The Wylie boys and girls track and field teams left Williams Stadium as District 9-6A champions Wednesday night.

Competing in the championships on March 30 and 31, the Pirates won the district with relative ease, finishing with 205 points. Sachse (103), Lakeview Centennial (98), Naaman Forest (86) and Rowlett (62) rounded out the top five in the boys division.

The girls had a more competitive finish but finished with 236 points in the top spot. Sachse was their closest competitor (202), while Naaman Forest (91), Garland (43) and Lakeview Centennial (26) each finished in the top five as well.

With the top four in each event advancing to the area championship, Wylie had multiple athletes star on their way to a top-four finish. In the track events, Logan Popelka came out on top in the boys 100-meter dash (10.56). He was .19 seconds ahead of the next fastest runner, while his teammate William Perry finished third (10.86).

In the girls 100-meter dash, Trinity Washington finished second overall for the Lady Pirates (12.24). In a photo finish, she was .03 seconds behind Ida Seesay, the winner out of Naaman Forest. Victoria Robinson finished just outside the top four, coming in fifth place (12.99) and just .03 seconds out of a top-four spot.

Washington was able to respond by winning the girls 200-meter dash (25.20) in another close finish over Sachse’s Kennedy Swann. The Lady Pirates also had Savannah Redmond qualify for the area championship, as she finished in third place (25.93).

The boys 200-meter dash runners swept away the rest of the district, going first, second and third. Popelka finished in first place once again, while Andrew Asante (22.28) came in second and Perry (22.45) finished third.

Wylie had one runner advance to the area meet in the 400-meter, with Carringtyn Johnson finishing second (1:01.48) in the girls race. Amelia Leggett finished fifth (1:02.56), just behind the top four places by less than .01 seconds.

The 800-meter run had Wylie rack up five of the eight area qualifiers. Luke Lambert (2:03.39) finished first overall in the boys run, while teammates Hunter Jackson (2:06.25) and John Colbert (2:07.95) finished third and fourth, respectively. The girls team had Esther Afangideh (2:37.08) finish in second place and Ava Camp (2:38.28) right behind her in third.

Lambert continued his dominance to win the boys 1600-meter (4:32.78) and 3200-meter (9:50.43) races, winning both of those events. A state champion for the Pirates from the cross-country season, Lambert led Wylie in both events, and the boys had the top three finishers in each of the long-distance runs. Nathanael Berhane (4:37.31) and Jackson (4:44.52) rounded out the top three in 1600, while Berhane (9:51.92) and Lyndon Orr (10:02.26) finished second and third, respectively in the 3200.

The girls team had one qualifier for both of the long-distance races, with Liv Lambert winning the 1600-meter (5:36.42) and 3200-meter races (12:04.92).

Over at the relay races, all of Wylie’s relay teams earned qualification for the area meet, with Wylie’s boys team winning the 4×100 (42.64), 4×200 (1:29.82) and finishing second in the 4×400 (3:29.3). The girls team finished second in the 4×100 (48.33), 4×200 (1:47.76) and third in the 4×400 (4:22.54).

Wylie won three of the four hurdling events, with Taylor Washington finishing in first place in the girls 100-meter hurdles (15.49) and 300-meter hurdles (47.09). Her teammates Arissa Grace McGowan (15.88) and Teran Rogers (16.29) finished second and third, respectively, in the girls 100-meter hurdles, while Rogers (50.30) also finished third in the 300-meter hurdling event.

For the boys team, Canyon Hall finished first overall in the boys 110-meter hurdles (15.21) and qualified for the area meet in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing fourth (42.51).

It was the beginning of a strong performance overall from Hall, who finished tied for first place in the boys pole vault competition along with teammate Bryce Cummings (11-06). Christopher Knauss finished in second place with the same height but completed the jump on his second attempt.

The girls pole vault team had three qualifiers, with Mya Souhala finishing tied for first place with Ally Cheek of Sachse (9-00). Her teammates Jordan Sewell and Skylar Bussing were the last two qualifiers, finishing tied for third (8-00).

Other qualifiers for Wylie’s field team came from the girls side, with Savannah Redmond leading the way by winning the long jump (19-03.5) and finishing second in the triple jump (35-09.5). Carley Hall qualified for two events, finishing fourth in the girls discus toss (91-07) and second in shot put (34-08.5). Her teammate Cherish Okpara qualified for shot put as well, finishing third (32-05).

Wylie’s last qualifiers all came in the girls high jump, with Linda Otah (5-0) edging out Jaliya Sharp of Lakeview Centennial and teammate Chioma Obi by completing the jump on her first attempt. 

After the successful district meet, the Wylie track and field qualifiers will have a week to recuperate before the area championships. The area meet will be on April 15 at the Wilkerson Sanders Stadium in Rockwall.

By Kyle Grondin • [email protected]