Euless Track Team hits two cities in coming weeks

The Euless Track Team will be quite busy over the next few weeks, with runners in two cities competing on the state and national level.

Twenty-seven members of the squad qualified for the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Summer Games of Texas in McAllen Thursday through Sunday. In addition, nine athletes and an alternate earned berths in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics in Houston July 30-Aug. 6.

“The season has been great,” coach Lisa Runnels said.

The success continues a long-standing tradition of success for the Euless Track Team. Runnels said this tradition relies on a variety of factors.

“We have an amazing staff of coaches who encourage hard work,” she said. “We also express teamwork and the importance of family. We make sure we keep the parents involved.”

Double-qualifiers for both TAAF and AAU include Divine Tyson (Girls 12-Under), David Tyson (Boys 9-10), Reginald Collier (Boys 13-14), Sasha Wilburn Houston (Girls 11-12), and Hunter Davis (Boys 11-12).

Girls: 11-12 - Divine Tyson, 80-meter hurdles; Sasha Wilburn Houston, 400. 18-Under - Chidinma Ogba, 400.

Boys: 9-10 - David Tyson, long jump; Daniel Fatala, long jump; 3200 relay (Shaun Wallace, Caleb Robertson, Bret Huie, Alan Hinson, alternate Hunter Davis). 13-14 - Reginald Collier, shot put, discus, 200.

Girls: 8-Under - Mikayla Simpson, 800. 10-Under - Morgan Wallace, 800; 1600 relay (Javia Burton, Anyia Evann, Zoanne Tshilombo, Morgan Wallace); Brooke Lightfoot, shot put; Javier Burton, high jump. 12-Under - Faith Falana, 100, 200, long jump; Sasha Wilburn Houston, 400; Divine Tyson 80 hurdles. 14-Under - Deanna Robinson, 400, 200, triple jump, long jump. 16-Under - 400 relay (Shania Anthony, Blaique Webster, Shannon Farnsworth, Channing Hill); Shannon Farnsworth, triple jump; Alivia Fields, long jump.

Boys: 10-Under - Ethan Roemisch, 1600, 800; Micah Carson, 100; David Tyson, long jump. 12-Under - Hunter Davis, 800; David Wilson, shot put. 14-Under - Reginald Collier, 300 hurdles, shot put; Bryson Lightfoot, 200, long jump. 18-Under - Logan Roemisch, 1600; Elijah Davis, 100; Erik Echevarria, 300 hurdles; Peter Harris, long jump.

Surf swimmer competing at state

Yuzhou Liu of the the Bedford Surf will be competing in this weekend’s TAAF Summer Games of Texas. It comes on the heels of his qualifying from the recent TAAF Region 4 Meet in Keller.

Liu qualified in two events in the Boys 13-14 division, the 50-yard breaststroke and 50 butterfly. Under TAAF rules, swimmers age 14 and under had to finish in the top five in their event to earn a berth at state, while swimmers age 15 and over do not have to qualify to swim at state.

However, Surf coach Jesse Barton said Liu will be the team’s only representative in McAllen because of the distance to travel to the event. The Surf did have numerous top-five finishers at regionals.

Bedford Surf top-five finishers (distances in yards):

Males: 13-14 - Liu, 1 fourth, 1 fifth. 15-17 - Reggy Berger, 1 silver, 1 fourth, 1 fifth; Troy Warfield, 1 fourth. 18-Over - 200 medley relay (Richard Kaloust, James Prevenslik, Brandon Mezanazi, Chris Tony), third; 200 freestyle relay (Jesse Barton, Paul Bovill, Mezanazi, Prevenslik), third. 18-24 - Kalaust, 1 gold medal, 1 bronze, 1 fourth; Tony, 2 fourth. 25-39 - Barton, 1 bronze, 1 fourth. 50-54 - Jeff Miller, 2 fourth; Bovill, 1 bronze.

Females: 15-17 - Elizabeth Klamt, 1 bronze; Tiffani Tanaka, 1 fourth, 1 fifth; Keelin Alspaugh, 1 fifth; 200 free relay (Kenzie Crews, Katelyn Hutchison, Klamt, Tanaka), fourth. 18-24 - Marissa Pouiphanavongxay, 1 bronze, 1 fifth. 40-44 - Vicki Ford, 1 gold, 1 bronze, 1 fourth, 1 fifth. 50-54 - Elizabeth Nelson, 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 fourth.

Mixed: 15-17 - 200 medley relay (Klamt, Tanaka, Warfield, Berger), silver; 200 free relay (Anthony Robertson, Hutchison, Jessie Park, Warfield), fourth. 18-Over - 100 free relay (Miller, Kaloust, Tamar Henderson, Pouiphanavongxay), fifth; 200 medley relay (Bovill, Barton, Nelson, Ford), silver.

Calendar

• July 27 - Neighborhood Fishing’ Catfish Stocking, Chisholm Park Pond, Hurst. Visit www.neighborhoodfishin.org.
• July 30 - Mid-Cities Tennis Tournament at Hurst Tennis Center. Call 817-788-7330.
• July 30 - Last Chance For State Tournament, softball world. Men’s C, Men’s D, Men’s E, Co-Ed. Call 817-267-7867 or visit www.eulesstx.gov/sbw.
• July 30 - Hurst United Grade 8 Basic Referee Clinic, 8 a.m.-noon at Holiday Inn Express, 820 Thousand Oaks Rd. and 1 p.m. at Hurst Athletic Complex, 2104 Precinct Line Rd. Visit www.hurstunited.com.
• Aug. 2-4 - Collegiate Players Tour National Championship golf tournament, Parks at Texas Star, 7:30 a.m. each day. Call 817-685-1838.

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Euless Track Team hits two cities in coming weeks."