From staff reports
Houston —
San Marcos Academy pulled off a David-and-Goliath effort to win the TAPPS 4-A South Regional track meet Friday with only five athletes on their team.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this,” Bears head coach Kelia Price said. “We were surprised and happy, but at the same time, we worked so hard today, knowing it would take all we had just to place in this meet. The other coaches couldn’t believe we won with just five on our team when every other school had 12 or more athletes in competition.”
The Bears finished first in four different events at the meet, held at the Awty International School in Houston. The 4 x 400 relay team took first with a time of three minutes, 30 seconds. Brady Wickersham, Michael Latham, Josh McIntyre and John Nealon ran for SMA in that relay.
Latham also took first in the 200 meter run, while McIntyre outran the field in the 300 meter hurdles, finishing 30 meters ahead of his closest competitor.
Wickersham, who has taken third for the past two years at state, had a 6-foot-4-inch leap, his highest this year, to take first in the high jump.
Wickhersham, Latham, McIntyre and Mark Hamm took second place in the 400-meter relay, and John Nealon placed third in the 400 meters. Hamm also placed 5th in the triple jump.
With the momentum of the regional win behind them, the Bears will travel to Waco May 7-8 for the State 4-A Track Meet at the Hart-Patterson Track Complex at Baylor University.
