By TERRY COOKSTON
CNHI
Rockwall County —
Rockwall-area tracksters claimed 21 Top-8 finishes at the 2010 USATF Region 12 Junior Olympic Championships in Abilene last Wednesday through Saturday.
The Rockwall Mustangs had eight athletes capture Top-8 finishes in nine events and the Texas Titans had eight finish in the first eight in 12 events at the Abilene Christian University track complex.
The top three finishers in each event from regional competitions around the country advance to the Junior Olympic National Championships.
Jonathan Fuller and Ben Siple led the Mustangs with bronze medal finishes and Elizabeth Lehew paced the Titans with a silver-medal performance to earn berths to the USATF National Junior Olympics in Sacramento, California on July 27-August 1.
Fuller tied for first in the Young Mens High Jump with a leap of 6-4, but took third place honors in a jump off; Siple came in third in the YM 800 with his time of 1:53.71; and Lehew ran second in the Intermediate Girls 2000 Steeplechase with a time of 9:01.90.
Mustang athlete Lauren Fairchild just missed a national-qualifying ticket with a fourth place in the Midget Girls 200 (27.74) and a fifth in the Long Jump (14-6 1/2), Justin Willis earned fourth place in the Youth Boys Long Jump (19-1 1/4), Dylan Pargas came in sixth in the YM 1500 (4:24.34) and Grayson Gilkey ran eighth in the MB 3000 (13:11.09).
The 4X800 relay team of Ben Siple, Dylan Pargas, Donterrio Davis and Cody Buentello clocked 8:34.32 for sixth place and Siple added a fifth-place finish in the YM 1500 (4:17.35) to go with his third place in the 800.
Texas Titans runner Lehew added a fourth place in the IG 3000 (12:34.58) and an eighth place in the 1500 (5:45.18) to her second place Steeplechase finish.
Tyler Watkins came in fourth in the Bantam Boys 1500 (5:21.99), Sara Cuzick grabbed fifth place in the IG Shot Put (33-5 3/4), Carlos Zaldivar posted a fifth in the YM 5000 (18:45.25) and a sixth in the 2000 Steeplechase (7:46.83) , Christopher Rigler put up eighth-place finishes in the IB 3000 (11:02.51) and the 2000 Steeplechase (8:10.91), Christian Shearhod came in sixth in the IB 2000 Steeplechase (7:49.12) and Migual Segura added a seventh place in the IB 2000 Steeplechase (8:08.19).
The Titans 4X800 relay team of Shearhod, Segura, Rigler and German Zaldivar also ran a 9:41.11 for fifth-place honors in the Intermediate Boys division.
