MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
SANTA ROSA — After being out in front following Wednesday’s events, both the Lyford girls and boys didn’t miss a step as they captured the District 32-3A track and field titles Friday afternoon at Santa Rosa’s Warrior Stadium.
The Lyford girls took home first, scoring 240 points, while the boys sealed their win with 236 points.
For most of the meet, the Bulldogs were in front and now they aim to carry that success to the area meet in Banquete this coming Wednesday.
It will be a new experience for both Lyford teams.
The girls’ team has never sent a team to area.
“We’ve worked hard all year and we have a good bunch of girls; they’ve worked hard and put in the time,” Lyford girls coach Marissa Chapa said. “We’ve never been to area before and we’re fortunate to have the whole team make it. We’ve always skipped area and sent girls to regionals, but now we’re going to go the long route.”
With the Lyford girls taking a brand-new route, the Lyford boys are district champions for the first time in Bulldogs head coach Douglas Ames’ nine years at Lyford.
“It’s been a great season and the credit all goes to the kids. They’ve worked hard all year and they came out and performed their best for this meet,” Ames said. “It’s a new thing for us and we haven’t won district in a while, so we’re excited. However, the kids know what’s up nest so they’ll be ready.”
Overall, the Lyford boys won nine events, including seven on Friday alone. The Bulldogs took home gold in all the relays.
On the individual front, Francisco Moreno won the 100-meter dash (11.6), while teammate Rodrigo Cedillo won the 200- (23.58) and 400-meter dashes (50.85).
Robert Herrrera was victorious in the 800-meter run (2:05.24).
For the Lady Bulldogs, Victoria Burns edged out IDEA Quest’s Jillian Terry in the 100-meter hurdles 18.21 to 19.65.
Terry did win the 300-meter hurdles with a 53.90 later on in the day, however.
Meanwhile, Thalia Polanco took home another gold Friday, this time in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:33.20. She was first in the 3200-meter run Wednesday.
SOLID DAYS: The Warrior boys finished second with 166 points, but had a good second day as a team by winning three events.
The Warriors won both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.
Santa Rosa’s David Garza took the 110 hurdles with a time of 17.81 and Alex Ayala won the 300 hurdles with a time of 42.89. Distance runner Donovan Olivarez rebounded from a fourth-place finish in the 3200-meter run on Wednesday to a first place finish in the 1600-meter run (4:56.84).
The Edinburg Quest girls gave the Lyford Lady Bulldogs all they could handle by winning six events on Friday and finished second with 170 points. They won both the 400 and 800-meter relays with times of 53.58 and 1:54.63, respectively.
In addition to Terry’s gold in the 300 hurdles, Valery Tobias won the 400-metr dash (59.11), the 800-meter run (2:21.71) and Veronica Riojas took home the 100-meter dash title (13.55).