Kilgore's Colbert, Reese pick up wins in Mount Pleasant
District meet starts Tuesday
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

A couple of weeks back after senior Joe Colbert won three events at a track and field meet, Kilgore High School boys track coach Phillip Lane said that Colbert was making the most of his senior year.

Chalk up another good outing for Colbert, who won the 100 meter dash on Tuesday at the Tiger Relays at Mount Pleasant High School's Sam Parker Field. Colbert and the Bulldogs were in action for the last time before the District 12- 4A Track and Field Championships, to begin on Tuesday at Hallsville High.

Another impressive performance for Kilgore came from Tai'Shea Reese, again the winner for the KHS girls in her signature event, the long jump.

• Varsity boys: Colbert ran the 100 in 10.49 seconds, and barely missed out on winning the 200 meter dash, as well. He finished the 200 in a time of 22.42 seconds - the winner, an athlete from Texas High in Texarkana, had a time of 22.33.

Colbert also took part in the high jump, finishing in a tie for fifth with teammate Shaun Edwards (both jumped 5 feet, 10 inches). He competed in the long jump, as well, finshing fifth.

Kilgore's Steven Smith was second in the long jump, and Bulldogs' long-distance specialist Joel Venegas was second in the 3200 meter run. "His best time this year was 11 minutes, 5 seconds, and he ran 10 minutes, 41 seconds. That was amazing," Lane said.

Kilgore's relay team of Danny Smith, Colbert, Victor Raven and Smith finished fourth in the 400 meter relay, a time of 44.61 seconds, and the team of Raven, Robert Morgan, Smith, and Edwards finished fifth in the 800, a time of 1 minute, 34.8 seconds. KHS was third in the 1600 meter relay, a time of 3 minutes, 40 seconds. That was the team of Jordan Williams, Smith, Morgan and Raven.

Williams was sixth for KHS in the 400 meter dash, a time of 55 seconds.

In field events, Dominique Jones was second in the shot put, a distance of 48 feet, 2 inches. Colby Rosen finished fifth in the discus, a distance of 127 feet, 4 inches. Jones was second, a throw of 123 feet, even.

The Bulldogs' varsity boys finished fourth overall at the meet, scoring 70 points. Texas High won the meet, and Marshall finished second. Kilgore will see Marshall again next week at district.

"The kids are ready for it," Lane said, of the district meet. "We didn't take a day off on Wednesday. We normally run the big hill behind the college, and we did that (Wednesday). I've just told them to do the best they can on Tuesday. I think Shaun Edwards has a good chance to do well, and I think Dominique (Jones) has a great opportunity. ...It's going to be exciting, and we're fired up."

• Varsity girls: Reese won the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 4 inches, a foot better than the nearest competitor. Reese also finished third in the 100 meter dash, running it in 12.41 seconds - the 100 meter dash competitors' times were very close. The top six all finished in the 12-second range.

Also for the KHS girls, Jessica Shepherd was fifth in the 200 meter dash (26.75 seconds), Shae Morgan was fifth in the triple jump (32 feet, 10 inches), and Samone Jones finished fourth in the shot put (30 feet, 6 inches).

The 800 meter relay team finished second (1 minute, 44.81 seconds), right at the time of Longview, who was less than a second better. That was the team of Brandi Johnson, Reese, Shae Morgan and Shepherd. In the 400 meter relay, Kilgore finished fourth (49.93 seconds).

Like Lane, girls coach Kerry Strong is hopeful the Bulldogs will do well at district.

"I think our chances are pretty good to advance some to regionals," Strong said. "Tai'Shea should win the long jump. The 800 relay should win or at least advance to regionals. ...We only have 10 girls, and six have a chance to advance in something."

• MLMS second in district: The Maude Laird Middle School Junior high boys finished second in the District 12-4A junior high meet in Marshall on Tuesday.

Among the results:

- The 800 meter run, Jose Barron finished 2:20.12 for Kilgore, finishing third.

- Riley Toler had a throw of 112 feet, 5 inches in the boys discus. That was fourth.

- In the long jump, Matthew Dickey won, a jump of 19 feet, 2 1/4 inches. Finishing second for MLMS in that event was LaDarius Anthony, a jump of 19 feet, 1 1/4 inches.

- Jonathan Murphy finished second for MLMS in the 100 meter dash, a time of 11.35 seconds, and in the 200, Murphy was third, running it in 24.02 seconds.

- In the triple jump, Anthony was third, a total of 36 feet, 9 1/4 inches. Shaun Williams was fourth, a total of 36 feet, 7 1/4 inches.

- Chris Page finished the 400 meter run in first place, a 55.95 second time. Page finished fifth in the high jump (5 feet, 4 inches).

- In the 2400 meter run, seventhgrader Hector Perales finished second, a time of 8 minutes, 21 seconds. He was also second in the 1600 meter run (5 minutes, 21.85 seconds).

- Ben Garcia was third in the 1600 meter run, a time of 5 minutes, 25.47 seconds.

- The team of Dickey, Murphy, Anthony and Williams finished second in the 400 meter relay, a time of 46.21 seconds.

- In the 1600 meter relay, MLMS was fourth (4 minutes even). That was the team of Kaleb Brisendine, Dickey, Page and Barron.

- In the 800 meter relay, the team of Dickey, Brisendine, Anthony and Williams finished third (1 minute, 40.29 seconds).

Others who competed for MLMS were Cameron Bailey, Sadat Banks, Emmanuel Davis, Cedrick Davis, Emmanual Hilburn, Michael Grant, Donald Jackson, Skylar Schamber, Dondra Halton, Hugo Orta, Donte Richardson, Austin Jordan, Lino Hurta, Ivan Vega, and managers are Courtney Hall and Colton Slayter.

Thanks to coaches Lane and Strong for submitting these results.