“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence. That will enable you to attain the success you seek.” – Mario Andretti
This week past the throwers from Lytle competed in the track meets at Medina Valley. It looked like we could have had rain, but it held off, so we had dry conditions. This meet is one of the tougher meets we will compete in all year as in both the Junior High and High School's great competition abounds.
The Junior High competed on Thursday, February 21st, and even with roughly 9 throwers in each division from the Village from Medina, the lads and lasses competed well. The two 8th Grade stars were Alex Medina who set a new PERSONAL RECORD with 103’5” and placed fourth. Sarah Yruarte set a new PERSONAL RECORD of 29’2” and finished 8th. Sarah wasn’t the only thrower to just miss scoring points. The 7th Grade duo of Alexis Flores and Ysabella Diaz placed 7th and 8th in discus and Ysabella was 7th in the shot with a Personal Record of 25’10.5”. Mario Diaz placed the highest of the Junior High throwers with a 2nd place shot at 32’9”. Natalie Pacheco placed 5th in shot and 6th in the discus with throws of 31’3” and 67’9”. Much work is needed this week as we prepare to throw in our rings this week on Friday.
The High School competed on Friday, February 22nd, and ended with the high school girls throwing by the light of the moon and the track. It made for some interesting throws. The two stars for the night were the performance in the Varsity Shot and the performance of the Junior Varsity Discus Throwers. The Varsity competitors threw three throws and the top 8 got a final throw. Victor was placed 8th after three throws. On his third throw, he threw a nice toss but scratched. He stayed pinned in 8th and he followed what I told him, “Don’t worry about scratching and just throw.” He hit a PERSONAL RECORD at 43’3.5” and finished in fourth place. James Black and Robey Harold threw well but 40’ was a minimum mark they needed to throw to stay marked. We aren’t there yet but give us time. The girls’ event was just as competitive. Emily Garcia had a pin that was knocked over and replaced about 6” further. She wanted to report this error, but I said no worries. On her third throw, she hit the spot where they had marked so she felt justified. She hit a Personal Record with a 31’7.25” throw. Noelia Medina also reached a Personal Record and placed in the top 8 with a throw of over 30’ at 30’.75”.
The JV shot represented Lytle well as the two freshman stars hit personal bests. April Bodie won the meet with a nice toss of 30’8.5”. Emily Oliver and Alex Naeglin also threw the shot. Cort Haltom set his personal best with a second-place toss of 34’8”. Jon Cantu is one of the boys dual athletes competing in both baseball and track. Jon placed fourth with a nice toss of 32’4”. I really appreciate Coach Bippert’s support of the track program by all he does with his practice schedule. Jacob Flores also threw as a freshman for Lytle.
Victor Garcia also placed fourth with a nice discus throw of 124’1”. This week we will see how he stacks up against most of the district here at our meet. James Black threw over 100 and Robey Harold threw at 100. Noelia placed fourth with a season-best 96’1”. Emily Garcia was one of the last throwers to have her pin removed. She threw about 85’.
The JV discus ring impressed the coaches and parents who ran the ring. The gentleman gave the throwers a nice compliment that Lytle had some good discus throwers. Cort Haltom scratched his first throw after telling the coach to back up in the ring. On his second entry, he pressed to first and then conducted a full spin throw to a new PERSONAL RECORD at 119’1”. This placed him first. All three of the Lady throwers placed in the top six. April Bodie placed second with an 83’8” PERSONAL RECORD. Alex Naeglin threw a season-best 77’11” for fourth and Emily Oliver placed 6th with a season-best of 77’. Good lifting to Emily as she lifts in the Regional meet.
If you have a chance to come to watch of help shag shots or discus this week, we will be competing Thursday (HS) and Friday (JH). The high school will only have district teams competing. We will get a snapshot of the possibilities of District.
“No one keeps his enthusiasm automatically. Enthusiasm must be nourished with new actions, new aspirations, new efforts, and new vision.” - Papyrus