and Perry will be team-mates next year at Texas A&M.This weekend they owned the medalstand in the 3A distance events. Inthe 1600, they were joined by a thirddistrict 9-3A representative, Sanger’sJosh Mills, who was third in 4:28.43.

“It just shows that 9-3A distanceis the best distance in 3A,” Claytonsaid.

And for 2014, Clayton is 3A’s bestdistance runner with a second goldmedal.

“This has been a dream cometrue,” Clayton said. “I’ve been work-ing for this for four years — since Iwas a little punk.”

3A Boys 1600

1. Taylor Clayton, Decatur, 4:25.97; 2. Jacob Perry, Sanger, 4:26.23; 3. Josh Mills, Sanger, 4:28.43; 4. Justin Domangue, Alvarado, 4:28.47; 5. Sam Far-rell, Lufkin Hudson, 4:29.63; 6. Marty Luevano, Boerne, 4:30.09; 7. Jonathon Bishop, College Station, 4:33.81; 8. Eduardo Trevizo, Castleberry, 4:33.83; 9. Luis Garza, Zapata, 4:46.61

Clayton closes with gold in 1600Decatur senior takes two-thirds of distance triple crown


Decatur’s Jacob Kevetter turned in his best time in the 300 hurdles Saturday — and narrowly missed a spot on the 3A medal stand.

Running on the inside of Kev-etter in lane four, Caldwell’s J.J. Jackson edged him out for the bronze medal by 0.03 of a second. Jackson fi nished in 39.40, and Ke-vetter 39.43.

“It was my best time, but I still stuttered over three hurdles. I’ve still got a lot to work on,” Kevet-ter said. “I would have got third if I wouldn’t have stuttered.”

Competing in his fi rst state meet, Kevetter broke out of the blocks

solid from his spot in lane six.Gilmer’s Nick Smith, who beat

Kevetter at the 3A Region II meet, set the early pace and held on to win the race in 38.34. Seminole’s Trevor Greenfi eld took second in 38.94.

“It was amazing. I wasn’t as ner-vous as I thought I’d be,” Kevet-ter said. “It was a good pace. I was keeping up with them until I stut-tered.”

Of Decatur’s three state qualifi -ers, Kevetter is the only returner. He said this experience will help him.

“It defi nitely helps my confi dence for next year. I know I can make it, and I know what I’ve got to do for next year,” Kevetter said.


Northwest’s Kerry Glea-son matched his personalbest in the 110 hurdles in atight race Saturday.

Gleason ran a 14.33 tofi nish fi fth in the 5A raceat the University Inter-scholastic League Trackand Field Championshipsat Mike Myers Stadium.

“I ran well,” Gleason said.“I matched my best time.”

Chevis Armstead ofDeSoto won the race in13.82. Allen’s Grant Finneywas third in 13.96.

Gleason closed his nightand high school careerwith a sixth-place fi nish inthe 300 hurdles, running38.27.

“I didn’t run the time Iwanted,” Gleason said. “It’sa whole different ballgamewhen you get down here.”

Gleason is headed to Ste-phen F. Austin State Uni-versity to run next year at the college level.

Northwest’s 4x100 teamof Saveion James, ChaseMorrison, Reggie McDanieland Jordan Muldrow ran41.02 to fi nish fi fth.

The team came into themeet ranked second aftertheir 41.18 that won the 5ARegion I title.

“We broke our recordagain,” Muldrow said.“They were fast. We weren’texpecting those times. Wecame in second and cameout fi fth.”

Klein Oak won the titlein 40.47. Killeen took sec-ond in 40.69.

In the 5A 1600, ZackKirkland fi nished eighthin 4:23.62. Kirkland, whois headed to the Universityof North Texas in the fall,was third through the fi rst 100 meters but fell off the blazing pace set by Keller’sAusten Dalquist, who wonthe race in 4:07.53.

Gleason finishes 5th

Kevetter narrowly misses medal in hurdles

Eagles take second place in Class 3A


PICKING UP HARDWARE — The Decatur team of Jacob Kevetter, Taylor Clayton and (not pictured) Brandon Rivera tied for second in Class 3A with 32 points.


RACE TO FINISH — Decatur’s Taylor Clayton narrowly held off Sanger’s Jacob Perry to win the Class 3A 1600 race Wednesday.


STRONG FINISH — Decatur’s Jacob Kevetter clears a hurdle during his fourth-place fi nish Wednesday in the 3A 300 hurdles.




In his fi nal high school meet, Duke Kicin-ski found the medal stand.

The Northwest senior made a toss of 187-6 to bring home the silver medal in the 5A discus at the University Interscholastic League Track and Field Championships at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin.

“I got one at regionals and one here,” Ki-cinski said. “It seems to be my color.”

North Mesquite’s Aaron Akens won the gold medal with a throw of 188. Cedar Ridge’s Brian Peterson took third with a toss of 182-3.

Kicinski landed three throws of 180 feet or more. His fi rst toss went 178 and second 182-1 to put him in second place behind Pe-terson.

On his third throw, Kicinski unleashed his toss of 187-6 to take over fi rst place.

“It’s what I’ve been doing in practice but not at meets,” Kicinski said. “I needed to come out to do it today, and I did.”

The throw gave him the lead going into the fi nal three attempts. Akens landed his winning throw to vault past Kicinski on his fourth throw.

Kicinski is headed to West Texas A&M to play football in the fall. He was happy to close out his high school career with a medal.

“It’s a great way to end it,” Kicinski said.


Northwest’s Desiree Freier cleared the bar only once Sat-urday — but that was enough to put her back on top of the medal stand.

Freier claimed her third straight 5A pole vault gold medal at the University Inter-scholastic League Track and Field Championships at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin, clearing 13-6.

“I feel really great,” she said. “I didn’t have the best day out there. I thought I’d go a little bit higher. But to get a third gold, which not many can do, I’m really proud.”

No other vaulters topped 13 feet.

Freier, who set the state meet record in 2013, clearing 13-9, entered the competition with the bar at 13-6. She missed her fi rst attempt, clipping her chest on the bar.

“I went through a lot of sticks

today. I had a lot of adrenaline,” Freier said. “I was running re-ally fast. I got all the way up to sticks that I’ve never used.”

She easily sailed over the bar on the second attempt, landing on her feet on the mat.

Freier moved the bar up to 14 feet but missed all three at-tempts at the height.

“It wasn’t my best day but I still put up some good jumps,” Freier said. “I thought I had the bar. When I went up to new sticks it freaked me out.

I messed myself up by grip-ping my hand 3 inches high-er.”

Along with being a three-time state champion and four-time medalist, Freier leaves Northwest as the national highschool record holder for the pole vault, both outdoor and indoor. She set the outdoor re-cord, clearing 14-3.25 at the Texas Relays in March at Mike Myers Stadium.

Freier also cleared 14-6 at the area meet.


Alvord’s Savannah Williams waited pa-tiently through the fi rst 600 meters Friday evening at Mike Myers Stadium.

Then just before the fi nal straightaway, the Alvord junior sprinted to the front on her way to the gold medal in the Class 2A 800.

“My strategy the whole time was to stay behind fi rst and kick at the 150,” Williams said. “I did what I meant to do.”

Williams won the state title in 2:15.91, setting the school record.

“I got my goal and got the record. It’s just one big package,” Williams said.

From the starting gun, Williams settled into second place. She stayed there through the fi rst lap, turning at 63.

“It was the best pace I’ve ever done, and it felt good. It was nice to get out there and be able to sprint the whole thing,” Williams said.

Entering the fi nal corner, Williams made her push. She soon realized that Rogers’ Erin Williams and Blanco’s Meaghan Seales were not going to challenge her.

“At the 150 when I started kicking and she didn’t kick with me, I knew I got this,” Williams said.

Erin Williams took second in 2:17.51. Seales was third in 2:17.97.

The medal was Williams’ second straight in Austin. She fi nished second last year at state. She liked the gold much better.

“This is my goal. I’m so happy. This is ex-actly what I wanted,” Williams said.


Dalton Stidham quickly broke out of the blocks Friday night in the 110 hurdles and held on to bring home the Class 2A silver medal.

Stidham fi nished in 14.56, slightly be-hind Tatum’s Jaylen Shans-Sheppard, who won the title in 14.43 at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin at the University Inter-scholastic League Track and Field Cham-pionships.

The Boyd senior was not disappointed leaving with the silver medal.

“This is the last time I get to run the 110 hurdles. It is special that I get to come away with a medal my last time to go,” Stidham said.

After collecting his silver medal, he thanked his hurdles coach.

“I’d like to thank Philip Thornton for taking all his time out to help me get this far and accomplish my dreams,” Stidham said.

Stidham was in lane 2 for the fi nals. When the gun fi red, he started what he described as a clean run down the straightaway on the east side of the packed stadium.

“I had a great start and was long to the fi rst hurdle,” Stidham explained. “I was running fast in between. I hit the eighth hurdle, but I held on to get second.”

Stidham crossed 0.05 ahead of Olton’s

J.R. Sullivan, who fi nished third in 14.61.After the all-out effort in the 110 hurdles,

Stidham returned to the track in the 300 hurdles and fi nished seventh in 39.65.

Spearman’s Cameron Wolf won the event in 38.38. Sonora’s Anastascio Munoz took silver in 38.54, and Buffalo’s William Ad-ams was third in 38.58.

“I had a good start. The kid in lane two went down in front of me. I had to hurdle him, too,” Stidham said. “I didn’t have the

kick that I usually have. But it’s not toobad. I’m leaving with some hardware.”

Boyd sophomore Qualynn Wells fi nishedseventh in the 200, running 22.56. Crane’sAustin Sandoval won the race in 21.63.

“I had a great start but a weak fi nish,” Wells said. “I don’t know what happened. I’m a sophomore at state, running against seniors. It was an honor to be here. It’s a different atmosphere once you’re here. It was great.”

Kicinski grabs silver medal

Williams steps up to

top spot

Freier flies to third gold medal

Stidham garners second in 110 hurldes


TAKING SILVER — Boyd’s Dalton Stidham clears a hurdle in the 110s Friday. Stidham brought home a silver medal.

JOE DUTY/WCMESSENGER

FINISHING FIRST — Alvord’s Savannah Williams won the Class 2A 800 Friday.


GOLDEN CONCLUSION — Northwest’s Desiree Freier waves to the crowd after her fi nal jump Wednesday in the Class 5A pole vault. She cleared 13-6 to win the gold medal for a third time.

WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 5B


Austin Hogan’s solo hom-er in the fi rst inning gave the Paradise Panthers a 1-0 lead Friday.

Unfortunately, it was the Panthers’ fi nal run of the game and the season as they lost 7-1 to the Sunnyvale Raid-ers at Ponder High School.

Paradise managed only four more hits against Sunnyvale hurler Nathan Hawkins, who struck out nine in seven innings.

“He was good. He kept us off balance with a good off-speed pitch and curve-ball,” said Paradise coach Mike Fehler. “We hit a lot of ground balls at them.”

The loss ended the Pan-thers’ season at 22-8-1.

“I feel good about the sea-son,” Fehler said. “We’ve got a good set of kids coming back, and they will know what to expect next year. Hopefully we can make a good run next year.”

The Panthers do lose four seniors — Jarret Holt, Tan-

ner Valentine, Corbin Holtand Kristoff Pewitt.

Holt drew the startagainst Sunnyvale and al-lowed fi ve runs — fourearned — on seven hits. Hestruck out fi ve and walkedfour.

Caiden Berry pitched two-thirds of an inning in re-lief, giving up two runs ona hit and two walks. Hoganturned in a scoreless inning.

Paradise’s 1-0 lead held upuntil the third when Sunny-vale scored three. LawsonAyo led off the third with adouble and came around toscore on Ryan Cottingame’ssingle. Wesley Phillips andSam Shaver added run-scor-ing hits in the frame.

Sunnyvale piled on fourruns in the sixth. After Par-adise pitchers walked thebases loaded, Ayo clearedthem with a three-run tri-ple. He scored on Cottin-game’s sacrifi ce.

Ayo fi nished 3-for-4 withthree RBIs.

Sunnyvale sweeps Panthers in area series

Paradise reaches end of the line against RaidersBASEBALL


On his fi nal attempt, Chico’s Marshall Ander-le landed his best triple jump mark of the day and claimed a spot on the medal stand at the University In-terscholastic League Track and Field Championships.

Anderle landed an effort of 44-3 to fi nish third in the Class A Division I triple jump.

“I just didn’t want to lose,” Anderle said about his fi nal jump.

He was in fourth, be-hind Wellington’s Clayton Thomas, going into his fi -nal attempt. Anderle’s best jump prior to that was 43-5.25.

“I didn’t feel very fresh today. My legs weren’t un-derneath me,” said Ander-le, who caught the Chico Dragons baseball area game Thursday.

“I jumped some of the worst jumps I’ve ever jumped the fi rst fi ve. Then the fi nal one was a decent one and got it done.”

Stamford’s James Wash-ington won the event with a jump of 46-6.5. Lionel Brown of Woodsboro took second, going 45-7.5.

“It means everything,” Anderle said. “I’ve been wanting a medal since my freshman year. It’s good to go out with a bang.”

Anderle lands medalDragon earns bronze on final jump

MACK THWEATT/WCMESSENGER • Buy reprints at wcmessenger.com/reprints

LANDING ON MEDAL STAND — Chico’s Marshall Anderle took third in the Class A triple jump Wednesday in Austin. Anderle jumped 44-3.


With just over 200 meters to go, Caitlin Pru-ett sprinted to the front of the pack in the Class A Division II 800 fi nals Saturday afternoon.

“I knew the kick has always been my thing, and if I wanted to have a shot at it, I had to kick early and hope my kick would outlast them,” Pruett said. “They ran a great race and caught up with me. It’s still an awesome op-portunity.”

Calvert’s Tiffany Williams and Rockspring’s Abellyca Ramirez passed Pruett in the fi nal 100 meters. Williams took the gold medal in 2:20.43, slightly ahead of Ramirez in 2:20.92.

Pruett earned the bronze, running 2:23.01. “It’s awesome,” Pruett said. “My goal this

year was to make it to state and to run at least a 2:27. I broke that and once I fi nished at regionals I revamped my goals to get on the medal stand, and I got that. I’m very blessed God gave me that opportunity.”

Pruett and the top two runners all broke the division’s record of 2:23.89 set last year.

“I’ve been looking at records at the school, and our record is 2:17,” Pruett said. “That’s my goal, to eventually break that. To break the state record was cool even if I did get third.”

Pruett stayed with the lead group from the starting gun. She fi nished the fi rst lap in 67 seconds in third place.

“That was awesome. The pace is what I’ve been training for,” Pruett said. “I’ve been train-ing for a 16 to 17 second per 100. It was quick but it was comfortable.”

Slidell coach Cody Vanover said Pruett ran the race they wanted.

“She came out quick. We wanted to run a 67 split and she did,” he said. “I’m really proud of her.”

Pruett takes third in 800 Slidell’s Roof finishes fourth in 300 hurdles


Rounding the fi nal corner, Slidell’s Kayson Roof found an ex-tra gear to move up several spots in the Class A Division II 300 hur-dles Saturday afternoon.

“There were a couple of girls in front of me,” Roof said. “I caught a couple and got fourth. I just told myself you have to go.”

Roof took fourth in the event at Mike Myers Stadium at the Uni-versity Interscholastic League Track and Field Championships in 49.9.

“I beat my personal best,” said a smiling Roof after the race.

Cross Plains’ McKenzie Halsel won the race in 47.64. Buckholts’ Sara Cowan took silver in 48.21, and Roscoe Highland’s Beth Rich-burg was third in 49.1.

Running out of lane 5, Roof held her own early in the race before making her late push.

“The second hurdle I stumbled a bit. Other than that it was a clean race,” Roof said.

It was her second event of the day. The freshman fi nished sixth in the pole vault Saturday morning.

Roof got her body over the bar on all three attempts at 9 feet but barely clipped it each time Satur-day morning.

She was one of three competitors to go out at 9-0.

“I let my nerves get the best of me,” Roof said. “I’m a freshman. I’ve got a couple more years. This will help me a lot next year.”

Ira’s Hannah Womack took the gold medal, clearing 10 feet. Cross Plains’ Allanta Wheeler fi nished second with a vault of 9-3. Com-stock’s Breanna Jorgensen cleared 9-0 for third.

Roof fl ew over 7-0 and 7-6 on her fi rst attempts. She missed her fi rst try at 8-0 before getting it on her second effort. Roof also needed two chances at 8-6.

“I just wasn’t rolling,” Roof said about her misses.

The Slidell freshman relished her opportunity to compete at state.

“It was an amazing experience. [Friday] I didn’t know if I was ready. After the pole vault, I was ready,” Roof said. “It’s amazing for a freshman to come down here and compete.”

Slidell coach Cody Vanover praised his young athlete.

“She ran hard and competed well,” he said. “Mentally, she showed how tough she is. To fi n-ish fourth as a freshman is great. The expectations will be high next year.”

Roof is already setting high goals for herself and other Slidell ath-letes.

“Next year I want to come back with more girls,” Roof said.


STANDING OUT — Slidell’s Caitlin Pruett rounds the corner during the Class A Division II 800. She fi nished third in the race.

JIMMY ALFORD/WCMESSENGER • Buy reprints at wcmessenger.com/reprintsMAKING A SACRIFICE — Paradise’s Austin puts down a bunt during the Panthers’ 1-0 loss Thursday against Sunnyvale. He hit a home run in the Panthers’ loss Friday.


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CONGRATULATIONS GREAT PERFORMANCE AT THE

STATE TRACK MEET! TAYLOR CLAYTONDecaturGold: 1600Silver: 3200

SAVANNAH WILLIAMSAlvordGold: 800

DESIREE FREIERNorthwest

Gold: Pole Vault

BRANDON RIVERADecaturGold: 800

DALTON STIDHAMBoyd

Silver: 110 Hurdles7th: 300 Hurdles

DUKE KICINSKINorthwestSilver: Discus

CATLIN PRUETTSlidell

Bronze: 800

ZACH KIRKLANDNorthwest

8th: 1600

MARSHALL ANDERLEChico

Bronze: Triple Jump

JACOB KEVETTERDecatur

4th: 300 Hurdles

QUALYNN WELLSBoyd

7th: 200

JORDAN MULDROW, CHASE MORRISON, REGGIE MCDANIEL, SAVEION JAMES

Northwest 5th: 4x100 Relay

KAYSON ROOFSlidell

4th: 300 Hurdles6th: Pole Vault

KERRY GLEASONNorthwest

5th: 110 Hurdles6th: 300 Hurdles



GETTING A LEG UP — Boyd’s Dalton Stidham took second in the 110 hurdles, running a 14.56. He took seventh in the 300 hurdles.


FLYING TO VICTORY — Northwest’s Desiree Freier ended her career with a third gold medal in the 5A pole vault.


SILVER FINISH — Northwest’s Duke Kicinski grabbed a silver medal with his second-place fi nish in the 5A discus.


WINNING WAVE — Alvord’s Savannah Williams waves to the crowd after her victory in the 2A girls 800 Friday.


PUMPED FOR VICTORY — Decatur’s Taylor Clayton gives a fi st pump after his win in the 3A 1600 Wednesday.


TAKING FLIGHT — Slidell’s Kayson Roof fl ies over the bar in the Class A Division II pole vault Wednesday morning. She fi nished sixth in the event. She was also fourth in the 300 hurdles.


ROUNDING THE CORNER — Boyd’s Qualynn Wells dashed to a seventh-place fi nish in the 2A 200.

Wise County fights for state titles

Go to http://wcmess.com/UILto see a slideshow of the meet.

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