Burnet Lady Dawgs are varsity, JV district champs, Bulldogs are the runners-up in both divisions
CAPTION: The Burnet Lady Dawgs celebrate being the 2023 District 24-4A champions in both the varsity and junior varsity divisions. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School track-and-field teams each took home District 24-4A plaques from the team divisions at the conclusion of the meet April 13.
The Lady Dawgs won the varsity division thanks to scoring 188 points to Lago Vista’s 118 and Jarrell’s 116. The Burnet girls junior varsity won that division by earning 215 points to Gateway’s 90. Find complete results here.
“I was worried about Lago Vista a little because we only saw them once,” head coach Crystal Shipley said. “A few kids surprised me. Everybody did their best, for the most part. I don’t remember the last time Burnet won in both divisions at district. I’m not surprised. No other team has the numbers we do in district. That helps us a lot.”
The Bulldogs were second in the boys varsity division with 132 points to Lago Vista’s 169 and second in the boys junior varsity with 136 points to Lampasas’ 154 points.
Head coach Ben Speer was especially pleased with the results of both teams, noting it shows the depth the Bulldogs are committed to creating.
“They’ve been learning how to work and what it takes to compete, no matter what,” he said. “They’re getting after it. It’s a grind, and it’s fun with that younger bunch. It’s a fun bunch to be around. They’re all hard-working kids. They’ve had success in the middle school. It’s not like you have to beg them to come out. I’m proud of those (varsity) boys. They were battling to get runner-up.”
Going into the final day, the Bulldogs immediately faced a challenge. Illness forced one runner in a relay to miss the meet. Therefore, Speer had to make adjustments and used part of the athletic period to work on hand-offs and the runners getting used to another teammate. The result is that the Bulldogs finished fourth in both the 400-meter and 800-meter relays
“That says a lot.” he said. “We had to replace two spots in two different relays. I’m proud as their coach of the things we’ve done.”
The Marble Falls boys junior varsity was third with 109 points and the girls junior varsity finished sixth with 15 points. The Marble Falls boys varsity was fourth with 82 points and the girls varsity was fifth with 50 points.
The final day of the meet featured the finals of the running events where Burnet showed its depth in the middle-distance races. No runner had a better day than Burnet sophomore Victor Aviles, who took double gold in the 800 and 1,600 meters to add to the gold medal he earned a day earlier in the 3,200.
“Victor got us 30 points and earned triple gold,” Speer said.
Right behind him was teammate Hudson Bennett, who earned silver in the 1,600 meters. Burnet’s Isaias Zarate was fourth in the 800 meters, and teammate Josvanny Ramierez was sixth. Both set new personal records with their times.
On the girls side, Burnet dominated the 1,600 meters led by freshman Asah Roy, who added that gold medal to her 3,200-meter win. Her teammates Shaelyn Poe, a senior, took silver and Maya Calderon, a sophomore, earned the bronze. Calderon was first in the 800 meters, while teammates Kori Haile and Addison Huffman were second and fifth.
Both head coaches praised their runners’ results and distance running coach Kristi Jones for their work.
“They are outstanding kids,” Shipley said.
The Mustangs also had some outstanding moments beginning with the 800-meter relay where the team of Austin Cutchin, Adrian Martinez, Dax Murphy and Zach Woody broke the school record thanks to finishing in 1 minute and 31.93 seconds. The old record was 1:32.44.
The 400-meter and 800-meter relays took third and second to advance to the area meet. The Lady Mustangs’ 800-meter relay also advanced.
“We can grip about not performing well,” head coach Austin Silva said. “At the end of the day, it’s the top four (who advance to area). Your mentality has to be survive and advance. Top four is the goal.”
Junior Nick Dahl took bronze in the 800 meters and the 1,600 meters while sophomore Tyler Hamblin finished fourth in the 1,600.
“It’s definitely all mental because you have the physical capability to run two fast 400s,” Dahl said of the 800 meters where he set a new personal record by three seconds. “It’s about overcoming the mental block because you can feel it after you finish.”
Distance running coach Chris Schrader noted Dahl also set a new personal record in the 1,600 meters and believes he’ll only get faster.
“He just turned 16,” he said. “I think he can run up to 10 seconds faster. He competed. I think that’s the very big thing.”
Freshman Hunter Holder was third in the boys junior varsity 1,600 meters, which was won by Burnet sophomore Gustavk Vega. Holder set a new personal record in the race by eight seconds.
“We’re developing,” Schrader said. “Michael is a freshman. It’s good to see. We have a group of good, tough kids. They’re not sitting and waiting for things to happen to them. I’m super pleased.”
As he reflected on the two-day meet at Mustang Stadium and Leonel Manzano Track, Silva couldn’t say enough about the Mustangs’ and Lady Mustangs’ efforts.
“The kids fought, they competed,” he said. “They gave all they had. The relays didn’t perform as well as we needed them to. The ones who qualified for area, they have the opportunities to keep the excitement going. They did what they had to to make it to area. We’re going to move forward and get ready.”
The District 23 and 24-4A area meet is April 19 at Gateville High School.
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CAPTION: The District 24-4A 1,600-meter medalists are Victor Aviles (left) and Hudson Bennett of Burnet and Nick Dahl and Tyler Hamblin of Marble Falls. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
