Region Track Meet is All About the Second Day

Canyon Lake athletes are new with many of the, ‘We have never been this far

Freshman Mariah Ellis in 4x400 Relay

before,’ scenarios.

This week the Boy and Girl Hawk Track Teams will be competing against the best schools in Region IV, which is comprised of eight districts.

Two weeks ago each athlete that finished in the top three of any event punched their ticket to compete in the Region Meet that is being held at Corpus Christi this Friday and Saturday.

To advance to Austin for the State Meet these athletes will have to be in the top two in order to have a chance to run or throw or jump again.

The ReSporter has documented where Canyon Lake’s finishes have compared to their competitors. (you can find that below in our graph)

Last year Canyon Lake Girls Track Team had Jessica Cunningham make it to State in the Pole Vault. Cunningham also finished in fifth place scoring two points for Canyon Lake and breaking the ice for hopefully more Hawk athletes.

Cunningham has taken her Pole Vault Event and is now jumping for Stephen F. Austin.

The boys have not had a chance to go to State since they are still waiting to qualify but now they are in the qualify for the Second Day mode.

Canyon Lake Boys will be running in all three relays while the Girls qualified in the 4×400 Relay this weekend.

For the boys, the schedule will be running the 4×100 Relay—wait approximately 90 minutes and then the 4×200 and then wait and run the final race…4×400.

With eight districts and three teams from each meet that qualified, you will have 24 schools vying for those two spots. Each of the races on Friday will qualify the relay team by their best times to be one of the final eight. That race will culminate the next day.

Many of the Field events will be run and finished on Friday and those athletes will know then if they will be competing at State.

“We are ready,” Junior Doug Hubnik relayed. “I hope we do well and we can compete….we want to make it to the second day.”

Hubnik is the anchor on the 4×400 relay team and he will be teamed with the same three Hawks for the other two relays as well. Senior Zach Henshaw, Junior Daniel Camarillo, and Junior Eduardo Covarrubias who have been running all season for this chance to make Hawk history.

“Coach has been telling us that our 4×400 relay is one of the best times in the region,” Hubnik passed the baton. “I will have tons of butterflies, but once I take the baton, then I will just give it my all.”

Canyon Lake had to do some soul searching after the District 26-3A Meet when they finished a very disappointing third place. In fact, their finish was over five seconds worse than the standard they ran in Dripping Springs.

“We had burned a lot of energy on that day,” Hubnik surmised. “We were shocked, but it won’t effect us and we will be rested….we will be ready.”

The Hawks had several meets running against bigger schools this season and The ReSporter asked Doug Hubnik if that helped in preparing for this time of year, “We ran against some good competition and the bigger schools helped us to press harder….we will be ready.”

You might get the idea that this CL Track Team will ‘be ready.’

The Coaches are also primed and ready to see how their students will perform this weekend.

“Yes, we have had good workouts,” Head Girls Coach Lacey Lambert said. “We just have to keep our legs underneath us and we have had easy jogging and no lifting this week.”

Many of these athletes have been competing in several sports all year, so this can become a grind to some. Volleyball and Football starts in August, so you can see that being rested might come in handy as these athletes round the track for their last lap.

“A 4:07 is possible,” Coach Lambert said while giving the girls relay team a time that would give them a chance to run on the second day. “We can get that time, these girls have all not run their best race at the same meet, so they will have to be running their best at the right time.”

Coach Cody Means (Boys Coach) also commented on the practices for this week, “We have had some good practices and today we worked on our handoffs.”

Handoffs is the one variable that can make the relays a success or failure. Especially when the distances are not as great giving the other runners a chance to make up lost ground.

“We have a very realistic goal to make day two,” Coach Means closed. “Then we want to make the medal stand.”

Looking at the graph below, the ‘place’, represents the best time in the Region based on district meets. All the running events will take eight schools or individuals for the Second Day event.

Hannah Graves finished in third place in the District Meet, but all three runners were separated by tenths of a second. Several other runners in the region also in the 800 run were in the same range as Graves time.

Stayed tuned as The ReSporter will chronicle the exploits of these athletes as they ARE READY and THEY ASPIRE for a DAY TWO…..hope you got that!!

 Athletes and the Events of Competition:
                                    Best Time   Place in
 Name                Event          This Yr.    Region
 Jordan Anderson     100 M Dash     10.81       Third
 Jordan Anderson     200 M Dash     22.47       Third
 Jordan Anderson     400 M Dash     50.16       Fifth
 Zach Henshaw        4x100 Relay    43.73       Sixth
 Daniel Camarillo    4x200 Relay    1:31.23     Ninth
 Eduardo Covarrubias 4x400 Relay    3:26.55     Fourth
 Doug Hubnik  
 Taylor Hocutt       Discus         139’11”     Ninth
 Jordan Anderson     High Jump      6’5”        First
 Jaaz McNair         Shot Put       45’9”       Eleventh
 Jordan Anderson     Long Jump      21’4”       Sixth

 Hannah Graves       800 M Run      2:27.81     Sixth     
 Mariah Ellis        4x400 M Relay  4:11.15     Sixth     
 Amber Ramsey
 Caitlyn Collins
 Brookelynn Helmke
 Marisa Ellis        High Jump      5’3”        Sixth     
 Marisa Ellis        Triple Jump    36’10”      Second
 Kaelin Simmons      Shot Put       32’7.5      Tenth