Calallen, Robstown freshmen shine in girls discus at UIL area track meet

ALICE — It was a good day to be a freshman at the discus ring.

Not only did Calallen freshman Brookelynn Meador uncork two attempts better than 130 feet, Robstown's Hailey Martinez threw a personal best toss of 124-feet, 11-inches to finish third.

The performances kicked off a strong day for Coastal Bend competitors at the District 31-4A/32-4A area track meet at Alice Memorial Stadium on Thursday.

The top four competitors in each event advanced to next week's Region IV-4A meet at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Meador, who has been splitting time between throwing for the Calallen track team and catching for the Wildcats softball team — and excelling in both — qualified for regionals in the discus and the shot put.

"I didn't expect this success as a freshman," Meador said. "I haven't worked on it as much as I've wanted to, but this season has been a success. I've had some really good coaches.

"It felt really good to pass my goal."

Meador said she set a personal record by 15 feet, with her winning throw of 137-8.

"It was a good day for everyone, to be honest," Meador said. "Everyone PR'd. I'm really excited (about regionals and the softball playoffs)."

Meador finished third in the shot put with a mark of 33-feet, 11.5 inches.

Martinez, still smiling ear-to-ear after coming off the podium with a bronze medal, thought about the big picture of what her accomplishment meant.

"I can set an example for the little kids that are going to come here and become freshmen," Martinez said. "They don't have to be scared about the new adventures they are going to take on. You can achieve anything, no matter how long it has been. You can be as good as you want to be."

The Robstown freshman said she didn't envision making it to regionals as a freshman, although she hoped she could because of the amount of time and effort she had invested.

"I've been training since the summer," Martinez. "The shock is still there. I was impressed when I heard 124-feet. My PR before was 111."

Martinez had anything but an easy day leading up to her record-breaking mark. First she forgot her discus and then she stepped in gum just before her turn.

"Everything was getting rushed and I just had to calm down all my nerves," Martinez said. "I told myself 'You can do this.' I had done it before in practice."

ALICE ON TOP AGAIN

The Alice boys team followed up its District 31-4A championship with the area team title, led by wins in the 400 and 800 relay and a stellar day from Jaden Godines.

Godines finished as the high point male athlete of the meet with 28 points, powered by wins in both hurdle events and a second-place finish in the triple jump.

Godines clocked 15.62 to win the 110 hurdles and 42.47 to claim the 300 hurdles, but even the with three top-two finishes, he lamented his missed opportunity for three golds.

"My goal coming into this season was to make it to regionals in at least one of my events, but three was even more than I wanted," Godines said. "I should have gotten first in triple jump, too, but at least I got first in my other (events). I'm excited to go to regionals."

With two medals in his back pocket, the Coyotes junior had a great start out of the blocks in the 300 hurdles, but snagged the first hurdle badly.

Godines did everything he could to recapture his initial momentum and had a lead going into the home stretch before he was nearly caught at the line.

"I had to focus on going faster to make up for my lost time on the hurdle, and that is what I did," Godines said.

The Coyotes also received individual championships from Elijha Thompson in the triple jump (41-4), Ryan Salas in the high jump (6-0) and Landon Rodriguez (22.98) in the 200.

La Feria won the girls team title, followed by Calallen in second place.

DOUBLE DOWN

Robstown's Jazmine Miller, who has her sights set on state this season, was dominant in the 100 and 200-meter dash for the Cotton Pickers.

"I think I could have done better," Miller said. "I've been trying to get my time down and hopefully at regionals that is going to happen."

Miller bested her teammate Trinity Anscombe with a 12.28 in the 100 and clocked 25.75 to win the 200.

Miller qualified for the UIL State meet as a freshman in the 400 in 2019 and advanced to regionals in the 200 and 400 as a junior.

She has her mind set on a return to Austin.

"I think I'm there, I just have to be good on the right day," Miller said. "I can do it if everything goes well."

CALALLEN GIRLS SHINE

Beyond Meador, the Calallen girls had several girls find success across multiple events.

Mia Flores won the triple jump, finished fourth in long jump and the 100 and contributed to the relay success for the Wildcats, helping Calallen win the 400 relay and finish fourth in the 800 relay.

Karlie Haigood finished first in the 100 hurdles (16.66), second to teammate Amber Gonzalez in the 300 hurdles and was fifth in the triple jump. Heather Peterson (3,200) Jillian Curtis (high jump) and Zuri Richardson (200) all finished second in their events.

The Wildcats capped the meet with a win in the 1,600 relay, sending all three relays to the regional meet in Kingsville.

OTHER CHAMPIONS AND MULTI-EVENT QUALIFIERS

• Kingsville's Kenny Jensen won the 100 with a 10.78 and was second in the 200 (23.37).

• Calallen's Luke Medina was third in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the long jump. The Wildcats' Brody Rogers advanced in the triple jump (fourth) and pole vault (third).

• The Tuloso-Midway tandem of Anthony Garrett and Ivan Avila each qualified in the 1,600 and 3,200. Garrett finished second in both and Avila was third in the 1,600 and fourth in the 3,200. Warriors teammate Adrian Reyes was third in the 400 and 800. Claire Bennett (third, 1,600 and fourth, 3,200) qualified in two distance events for the Cherokees.

• Alice's Liana Garcia won the 400 with a time of 1:01.76. Coyotes teammate Kaylin Cervantez was third in the long jump (16-2) and high jump (5-0).

• Robstown's Nyomi Garcia won the 800 (2:22.69) and was fourth in the 1,600.

Quinton Martinez covers all things sports in South Texas. Support local coverage like this by checking out our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Calallen, Robstown freshmen shine in discus at UIL area track meet