The Fairfield Lady Eagles took a group with the potential to bring home medals and have a run at the state team title. They would strike gold with two wins but come up short in the team title race.
Reaching for the Gold in the High Jump is Fairfield Lady Eagles ShaDasia Brackens at the State Meet.
Shadasia Brackens looked to defend her high jump title and she did by matching her season high jump of 5’10” on her second attempt. Abby Elmore from Gunter matched the height for a share of the lead but Brackens completed the 5’9” jump in less attempts and took the gold medal in the first day of competition at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus.
Emarei Brandon of Wichita Falls City View made the medal stand with a distant third place finish of 5’6.”
Avery Thaler competed in the Triple Jump and would join Brackens with a gold medal run and a state title in the event. Five jumpers sailed beyond 38 feet, but Thaler leaped 38’9” and that was the longest of the day. Jayana Phillips matched the jump to tie the distance but Thaler passed 38 feet four times to win the event. Yierra Flemings of Cameron finished third and earned a spot on the medal stand. Kyla Hill of Goliad and Rachel Dunn of Mount Vernon were the next two finishers and topped 38 feet.
McKinna Brackens competed earlier in the day in the discus and her throw of 123’ 5” was good enough for a sixth place finish. Taylor Wiseman from Childress dominated the field with a throw of 150’5.”
Earning 2nd place in the 4×100 Relay are Madox Mitchael, ShaDasia Brackens, Avery Thaler and Na’Kayla Conner.
Fairfield trailed by two points after the field events with three relays running in the evening session. Madox Mitchael, Shadasia Brackens, Avery Thaler and NaKayla Conner ran in the sprint relay and came in with a competitive time in the fast field. All four runners ran a quick time and the Lady Eagles finished the 400 meters in 47.78. The time earned them a silver medal for a runner up finish behind the winning time of 47.27 of Universal City Randolph. Bushland and Atlanta were the next two finishers.
The same four runners returned a short time later to run the 4 x 200 meter relay. They had the fastest qualifying time coming into the event and did not disappoint with a first place finish time of 1:41.54, just edging the runners up from Gunter. Thaler ran a very fast third leg and put the Lady Eagles in position for the win. Universal City Randolph finished third in the event.
The team points tightened up following the race but Universal City Randolph took a double win in the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash from sophomore runner Taylor Nunez. They would also pull first place finishes in the 800 meter run and the 1600 meter run from fellow sophomore Sophia Bendet and those points secured a team win for the Ro-Hawk track team.
Mitchael, Thaler, and Brackens, joined by Lillian McBean competed in the final event of the day. The mile relay was not the strongest of the three relays but were in a position to put themselves in medal contention. They remained in the front for all four legs but could not run down Shallowater when the earned their first relay win of the day. Gunter and Universal City Randolph finished second and third and the Lady Eagles finished fifth, just behind Goliad.
Taking 3rd Place overall at the State Meet for Track & Field are the Fairfield Lady Eagles, who brought home several gold medals. Great job!
Fairfield scored a total of 61 points on the day, which is an impressive total since it would have won three other classifications. Gunter was the team runner up with 70 points and Universal City Randolph put up the 94 points to win the state team title.
Dax Linscomb of Teague and Michaiah Miller from Mexia competed in the shot put and both finished seventh in their competitive fields. Mexia’s Tej Bryant competed in the 200 meter run and finished seventh.
(Photos by Randi Mitchael)
