“Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of every opportunity when it occurs.”
– Mario Andretti
The Junior High completed their track season at Poth on Friday, March 24, 2022. Junior High seasons begin and then they are over just as we begin to peak. It was a successful day for the Lytle throwers, having top six throwers represented by Lytle in six of the eight events.
The 7th Grade ladies have been pieced together with ladies who kept from being hurt. My best discus thrower broke her arm after lunch the day before the Meet. Jerrika Castillo filled in nicely for her but she had been limited to only throwing a week due to health issues. The three 7th Grade ladies who threw the discus were Jerrika, Dulce Martinez and Olivia Cherry. They all threw well but couldn’t get the discus over 60 feet. In the shot put, I knew that two of the ladies had opportunities to place. I remember meeting Jerrika Castillo in August. I told her and her mom that she could be a champion thrower. Jerrika was kept out because of health and only got cleared a week ago. She and Alianna Cardenas worked for a week together. Alianna was pinned 7th at the Poth Meet a month ago with a 24’2” throw but she kept improving each week. I knew that if they threw well, they could both place at District. Alianna threw her best throw of the season and placed 5th at 27’5” and Jerrika’s final throw placed her 2nd with a 28’4” toss. The 7th Grade girls scored 10 points for the 7th Grade girls’ team.
The 8th Grade ladies also threw well. Although none placed in the top four, they remained in the top six and scored points for the team. Anissa Perez placed 5th in discus with a 64’9” throw. This placed her 5th in the District. If she had competed in the High School Meets this past weekend, she would have placed in all three Meets. The other throwers were Isabella Sewell and Gabi Cortez. The shot put ladies finished the season for the ladies in the rings. Martina Yruarte had cut her hand opening an avocado on Wednesday. Luckily, it wasn’t her throwing hand. Isabella Sewell worked more on the shot put than the discus at practice and she threw a Personal Record of 30’3.5” (26’6”), which placed her 5th. Martina and her bandaged hand threw a Personal Record at 29’11” (25’2.5”) to place 6th. Taryn McDonald also threw the shot. All three ladies improved their throws from the first time they were at Poth shown in parenthesis. The 8th Grade ladies scored five points for the team.
The 7th Grade boys did some amazing accomplishments this year. In both the shot put and the discus, these boys now hold the new 7th Grade school records for both events. They began with the shot put and Seth Pierce sent his second throw a foot past the school record. He was only 4 inches from the record at Dilley two weeks ago. The boys from Poth knew how far Seth had thrown and, during the warm-up, Seth was just throwing 30’. Mason Hill and Ethan Elizondo both threw over 32’, which placed them 3rd and 4th. If this was a High School District Meet, Lytle would have all three advancing to the Area Meet. Seth’s new school record is 37’6.5”, which is one-foot past Victor Garcia’s throw in 7th Grade. Mason’s 3rd place throw of 32’10” and Ethan’s throw of 32’4” put them 5th and 6th place respectively in the top ten. Afterward, they moved to the discus ring. One of my ladies came over to me while they were warming up and said during Mason’s warm-up throws, all the other competitors gasped. Mason Hill is now the new 7th Grade record holder by one inch. I was glad he got the record because they scratched his second throw, which was at least 125’. Mason’s school record throw of 118’4” won him the District title and Ethan Elizondo was 2nd at 97’10”. These two boys have pushed each other all year with Ethan winning two Meets, Devine and Pearsall, and Mason winning both Meets at Poth. Seth Pierce did an excellent job of backing up his shot put throw with a 6th place discus throw of 81’6”. Seth improved his throw each time moving his pin. The 7th Grade boys added 39 points to the team points and swept the District titles for the rings.
The 8th Grade boys finished the season for the boys. Noah Smoot has carried the shot putters for the year but his arm was hurting, so he asked if he could be pulled out of the shot competition. I knew he had an opportunity to be District Champion in discus, so I scratched him. Isaiah Del Gado and Isaiah Leven both threw the shot but did not stay pinned. Isaiah Leven is working to spin the shot and, hopefully, this will pay off in High School. My mentor, Coach Chandler, was in the rings to support his Grandson Noah in his quest for the discus championship. Noah, Chris Jacques and Noah Mercer were the throwers for Lytle. Chris warmed up nicely and it was his first time in the ring. He had finished his high jump contest and was able to throw. Chris was leading after 2 throws and he ended up 4th with a nice 108’5” toss. This places Chris in the top ten throwers for Lytle. It was good that Lytle was running the discus rings and I appreciated all the coaches watching out for Noah. They allowed him to throw one and one on his final two throws because of his arm. I told Noah he didn’t have to throw if it hurt too much, but he told me rather forcefully that he was going to throw. His final throw, he threw 112’2” to win the 8th Grade boys discus. After the contest, I let the Junior Varsity and Varsity discus throwers know that the Junior High had swept the discus competitions and I was “bringing a broom” to the District Meet. The goal for Lytle is to have champions in all four divisions. The 8th Grade boys added 14 points to the team score, helping with the team championship. Quite an accomplishment for this group of athletes. District Champions in Football, Cross Country and Track.
As this season finishes, the ladies of the long and mid-distance begin their next Cross Country season. I enjoyed watching the 7th Grade ladies transition into distance runners from girls who doubted their abilities. Laleina Riviera won the 2400M and Addison Wagner, fresh off her being named Cheer Captain for next year, ran 3rd with a new Personal Record. I don’t get to see them run the 2400M because they put throwers as far away from the stadium as possible. Klayre Cook took 2nd place and Frankie Scotello took 3rd place. I couldn’t be at my normal 200M place on the track due to helping with time but I got to see 800M. Laleina and Klayre won the 800M, besting the field by at least 50M. Klayre was disappointed with her 2:39 time but she didn’t really get pushed. Vanessa Ayala won the mile. I tried to tell them how slow they were going but she realized it in the final stretches and ran a beautiful last lap to run away from the competition. Addison Wagner tried to go below 7 minutes but, since the race was slow, she didn’t break the time, but she did finish 3rd. What a wonderful group of distance runners we will have next year in 8th Grade. Coach Ruiz told the 8th Grade girls that they are now High School runners and in their last race, Frankie Scotello placed 2nd and Annika Robles ran a Personal Record of 7:24 to place 5th in District. She was so excited at her time, having overcome her Cross Country stress fracture.
As we left Poth, I told Jerrika that she had many people to thank on Monday. All my throwers are immensely grateful for the teachers who work tirelessly each day. The maintenance team and transportation team for maintaining our rings at home and get us to the Meets. All my athletes are thankful to the cafeteria ladies who make such good snacks for their nutrition. Nothing tastes better than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after victory. Thanks to the ladies in the office who arrange for the coverage of the classes of the coaches when off campus for events. The success and accomplishments of these athletes are due to not only their hard work and dedication, but also to the many people behind the scenes. Finally, thank you to all the parents who allow me to work with their children.
“No man fails who does his best.”
– Orison Swett Marden
See photos in Google album: JH Track District Meet 3-24-2022 photos by Hadley Foster