Bracken Christian Finishes Strong at TAPPS State Track Meet

Bracken Christian took 12 athletes to Waco last weekend for the TAPPS State Track

Congratulations to the 12 All State Tracksters

Meet and finished within the top 10 in both the girls and boys team.

Grady Achilles came into the meet with the goal of defending his 100 and 200 Meter Dash. For the third time!

Mission accomplished, as the Senior finished his athletic  career for BCS as one if not the best male athlete for the Warriors.

“Grady has determination,” Head Coach Terri Sanders said. “He is very confident in his ability.”

Achilles seemed to be reaching this year’s meet without the consistency he had enjoyed in previous State Meets.

There are many interruptions being a Senior, Grady was finishing his recruiting during Track Season as well as Senior Trips and other events as he prepared for his final month in the BCS colors.

As will be the case for this remarkable young man, he finished his senior campaign like he finished his races in Waco….in First!

Grady Achilles makes it Three in a Row in the 100 and 200 Meter Relay

Grady Achilles was seeded first in the 100 Meter Dash and did not disappoint when he ran his best race of the year finishing in 11.11 for the event.

Good timing for not leaving any the other runners with hope.

The 200 Meter Dash would be a little different as Grady found himself seeded behind two other competitors and with the same resolve exploded for a 22.89 time beating his best for this season by .48, which also was faster than the best time for the year in the 2A division.

“Grady had ran well enough to qualify for the 200 Meter in Region,” Coach Sanders remembers. “He knew he could run it faster and win the race…the other runners knew what he was capable of doing.”

The race had Grady Achilles winning by over two tenths of a second over Garrison with Logos Prep School.

Katy Wilmotte also found herself on the podium with a second place finish in the 3200 run on Friday and third place running the 1600 on Saturday.

“On Katy’s 3200 run she looked relaxed and the weather was good,” Coach Sanders said. “She started out with the pack and then moved up with a girl from Abilene Christian.”

The Saturday 1600 run was  during the heat of the day, Coach Sanders tried to help her distance runners, “We brought Katy and Barrett (Corey) to the track later in the morning since their race was in the afternoon…they (Katy and Barrett) were not as energetic or quite there.”

Barrett Corey also finished in third improving his time for the 3200 run for the year.

The 800 Meter Run had Erin Bownlee finishing fourth, “She is a persistent athlete, Coach Sanders interjected. “She kept fighting for that position and slowly worked her way up.”

“Brownlee also worked through her allergy issues for the Saturday race.”

Kevin Knapick finished his Senior year with a fourth place finish for the only ‘Field’ event (Discus) that had a Warrior entered.

“None of the Discus guys threw to their potential,” Coach Sanders observed. “The disc circle was College size which is smaller than high school and that made the throwers more apprehensive.”

Davis Scott was used for the boys 4×100 Relay when Knapick was nursing a slight pulled muscle, but the Relay team still had a very respectable fourth place finish.

“The handoffs were excellent and they were competing against fast people”, Sanders said proudly. “Austin Wilkinson and the others had to change their usual spots on the relay since Kevin (Knapick) and Eli Achilles had to move his spot based on his shoulder injury.”

As far as the girls 4×200 Relay, Coach Sanders was very happy. “We came out of the blocks and had good handoffs and finishing fourth was huge.”

Coach Terri Sanders finished with this incredible result for the 12 athletes that competed at the State level.

“To finish in the top six the athletes got All State recognition…I’m very happy all 12 athletes got All State!

How Bracken Christian Performed:
 Name                Event           Place       Time
 Katy Wilmotte   3200 Meter Run      Second    12:42.01

 Grady Achilles  100 Meter Dash      First     11.11

 Grady Achilles  200 Meter Dash      First     22.89
 
 Barrett Corey   3200 Meter Run      Third     10:58.49

 Eli Achilles    4x100 Meter Relay   Fourth    45.67 
 Grady Achilles
 Austin Wilkinson
 Davis Scott

 Erin Brownlee   800 Meter Run       Fourth    2:32.02

 Erin Brownlee   4x200 Meter Relay   Fourth    1:53.83
 Kimmy Burbank
 Karagan Day
 Hannah Moore

 Katy Wilmotte   1600 Meter Run      Third     5:46.52

 Barrett Corey   1600 Meter Run      Seventh   5:06.99

 Kevin Knapick   Discus              Fourth    113-08