"Start at the very beginning, it is a very good place to start." - the Sound of Music
February 13th, Valentines Eve, the thrower's for Lytle began their season. The high school did not have a complete team yet but we competed with the ones we had in a dual meet at Hondo's new track. Once again, we were placed out as far away as we could be from the runners. We began the year with new Personal Records. I really didn't get to see the discus competition up close but I ran the shot putt ring.
Emily Garcia began her Senior season winning both shot and discus. She threw 31'11" in the shot putt and threw 96'2" (Personal Record) in the discus. April Bodie threw 31'8" in shot and 89'1" (Personal Record) in discus. Emili Oliver who is just off of concussion protocol threw 27'6" in the shot and 70'11" in the discus. Sydney Estrada who just threw shot to please her coach pressed 22'6" and threw a great discus at 72' (Personal Record) which was 9 feet farther than when she left the rings last year. Finally, the girls finished with new Freshman Sarah Yraurte who focuses on shot with a 23'1" (Personal Record) throw and then threw a 46'10" discus to please her coach.
I had three young men compete in the discus and Alex Medina says he just wants to throw discus. Cort Haltom, the leader of the bunch threw 131'10" (Personal Record) and 38'9" (Personal Record). Jacob Flores threw a 93'6" (Personal Record) and on his last shot he threw a beautiful glide of 33'10". Alex Medina threw his first 1.6K discus for Lytle with a discus of 100'3"(Personal Record). Alex is the third freshman I have had to throw over 100 feet in his first meet.
The Junior High went to Pearsall for their first Meet and after a few days of practice and for many of the athletes it was their first taste of Track and they did pretty good. Many of the 8th graders were defending their medals from District as 7th graders. Mario Diaz placed 3rd with a 35'10" toss and placed 4th in discus with a 92' toss. Jacob Guevara placed 6th in shot with a 32'20" throw and he won the meet in discus with a 117' toss. Last year he placed 4th with only a 67' toss. He has made major improvements. Hector Amaya also threw shot and Daniel Mercado stayed pinned in 7th with a 70' discus. The 8th Grade ladies were the highlight of the Meet. Ysabella Diaz became the new 8th Grade school record holder with a 6 lb shot with a 1st place toss of 37'. She also placed 4th in discus with a 63' toss. Alexis Flores won the discus with a throw of 64'8" and placed 6th in shot with a 35' toss. Andrea Aguilar was just behind her in discus with a 64'4" throw. Katara Whitfield competed as a thrower in her first Meet for Lytle in Shot.
The 7th Grade began their first throws for Lytle. Juan Olivera doubled up winning both the shot and discus competition. The measures were not given but when they tried to award first to another athlete everyone at the rings said the Lytle kid won the Meet. He had to make an impression with that type of response. He then went and threw 86 feet to win discus. Nico Pacheco placed 6th in shot and he showed why I want him to represent Lytle, when they tried to give him the 3rd place ribbon, he told them he had only placed 6th. Honesty is a key trait we want in Lytle athletes. Andy Arrendondo also threw for Lytle. AJ Frausto placed 3rd in discus with a nice 70' toss. AJ makes me feel really old since I taught his mom in my first 2nd Grade class. Jairo Martinez also threw discus. The 7th Grade girls have much to work on in the shot rings. Gilliam Haltom, Lunna Reyes and Arianna Garcia threw the shot. They didn't stay pinned. Nayelli Pacheco stayed pinned in 7th in discus with a 50'2" throw. Yara Laureno threw discus. Gilliam gave her memorable experience speech today about her discus throw. She ended up placing 5th with a 58'2" toss. She said she was so excited that she didn't stay around to see who placed ahead of her.