Lady Dragons add titles and the runner-up finish
Mangham Junior High’s boys put together a dominant performance Tuesday at the Caldwell Junior High Track Meet, piling up 115 points to win the team title, while the girls added several first-place finishes and finished second in the team standings with 51 points.
The Dragons were led by a long list of event champions and top finishes, with Mangham sweeping several events and controlling both relays and field events.
On the boys side, Tristan Jenkins won the 100-meter dash in 12.54 seconds, while teammate Torrian Gray finished fourth in 13.78.
Mangham also captured both sprint relays. The 4x200-meter relay team of Trenton Gix, Malik Paige, Charles Williams and Austin Thomas finished first in 1:43.31, and the 4x100meter relay team of Jenkins, Gix, Paige and Thomas won in 51.21 seconds.
The Dragons dominated the distance races as well. David Wiggers won the 1,600-meter run in 6:07.70, with Phillip Blanchard finishing second in 6:12.24. Elijah Kennedy added another title in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:34.15, while Austin Enlow placed third in 2:49.79.
In the 400-meter dash, Mangham swept the top two spots as Aiden Marsh won in 1:00.62 and Charles Williams finished second in 1:04.21. Amarie Joseph also brought home a title in the 300-meter hurdles with a winning time of 56.79 and added a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles in 18.68.
Malik Paige won the 200-meter dash in 24.87, with Gix taking second in 25.44, and Mangham closed out the track events with another first-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Gix, Paige, Marsh and Thomas combined to win in 4:39.35.
Mangham was just as strong in the field events. Michael Arroyo won the long jump at 15 feet, 7 inches, with Chris Kennedy placing fifth. Arroyo also won the shot put with a throw of 40-0 and the discus at 101-1, giving him a three-title day. Logan Dean backed him up with second in the shot put at 38-8 and fourth in the discus at 95-9.
Tommy Benjamin added another Mangham title in the triple jump at 28-8, while Kennedy placed second at 23-11. In the javelin, Arroyo finished second with a throw of 127-10, and Dean added a fourth-place finish at 80-4.
On the girls side, Mangham’s sprinters and relay teams led the way.
Trinity Gix won the 100-meter dash in 14.12, with Erica Dotson finishing fourth in 15.35. Mangham’s 4x200meter relay team of Gix, Mariah Holland, Kendall Abrams and Xyla Clemons claimed first in 1:59.30, and Dotson, Gix, Holland and Abrams won the 4x100-meter relay in 58.33.
Amelia Brunson brought home another title for Mangham by winning the 1,600meter run in 7:13.61. She later added a second- place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 3:04.92.
Holland also won the 200-meter dash in 29.96, while Juliah Staten placed fifth in 34.52. Mangham’s 4x400-meter relay team of Gix, Holland, Abrams and Clemons capped the day with another firstplace finish in 5:08.45.
In the field events, Lorena Castillo placed fourth in the long jump at 12-5, Kennedy Dora took fourth in the shot put at 27-8 and fifth in the discus at 49-6, and Ja’Maryia Ausberry finished fifth in the shot put at 24-5. Brunson added a fourth-place finish in the javelin at 51-1.
By day’s end, the Mangham boys had run away with the team championship, while the girls stacked enough wins and points to finish as meet runners-up, giving the Dragons a strong all-around showing in Caldwell Parish.
