Sophia Phillip had the front stretch virtually alone to herself as she ran to the finish line in front of the towering homeside bleachers of Bulldog Stadium that was filled with friendly faces.
The sky had reached dusk at this point Thursday with an orange glow to the west of the bleachers. Even the torturous wind that was present earlier in the day had died down.
That is a moment the Magnolia senior won’t forget.
Phillip crossed the finish line of the 1,600-meter run at the Dog Pound Invitational Thursday night, helping her team with some key points for a second place finish.
“I just liked it because it was also dark kind of and just the whole feeling of looking at the sky and it being my own school really helped,” Phillip said. “My teammates were cheering me on. I heard them a lot. Just the crowd because my family is here, too. That’s really awesome.”
Phillips’ gold medal one of two the Bulldogs had individually on the day. Senior Jenna Cicherski broke the school discus record earlier in the day and the three relays medaled.
It was a windy one as Katy Jordan won the meet with 161 points. Magnolia totaled 118 while Lake Creek was third with 96.5. Cypress Wood finished with 76.5, just ahead of Kingwood Park with 76.
“I feel really good,” Magnolia girls head coach Marquis Bean said. “Of course, you want to win your home meet. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. But second place is a good indicator where we’re at as you get ready for district.”
Phillip’s 1,600 run was the second-to-last event of the long day of activity that started with the field events at 12:30 p.m. The Sam Houston State recruit came across the finish line in 5:07.70, nearly 10 seconds ahead of Bailey Cheshire of Magnolia West.
“That was a really good performance,” Bean said. “I definitely think she has a little bit more in her. We’re targeting sub-5 and we have a really tough district and area meet coming up. It gives a little more competition and push and that’s when she’ll get there.”
Phillip had a lead by a few lengths after passing through the first lap.
“I went out really quick,” Phillip said. “Coach said to treat it like an 800. I went out quick and that’s how I got a good gap (in front of the pack). I was able to maintain that, which really helped.”
Sophomore teammate Jenna Bash was fourth in 5:23.44.
The conditions were literally night and day compared to the 800 run earlier in the meet. Phillip finished third there in 2:20.88 behind Lake Creek’s Hailey Johnson and Addie Micklos.
“They’re really awesome people and they’re super fast,” Phillip said. “I was happy to be able to run with them, but that wind was horrible. That race was worse than this one (1,600) because of the wind. (It was) so bad.”
Cicherski created a memorable moment too with the best discus throw the Magnolia girls program has ever seen.
“The school record is 133 and she went out there and threw 135,” Bean said. “So I’m really excited. She’s been hunting that record for all four years and finally broke through at home. That’s one of those records we were really watching to go down. Discus is one of those big records that I felt ‘That one should go’, and it happened today. Nothing better than doing it home.”
The running finals were heated from the start. The Magnolia 4X100 team of Aiyana Graham Knight, Violet Unruh, Gertrude Osafo and Kate Price earned bronze in 48.83, exactly .3 off of champion Jordan in 48.53. Splendora took second in 48.61.
The 4X200 relay held off a charging Splendora to win in 1:41.77. Freshman Amariah Molden smoothly strided down the stretch to capture the gold as Osafo, Unruh and Price got the Bulldogs to that point.
The 4X400 capped the night as the Bulldogs took silver as Knight Graham, Unruh, Reagan Garcia and Molden finished in 4:02.08, about five seconds off the pace of Lake Creek.
“Relays had a really good night,” Bean said. “I saw what I needed to see. Really excited as we get ready for district. It could be really consistent and we’re looking for that breakthrough run. Unfortunately, it was really windy during that 4X100 and 4X200. But when it comes down to it, I think we’ll run those times we’ve been looking for all year.”
Some top individual performances included Molden in the 200 (fourth, 25.97), Jose Honchell in discus (third, 122-07) and Allie Hannan in the long jump (fourth, 17-00.5). Garcia was fourth in the triple jump (35-10) and Graham Knight was fifth (35-03).
Magnolia honored its seniors before the running finals.
“Shoutout to all my seniors,” Bean said. “Thankful for everything they do.”
Magnolia’s District 15-6A meet is April 3-4 at Tomball High School.
Magnolia senior Sophia Phillip runs during the 1,600 final heat at the Dog Pound Invitational March 20, 2025. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
