Koonce commits to Air Force Academy for track
THRALL — Thrall High School again made news this past week as Tigerettes track and field senior standout Avery Koonce officially announced her commitment to compete in the future for the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
In the 100-meter dash at the 2A state meet May 12 in Austin, Koonce was the runnerup with a great time of 12.12 seconds. She also placed highly at state in the pole vault as her mark of 10 feet 6 inches finished fourth but Koonce was right on the heels of third place.
Koonce, along with fellow Thrall senior Melaina Grissom, were stars for Thrall track and field during the spring 2023 season.
Both of their efforts were rewarded as the duo was named to the Texas High School Coaches Association 2A Girls Track Super Elite Team.
Grissom and Koonce were also part of the Thrall girls’ 4x100meter relay team, along with Kassandra Jackson and Nevaeh Irvin, which finished in sixth place at the state meet with a time of 49.38 seconds.
Currently competing in cross country season, Koonce placed 10th at the 2A-District 27 meet Oct. 7 in Cameron with a time of 14:30.26.
She will join Tigerettes junior Sarah Laurence, who was the district meet runner-up in the girls’ two-mile run with a mark of 12:59.28, at the upcoming 2A Region 4 cross country meet will be held Oct. 23 at the campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Thrall High School varsity cross country senior Avery Koonce competes in the Mud, Sweat and Cheers meet Aug. 19 held in Caldwell. Photo courtesy of Casey Georg
