AUSTIN – Several Taylor Duck athletes put their best foot forward, some setting new personal best, against tough competition at the 95th annual Texas Relays March 29 – April 1.
The meet may not have been filled with hardware and top-five finishes like the Ducks are accustomed to, but they showed a ton of heart at this meet.
Jarvis Anderson had a lot of eyes on him as he settled into the starting block of the 300meter hurdles for the Ducks. He would get a great start out of the gate and would go on to clear every hurdle with ease on his way to a first-place finish.
Anderson finished in 36.30 seconds, which is also a personal record for the young athlete. Anderson also made an appearance in the triple jump, where he would set a season record in the event by jumping 14.82 meters, which is equivalent to 48 feet.
Anderson was not the only athlete for the Ducks to make an impact for the boys’ varsity team, as two relay teams had strong showings at the meet. The 4x200 relay team of Josh Mikulencak, Arthur Serrano, Jackson Meller and Anderson came in 18th place in their race finishing in one minute and 30 seconds.
The 4x100 relay team, consisting of Kayden Land, Jackson Meller, Josh Mikulencak and Andrias Fisher, finished in 49th place finishing in 44.80 second. That seems low in the rankings, but the race is so fast the Ducks were only a step or two from being in the top three.
The Lady Ducks also had a strong showing at the meet with Emma Whitsel continuing to be one of the best hurdlers in the state. Whitsel came in 20th place for the Lady Ducks in the 100 hurdles, but much like the boys’ relay team, Whitsel was only a step or two from finishing higher in the rankings.
The 4x200 relay team continued to show signs of improvement by coming in 23rd place with a time of one minute and 50 seconds. The team of Kaleigh Woods, Azalie Balusek, Zakaya Frederick and Whitsel were assigned to the race, and like their head coach Shelli Cobb has been saying all year they continue to get better.
Last but certainly not least for the Lady Ducks, Ty’Shauna Shaw competed in the javelin event. Shaw threw the javelin 100 feet, which was good enough to earn 10th place in the event, and also set a personal record for the young athlete.
With the season beginning to wind down, the Ducks will be looking to have a good showing at the district meets so they can make an attempt at a state championship.
