Lady Wildcats, Bobcats win District 6-3A track title

ERATH - The 2014 District 6-3A track meet is the first real meet of the entire season.
Every team has been putting in hours on the track for just this one track meet.
With the ultimate goal of making it to the state championship meet, that begins at the district meet.
Only the top four competitors in each event will qualify for the regional track meet.
That is why the district track meet is so important.
It is the first step to reaching an ultimate goal of a chance at a state championship.
The Abbeville Lady Wildcats, with wins in the 110-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, 4x400 meter relay, long jump and the javelin competition are the 2014 District 6-3A Champions.
“I think we performed really, really well,” Abbeville girls head track coach Erik Lege said. “The thing about the district meet is it is a test of depth of your squad. The second, third and fourth place finishes really matter. Especially when the top four qualify for the regional meet.
“We had a few shockers of people that made it to regionals, and we had an event or two that we really wanted to get people in. All in all I am really proud of the way they performed tonight.”
Part of that depth was shown by Paige Cutright.
Cutright finished second in the 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and high jump competition, and was a member of the winning 4x400 relay team, to score 25.5 points to win the Girl’s Outstanding Performer award for the second week in a row.
On the boys side of the meet, it was the Erath Bobcats who took home the District 6-3A title for the seventh straight year.
“It is impressive,” Erath head boys track coach Kerry Richard said. “Like I told the kids, it is all about them. It’s what they have done for seven straight years. Every year I tell the juniors that it’s on them for next season, and they rise to the pressure each and every year. I couldn’t be any more prouder than I am right now.”
This was a big win for the Bobcats track team who has been plagued by the injury bug all season long.
“We were finally able to put a full team together,” Richard said. “It worked out to our advantage. I hate to see a kid get hurt, but if they are going to get injured then you rather see it at the beginning of the season rather than later in the year. Lucky for us, that is what happened.”
The Bobcats were able to claim the District 6-3A title with wins in the 100-meter, 200 meters, 400 meters, 4x100 relay, and pole vault competitions.
Corey Cole won the 100, 200 and 400 meter races, along with being a member of the 4x100 meter team, and because of those wins he scored 32.5 points and was named the Outstanding Track Performer.
“Corey (Cole) is one of those guys that has been injured all year,” Richard said. “He is just now starting to hit his stride. Which is kind of scary, and also a perfect time to hit his stride.”
The Kaplan Pirates finished second on the boys side, and the Erath Lady Bobcats were the runner-up for the girls.
Kendra Gums of Kaplan was named Outstanding Field Performer with a win in the triple jump, second place finish in the long jump and a fourth place finish in the high jump.
Caitlin Domingues was named the Outstanding Track Performer with 31.5 points.
She won the 100-, 200- and 400- meter races, along with being a member of the third place 4x200 meter relay team.
For the boys, Kaplan’s Devante Davis was named Outstanding Performer with wins in the high jump, and second place finishes in the long jump, triple jump and 200-meter dash.
Now all of those that qualified can look forward to the regional meet which will be held Wednesday at Abbeville High School, starting at 1 p.m.
For the full result of the district 6-3A, 5-2A and 7-1A track meets look in Sunday’s paper.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor