A Silver-Studded State Meet for Leps
On the state’s biggest track and field stage Thursday, five La Grange Leopards brought home silver medals from the state meet.
The La Grange 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams and pole vaulter Dylan Truss all turned in their best-ever performances to claim state runner-up finishes.
“It was so awesome to see something we talked about from our first track meeting actually happen,” said La Grange boys track coach Rusty Cauthern. “Our kids were ‘all in’ from day one and I could not be more proud of them. You always want your last performance of the year to be your best and that is exactly what Dylan (pole vault) and Dana, Trey, Jordan and Bravion (relays) did.”
As a group, the La Grange boys finished with 40 points, also giving them a state runner-up finish in the team standings. Waco La Vega won the team title with 82 points, and was the team that finished just ahead of the Leps in both relays.
The Relays
The two La Grange state relay teams included the same four guys, running in the same order in both races. Junior Dana Baker started the race, handing off to senior Trey East, who handed off to fellow senior Jordan Scott, who handed off to sophomore Bravion Rogers.
In the 4x100, La Grange ran a 40.94, just 0.23 behind La Vega. That was a full second faster than their best-ever time the Leps had run at regionals, but it was still not enough to catch La Vega.
“We worked hard for this, it’s rewarding,” said Scott after the 4x100.
But they still had the 4x200 to go, where they had the fastest qualifying time of the nine teams in the race.
“We’re confident,” Baker said of their chances in the 4x200.
In that 4x200, La Grange ran a 1:24.89, just 0.27 behind La Vega. That was nearly a second and a half faster than the Leps had ever run before, and that time would have set a new state 4A record in the event (the old state record of 1:25.49 was set by Gilmer in 2015). As it was, La Vega is now the new state record holder.
“It’s a heavy feeling. We came here with the fastest qualifying time and we were pushing ourselves to try to get gold. We came up short,” East said.
“It’s bittersweet,” Scott said. “We came in feeling like we were going to get first. It’s still a blessing but not the result we wanted.”
Rogers also qualified for state in the high jump, where he was eighth. He cleared his first attempt at 6-feet, then cleared 6-2 on his third and final attempt, before failing to clear 6-4. Davyon Williams of Cuero won the event, clearing 6-10.5
Pole Vault
Dylan Truss’ state silver in the pole vault came in epic fashion.
He actually missed on both first attempts at 14-feet and 14-6 before clearing 15-feet, 15-6, and 15-9 on his first attempts.
When the senior cleared 15-9 he knew he had a medal –it was just a matter of what color.
On Truss’ third and final try at 16-feet, a height he’d never cleared before, he made it to secure the runner-up spot.
“On my third attempt (at 16- feet) I got it just barely,” Truss said. “I’m just super happy. Before that third attempt, I was just thinking, I gotta do this, I gotta get second ... It was truly amazing.”
Other LG Qualifiers
La Grange’s Joseph Mueller was ninth in the boys discus with a throw of 134-7. Christian Cooper of Quinlan Ford won with a throw of 183-10.
In the girls 400 meters, La Grange’s Hailey Bass placed seventh with a time of 58.70, just shy of her best-ever time of 58.60.