The annual Bluebonnet Relays return to Gordon Wood Stadium, with a total of 34 school schedule to compete over the two-day event.
Action begins Thursday with 24 teams taking part in the Class 1A-3A Small School Division. Schools who will be represented include Early, Bangs, May, Goldthwaite, San Saba, Cross Plains, Brady, Dublin, Cherokee, Gorman, Veribest, Lometa, Mason, Campbell, Gustine, Lingleville, Lohn, Bluff Dale, Abilene TLCA, Menard, Winters, Huckabay, Priddy, and Wall.
Field events and the 3200 meters kick off at 10:30 a.m. Thursday with running events set to start at 3:30 p.m.
On Friday, the 10-team Class 4A-6A Big School Division will feature Brownwood, Abilene Wylie, Odessa High, Stephenville, Harker Heights, Big Spring, Lake Belton, and Belton, along with Breckenridge boys and Hico girls who have opted up.
Again, action begins at 10:30 a.m. with the 3200 meters and field events. Running events are slated for a 4 p.m. start.
The Lions and Lady Lions are coming off 4th and 13th place team finishes, respectively, at the Possum Kingdom Relays hosted by Graham High School this past Saturday – site of the District 6-4A meet April 5-6. With two earlier meets canceled due to the weather, the Lions and Lady Lions – who will have their largest contingents of the season competing this weekend – are looking to hit their stride with the district meet looming.
“We’re rounding into shape,” said Lions track and field head coach Ryan Jackson. “We had a couple of really good meets in Big Spring and Graham, we competed well. We have a lot of sprinters, a lot of depth. Missing those two meets early hurts, but everybody it’s in the same boat. As far as where we’re at right now, we’re looking to move some guys around with some depth in our sprinters. We have some jumps that are looking good, our throwers are getting to where they need to be. We’re a little short on distance guys, which we’re trying to develop, but all these meets are practices to build up for that district meet.”
Among the Lions to keep an eye on, Jackson named Tyse Savage in the 200 and 100 meters; the 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams that features a combination of Savage, Jordyn Nickerson, Aaron Edmonds, Brayden Daub and Jake Jetton; Ike Hall, Logan McKibben and Morsello Hooker in the triple jump and long jump; and Quinten McCarty in the discus.
For the Lady Lions, Kate Tindol was the runner-up in the 100 meters (12.97) while Hannah Deen placed third in high jump at Graham this past weekend.
A complete schedule for the Bluebonnet Relays can be found at the link below: