Kilgore girls impress in qualifiers meet in Gladewater
HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

No more tune-ups for the Kilgore High School regional qualifiers in track & field: the next time they run, jump or throw, it will be in this coming weekend's regional meet in Denton.

Coach Kerry Strong's KHS girls track regional qualifiers took part in a warm-up meet in Gladewater on Friday, and got some outstanding performances. The boys qualifiers, coached by Phillip Lane, were at one final tune-up meet at White Oak High School, and although they didn't do as well as Lane would have liked, they can use those performances to help motivate them this weekend at regionals, to be held at the University of North Texas in Denton.

Kilgore's track team will practice much of the week, do a light walkthrough on Thursday, and then leave Thursday afternoon. Regionals will begin for KHS track athletes on Friday at noon, with Shaun Edwards representing the Bulldogs in the high jump.

The top two finishers in each category will go to the state meet at the University of Texas in Austin in May.

• KHS girls: Tai'Shea Reese knows all about the state meet - she qualified for it, and competed in it, last year in the long jump. And she's looking to make a return trip.

On Friday in Gladewater, Reese won the event with a personal-best 19 feet, 4 inches. And she also won the 100 meter dash with a personal-best 11.59 second time. "Wow," Strong wrote, in an e-mail to the News Herald. "...Unbelievable time."

Reese will compete in both of those events at regionals this weekend. She'll also be a part of Kilgore's 400 meter relay and 800 meter relay teams. On Friday in Gladewater, the 400 meter relay team finished second but with a 48.55- second time, their best of the season to date. The team finished third in the 800 meter relay, but also with a seasonbest (1 minute, 42.91 seconds). That team is Brandi Johnson, Jessica Shepherd, Shae Morgan and Reese.

Johnson ran a 50.8 second time in the 300 meter hurdles, and Samone Jones also competed in the shot put, which she will at regionals, but didn't place at Gladewater.

"It seems we are peeking at the right time," Strong said. "I hope this trend continues in Denton."

• KHS boys: Like Reese, Joe Colbert will also be a busy man at regionals. Colbert will compete in the long jump and the 100 meter dash in Denton.

On Friday in White Oak, he finished second in the long jump (a best of 21 feet, 2 1/2 inches) and fifth in the 100 meter dash.

"He was off a little bit on Friday," Lane said, "but I think he'll do much better (in Denton)."

Edwards finished third in the high jump with a best of 6 feet, 2 inches, and long-distance runner Joel Venegas was sixth in the 1600 meter, but with an asterisk.

"They ran two heats (in the 1600)," Lane explained. "And he was in the fast heat. In fact, his time was better than the top time in the second heat."

Also representing KHS in Denton will be Dominique Jones and Shadow Stokes in the discus.

See more coverage of the KHS track and tennis teams' regional quests this week in the News Herald.