Kaitlyn Rossa, Jimesha Reed and Ryan Ashcraft all qualified for the Regional Track Meet to be held at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches in two weeks.

Results from Area Meet held in Hubbard this past Wednesday

Ashcraft ran the best 1600 Meters of his career as he landed the 4th Place Medal at Area, Wednesday in Hubbard. He ran an incredibly strong race from start to finish, using his strategy perfectly as he stayed within striking distance through three laps, and then engaged his powerful kick for the final 400 meters to blow past two competitors and close to within a second of the third place finisher. He feels very confident that he can move up another couple of places at Regional, but there will be several other top-notch runners in that race, as all the pretenders are weeded out by then.

Reed was off of her best throws by a couple of feet, but was still able to capture a Silver Medal for second place at Area. She threw the farthest of four girls who all bested 30 feet, while chasing the Gold Medalist, who threw in the 33 feet range. At her best, Reed has a very good shot at advancing to State from the Regional Meet. She has the ability to throw near 35 feet, and if she can get one to fly for her she will come away with another medal from Nacogdoches . She has a couple of weeks to work on her form in preparation for that chance.

The star of the show was Rossa, who overcame some early controversy to blister the field with her best 1600 Meters to date. The freshman phenom qualified for Area in both the 3200 and the 1600, but only competed in the 1600. Now she will have one race on which to focus at Regional, in which she should be a favorite to advance to State as well. She has not had an opportunity to really open-up her ability since no racer has given her much competition this year. She should have all the competition she could dream of in Nacogdoches . If you see her pounding the streets in training this next two weeks, be sure to give her some words of encouragement. This is only her first of four years of carrying the Gladiator flag to victory on the Track. She will have some collection of medals by the time she graduates.

Ashcraft ran a 5:14.78 official for 4th
Rossa ran a 6:14.12 official for 1st
Reed threw 33’ 7 3/4’’ for 2nd

All three Advance to Regionals

Congratulations to John Isaac for his 5th place Triple Jump of 40’ 2”.

Regional Schedule — Stephen F. Austin:

• Jimesha Reed will compete in the shotput event starting at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 1.

• Kaitlyn Rossa and Ryan Ashcraft will compete in the 1600m starting at 2:40 p.m. on May 2nd (the girls are followed by the boys).

Good Luck Gladiators!