MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
KINGSVILLE — Early in the Class 2A boys triple jump, San Perlita’s Tige Johnson tweaked his right knee, and he managed to a record a jump of 40 feet, 10 inches for a 10th-place finish.
After shaking it off, the junior jumper managed to finish Day 1 of the Region IV-2A track & field meet strong with a third-place finish after clearing 5-10 on Friday at Javelina Stadium in Kingsville.
Despite the strong finish and making the medal podium, Johnson was disappointed to fall short of the state meet, finishing behind Junction’s Kyle Lumpkins (6-05) and Iola’s Colton Bullion (6-00).
“The day started out pretty rough, and things just didn’t really bounce my way,” Johnson said. “I probably should have tried to get my steps right. I just went in and things didn’t bounce my way. My knee is aching, but there are no excuses. I just didn’t jump well. I’ll be back next year and try to make it to state.”
The regional meet continues today with field events at 9 a.m. and running finals at 1:30. Johnson has one more shot at state this season when he competes in the long jump, an event for which he qualified with a fourth-place finish at the area meet.
“It’s a blessing to even get (to regional),” Johnson said. “It’s my last event, so I’m just going to go have some fun.”
The top two finishers in each event qualify for the state meet, with third-place finishers possibly having a shot at qualifying for a ninth wild-card spot should their times, heights or distances make the cut.
In Class 4A, Port Isabel’s Mac Strunk had a pretty strong afternoon in the running preliminaries.
In the 200-meter dash, the junior sprinter finished the race in 21.99 seconds, vaulting him into today’s finals with the second-best time in the field.
In the 800 relay, Strunk anchored the Tarpons to the fourth-best time in the field with a 1:30.87.
“I think my team did well and I did well,” Strunk said. “We all had good days as a Tarpon. This boosts my confidence (heading to finals). It felt good. There’s a lot of competition and it was a good atmosphere.”
There were a few notable finishes by athletes from around the area.
In the Class 4A girls 3,200, La Feria’s Dariana Vasquez finished fourth place with a time of 11:58.06. In the boys 3,200, Progreso’s Jonathan Vega finished with a time of 10:05.30, good for fifth place.
In the girl’s pole vault, Port Isabel’s Marlyn Cesenes cleared 11-00 for a seventh-place finish.
La Feria’s Bethany Wood tied for seventh after clearing five feet.