The Wylie Pirates boys track and field team walked away as district champions Wednesday night.
Competing in the 9-6A championship at Williams Stadium, the boys finished first overall with 205 points. They beat out Naaman Forest (113 points), Sachse (79 points), Garland (61 points) and South Garland (51 points) in the top five. Wylie finished second overall with 175 points on the girls’ side, narrowly losing out to district winners Sachse (206 points). Naaman Forest finished third (81 points).
With the top four in each event qualifying for the area meet, Wylie had 16 athletes qualify on the boys’ side, including competing in multiple events. Logan Popelka took first place in the 100-meter (10.10) and 400-meter races (48.93). The Boston University signee qualified for state last season and owns one of the nation’s fastest 400-meter times this season.
Other meet winners included Jacob Smith, Canyon Hall, Christopher Lewis and Nathanael Berhane for the Pirates. Hall finished in first place in the 110-meter hurdles (14.57) and discus (161-07), setting personal records in both events. He also qualified for the 300-meter hurdles and shot put as well. Other meet winners included Jacob Smith, Canyon Hall, Christopher Lewis and Nathanael Berhane for the Pirates.
Smith finished first overall in the pole vaulting event (14-06), beating out his teammate Christopher Knauss (14-0). In other field events, Lewis won the high jump event (06-02) while finishing second in the triple jump (44-10).
Berhane won the long-distance events, placing first in 1600 (4:27.32) and 3200 (9:37.97). The Pirates filled the podium in both events, with Hunter Jackson finishing second in each event and Caden Biltz in the 1600 and Nathan Moore in the 3200 earning the bronze medal.
Landin Wolfe, Gavin Medina, Emeka Nwokedi and the 4×400 team of Aidan Isom, Jacob Kelley, Trystan Hutchison and Seth Kramer also qualified for the area meet. Kramer also qualified in the long jump.
Not to be outdone, the Wylie girls also had several area qualifiers. Taylor Washington won both the 100-meter hurdles (14.66) and 300-meter hurdles (48.43), while her teammates Arissa Grace McGowan (14.86) and Teran Rogers (15.13) finished second and third in the 100-meter hurdles.
Liv Lambert also took home gold in two events, winning 1600 (5:26.96) and 3200 (11:42.34), while her teammate Abigail Bray finished second and third, respectively.
Jordan Sewell was the final Wylie winner in the field events, placing first in the pole vault (08-00) ahead of teammate Isabella Wiemann on a tiebreaker.
Anuil Iwuji, Chioma Obi, Carley Hall, Olaoreofe Israel and Carringtyn Johnson also qualified for area, along with all three of the girls’ relay teams.
The Pirates will compete in the area meet at Williams Stadium in Garland on April 21.
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By Kyle Grondin • kgrondin@csmediatexas.com
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