Kingwood Track Heads to State

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Mustang Boys Win Team Silver at Region Track Meet

Kingwood boys 4x400 relay won second place at the Region II 5-A track and field meet, cinching a reserve championship crown for the team, and earning a ticket to the state finals.  The team of Sean Spiehler (senior, first leg), Myles Marshall (freshman, second leg), Kenny Shirley (senior, third leg) and James Steptoe (junior, fourth leg) gave the team the final point-push they needed with a time of 3:18.74 Saturday in the finals held at Baylor University.  They ran 3:19.59 in the prelims Friday.  They outran the other 22 teams in the competition, second only to DeSoto who is currently ranked first in Texas and won the Region II crown. 

The conditions were not ideal, with 20-25 mph wind gusts and temperatures reaching 85 degrees or more.  The relay team competed well even though they were off their season-best mark of 3:16.01 from the Rice Victor Lopez meet earlier this year (US#13).  First- and second-place finishers at the region meet automatically qualify for the state finals.  The best third-place finisher from all of the four regions also qualifies for State.

Other Mustangs who punched their ticket to the Texas championships were Justin Brinkley who placed second in both the 1600m and 3200m races and Sean Spiehler who placed second in the high jump.  Sandie Raines was the only Lady Mustang to qualify, placing third in the 1600m race and winning the at-large bid with a time of 5:07.12, edging out the third-place Region I finisher who ran 5:07.60.

Addison Tomlison placed third in the pole vault, matching his personal best with a jump of 15’6”.  Tomlison jumped the same height as Blake White from Region IV and officials have not yet determined who will get the at-large bid.  Whoever had the fewer misses will get the go-ahead.  If they are tied on misses it will come down to a coin toss.

Other scorers for the team include the 4x200m relay team (Kade Harrington, JeDarian Jackson, Mason Loiodice and Payne Sisson) who placed fourth with 1:28.17.  Less than one second separated the third- through sixth- place finishers in that race.  Spiehler was fourth in the long jump and Steptoe was fourth in the 400m open race with 48.75.   

Other Kingwood athletes making it to the final rounds at region competition but not qualifying for the state finals were Cary McMahon in the pole vault, Kelly Goudeau in the 400m open race, Sean Spiehler in the 110m hurdles, Natasha Tillett in the 300m hurdles, Parker Lynch and Natasha Tillett in the high jump and Christina Tillett in the 100m hurdles. 

Sandie Raines placed fourth in the 3200m with a time of 10:51.97.  It was the fifth-fastest time run in the state during region competition but did not qualify for the state finals.