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Lena’s 1:08 lands him in Games of Texas finals
For The Citizen
SAN ANTONIO – Highlighted by Kolby Lena capturing a berth in the state championship finals of the boys’ 10-and-under 400-meter dash, Pasadena’s Parks & Recreation had three athletes compete at this past weekend’s Texas Amateur Athletic Federation’s Olympics-style Games of Texas.
Competing at Gustafson Stadium, Lena nabbed his state finals berth by capturing the qualifying time of 1:08.87, good for second place in a field of eight for the sixth heat. Only Duncanville’s Robert Maston, Jr.’s time of 1:06.68 was better than Lena’s.
Layton Seal of McAllen captured third place at 1:09.41 and Devyn Coleman of Westside Baptist secured fourth behind Lena.
In the state finals for the 10-and-under 400 dash, Lena crossed the finish line in eighth place, having to settle for the time of 1:10.28. He was less than half-a-second from sixth place. Dawonya Tucker of the Terrell Broncos finished sixth at 1:10.14 and Marcus Haynes nipped Lena by a hair with his time of 1:10.22.
But both Lena’s qualifying time and his time in the state finals represented improvement over his regional time of 1:11.88, which qualified Lena second and his berth at the Games of Texas.
Lena was witness to a state record in the event when Galena Park’s Shannon Brantley rushed to the time of 1:00.55. His preliminary time of 1:02.85 was also a new Games of Texas record. Westside Baptist’s Freddie Jackson placed second at 1:03.55 and Matson, in shaving two seconds off his prelim time, captured third place.
While Lena’s time was nowhere close to the new record holder, his time was among the best in a starting field of 41 competitors.
For the Boys’ 8-and-under division, Pasadena was represented by Dillon Perez in the 200-meter dash. Perez was unable to qualify for the state championship finals after using a time in the prelims of 36.92. That time was good for fifth place in Heat 1. Six other boys trailed Heat 1 winner Nathaniel White III, who reached the finish in 32 seconds even.
But winning the state championship in the event was Fort Worth’s Cameron Jones and his time of 31.44 seconds. Teammate Charles Lee was runner-up at 31.49 seconds.
Perez’s time placed him in 37th place. A hair faster and Perez would have finished 34th overall. It was that close with the three runners just ahead of Perez.
Action in the 16-and-under division featured Sam Rayburn High School’s Eric Espinoza competing in two events. In the 200-meter run, Espinoza touched the finish line in 24.18 seconds, good for fifth place in Heat 3. Braylon Hartfield qualified first at 23.01 and Joseph Wilson was next at 23.02.
In the overall standings, Espinoza’s time was good for 23rd place. Had Espinoza trimmed just a little over one second off his time, he would have qualified for the state championship finals. Ninth place saw the time of 23.21 seconds and eighth went to the time of 23.08 seconds.
For the 400-meter dash, Espinoza ran the time of 54.91 seconds in Heat 2. Cortland Davidson qualified first at 51.10. In the overall scene, Espinoza cornered 21st place out of 33 competitors for the age group.
In the 18-and-under pole vault competition, Pasadena Memorial High School’s Frank Cardenas placed ninth with a vault of 11 feet. The state championship went to Hayden Clark and his outstanding vault of 16 feet, 1 inch. He missed breaking a 1986 record by six inches.
SAN ANTONIO – Highlighted by Kolby Lena capturing a berth in the state championship finals of the boys’ 10-and-under 400-meter dash, Pasadena’s Parks & Recreation had three athletes compete at this past weekend’s Texas Amateur Athletic Federation’s Olympics-style Games of Texas.
Competing at Gustafson Stadium, Lena nabbed his state finals berth by capturing the qualifying time of 1:08.87, good for second place in a field of eight for the sixth heat. Only Duncanville’s Robert Maston, Jr.’s time of 1:06.68 was better than Lena’s.
Layton Seal of McAllen captured third place at 1:09.41 and Devyn Coleman of Westside Baptist secured fourth behind Lena.
In the state finals for the 10-and-under 400 dash, Lena crossed the finish line in eighth place, having to settle for the time of 1:10.28. He was less than half-a-second from sixth place. Dawonya Tucker of the Terrell Broncos finished sixth at 1:10.14 and Marcus Haynes nipped Lena by a hair with his time of 1:10.22.
But both Lena’s qualifying time and his time in the state finals represented improvement over his regional time of 1:11.88, which qualified Lena second and his berth at the Games of Texas.
Lena was witness to a state record in the event when Galena Park’s Shannon Brantley rushed to the time of 1:00.55. His preliminary time of 1:02.85 was also a new Games of Texas record. Westside Baptist’s Freddie Jackson placed second at 1:03.55 and Matson, in shaving two seconds off his prelim time, captured third place.
While Lena’s time was nowhere close to the new record holder, his time was among the best in a starting field of 41 competitors.
For the Boys’ 8-and-under division, Pasadena was represented by Dillon Perez in the 200-meter dash. Perez was unable to qualify for the state championship finals after using a time in the prelims of 36.92. That time was good for fifth place in Heat 1. Six other boys trailed Heat 1 winner Nathaniel White III, who reached the finish in 32 seconds even.
But winning the state championship in the event was Fort Worth’s Cameron Jones and his time of 31.44 seconds. Teammate Charles Lee was runner-up at 31.49 seconds.
Perez’s time placed him in 37th place. A hair faster and Perez would have finished 34th overall. It was that close with the three runners just ahead of Perez.
Action in the 16-and-under division featured Sam Rayburn High School’s Eric Espinoza competing in two events. In the 200-meter run, Espinoza touched the finish line in 24.18 seconds, good for fifth place in Heat 3. Braylon Hartfield qualified first at 23.01 and Joseph Wilson was next at 23.02.
In the overall standings, Espinoza’s time was good for 23rd place. Had Espinoza trimmed just a little over one second off his time, he would have qualified for the state championship finals. Ninth place saw the time of 23.21 seconds and eighth went to the time of 23.08 seconds.
For the 400-meter dash, Espinoza ran the time of 54.91 seconds in Heat 2. Cortland Davidson qualified first at 51.10. In the overall scene, Espinoza cornered 21st place out of 33 competitors for the age group.
In the 18-and-under pole vault competition, Pasadena Memorial High School’s Frank Cardenas placed ninth with a vault of 11 feet. The state championship went to Hayden Clark and his outstanding vault of 16 feet, 1 inch. He missed breaking a 1986 record by six inches.
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