Wylie East junior Elliana Young, left, won the Class 6A state track and field title in the girls high jump. Photo by Rod Adyelotte / Waco Tribune-Herald
By David Wolman
Wylie East junior Elliana Young qualified for the Class 6A state track and field meet in the high jump after she won a tiebreaker over Klein senior Kamdyn Spencer to earn second place and an automatic berth in the state meet.
At last Saturday evening’s state meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Young again found herself in a tight battle, only this time it was to decide the winner of the state title.
Young, Comal Canyon freshman Sophia Martinez and Houston Memorial junior Cate Bryant made all of their attempts at 5-2, 5-4 and 5-6.
All three failed to clear three attempts at 5-8, creating a three-way tie for first place and a share of the state championship for Young.
“It was an amazing accomplishment for her and something that her and I talked about at the beginning of the year,” head coach Jason Olford said. “I told her that if you put in the work, she would find herself at the big dance. Not only did she get there, but she got to the top of the podium.
“Not sure if I have ever had a kid train this hard, but she worked through adversity, and it did not distract her from what she set out to do in August.”
Young was one of three Raiders who competed at the state meet.
Senior Tyree Washington returned to Austin for a second consecutive season, and he went on to earn seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 47-9.5. That mark came on his second attempt. He finished his senior season as the District 9-6A champion, area 9-6A/10-6A winner and Region II-6A champion. He is also the school record holder in the event.
“I can’t say enough good things about Tyree for this year,” Olford said. “He’s battled through some injuries. He started out hot, then went up and down because of injuries. Every week, we monitored how he was progressing and try to get him through the championship rounds of the postseason.
“He had to make a lot of adjustments. He went off his other leg pretty much the whole season. He basically had to learn how to do the triple jump again because he was jumping off his opposite leg. He’s going to Abilene Christian. They’re getting a great kid.”
Junior Porter Cantrell was making his first state appearance in the discus after transferring from Davis High School (Kaysville, Utah) last summer. Cantrell captured eighth place with a distance of 168-6. That mark came on his first attempt.
This season, Cantrell twice broke the school record in the discus, with the second occurrence at the district meet where he uncorked a personal-best throw of 178-6. He earned first place in the regional meet with a 167-5.
“I got to know Porter throughout the year after he moved in from Utah,” Olford said. “At the first few meets, coach (Alex) DeLaTorre told me that he thought that we have a pretty good kid here. I went to a meter earlier this year and looked up and saw a discus sailing through the air like it was a frisbee. He’s just a competitor. He loves being in the moment and loves the details of the training. He’s just a really positive young man to be around. He’ll be back next year. He’s going to win it next year.”
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