CHARLOTTE — Few were surprised that Watauga’s 3,200-meter relay teams qualified for state meet scheduled for next week. But the Pioneers also had some surprise qualifiers in the individual events, too. |
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| John Tumbleston finishes second in the 1,600-meter run. |
The Pioneers’ boys and girls 3,200-meter relay teams both captured championships at the West Regional meet held at Myers Park High on Saturday. Watauga’s boys’ team consisting of John Tumbleston, Elliott Austin, T.J. Kenny and Johnny Newsome won by a five-second margin over second place Charlotte Garinger.
The Pioneers turned in a time of 8:02.60 and qualified for the state meet, which is at Belk Stadium at UNC Charlotte.
As a group, Watauga’s boys’ track team finished ninth in the regional with 27 points. Charlotte Vance won the meet with 79 points followed by South Mecklenburg with 70. Charlotte Independence, Garinger and North Mecklenburg all tied for third with 46 points.
Pioneers coach Randy McDonough felt confident that the boys’ 3,200 relay team would advance since they were ranked No. 1 in the event.
“The boys came in seeded first and we thought they should go on,” McDonough said. “We didn’t know if we could win it our not, but they went out and won it.”
In the girls’ competition, the 3,200-relay team of Kristin Stroupe, Kristen Bowden, Anna Mae Flynn and Anna Lamm turned in a time of 9:49.20. The Pioneers edged second place Harding, which finished with a 9:49.89.
“We brought our time down a lot,” Stroupe said. “Hopefully we can bring it down even more next week.” It was an event that McDonough had some doubts about winning.
“We weren’t expecting to do as well in the girls and they came out and won it,” McDonough said. “They surprised us a little bit with their (race), especially with the time they ran.”
Watauga’s girls’ team finished in a tie with West Charlotte and Charlotte Providence for seventh place with 29 points.
The biggest surprise finish for Watauga was Kenny, who took home a fourth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:59,90. The top four finishers in each event qualified for the state meet, giving Kenny a berth in the state finals.
“It was pretty wild,” Kenny said of the final stretch of the race. “I was just trying to run really hard. In the last 100, I was just trying to make the top four.”
Tumbleston, who will run at Elon next year, earned a state berth in the 1,600-meter run. He finished second with a time of 4:26.80, three seconds behind race winner Jeff Gosseun of North Mecklenburg.
Tumbleston also finished fifth in the 800 with a 2:00.40.
In the sprints, Robert Cobb qualified for the 100-meter dash finals with a 10.90, but just missed out on a state berth by finishing fifth in the finals with an 11.20. Andrew Pearman won with a 10.60. Watauga’s 1,600-relay team consisting of Tumbleston, Cobb, Elliott Austin and Cory Hall finished sixth.
Stroupe also qualified for an individual state berth after taking second in the 3,200-meter run. She finished with a time of 11:08.00, but that wasn’t the biggest story of the race.
Instead, Flynn provided the Pioneers with a second runner in the state meet by taking fourth with an 11:47.00. Sarah Bastarache scored some team points for the Pioneers by finishing sixth with a 12:07.20. They all finished behind Myers Park’s Julia Lucas, who won the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. A.C. Reynolds’ Angelica Lumpkins was second in the 1,600.
Stroupe also had to run her leg of the 1,600-meter relay without a shoe. She got caught up in a collision during the passing of the baton and her right shoe came off.
She was spiked in the heel and her foot was wrapped, but she did not expect to miss the meet on Saturday.
“I was running and at the handoff, the girl who had just handed off the baton, right when I started to go, stepped on my shoe and her spike dug into my heel,” Stroupe said. “I may have to get stitches, but it knocked my shoe off. “As long as it doesn’t hold me back next week, I’ll be OK.”
Ginna Calloway gave the Pioneers another qualifier in the individual events by finishing third in the 300-meter hurdles. Calloway, a sophomore, finished with a time of 47.60 seconds.
“Ginna Calloway did great in the hurdles,” McDonough said. “She had such a frustrating day last year, so it was good to see her come out and do well.”
McDonough also said he was happy that Jennifer Marsh finished seventh in the pole vault (8-0) and that Emily Styers took eighth in the discus with a toss of 98-8 feet. “The one that didn’t qualify who had a great day was Emily Styers,” McDonough said.
All of the Pioneers who qualified will practice this week before leaving for Charlotte on Friday, according to McDonough.