Lake Creek had the whole band back together on a windy Thursday at the Magnolia Dog Pound Invitational and went out on a high note.
It doesn’t get more fun than the 4X400 finale, and despite having to tinker with the lineup, the Lions flourished to the finish line with a gold medal to cap a successful day at Bulldog Stadium.
Lake Creek collected eight individual medals, saw the school 200-meter record fall and the relay’s boost at the end helped the Lions finish third place overall in the 11-team field. Katy Jordan won with 161 points and Magnolia was second with 118. Cypress Woods trailed Lake Creek in fourth with 76.5 points while Kingwood Park had 76 even.
It’s been a mixture of meets this spring for the Lions, who have dealt with poor weather early on and have had some positive things to work around, like big meets at Texas A&M and the upcoming Texas Relays hosted by the Longhorns.
This time, head coach Kevin Spruill had most of the squad ready to compete in Magnolia as postseason nears.
“It’s always nice to have everybody at one place,” Spruill said. “We always want to give our athletes the best opportunity to compete against the best competition. That’s something that’s important to us. But it’s fun to have everybody here.”
It always takes a team effort and that was the story in the 4X400, which pumped up the Lions.
“This was the first time we ran the 4X400 (this season),” Spruill said. “We had to make a quick change, but it’s nice to have that depth where you have confidence that the next person can step up.”
Junior Maggie Ogorchock doesn’t normally run this particular relay, but filled in gracefully as the first leg. She eventually handed the baton to Jade Oravainen, who filled in for Sydney Spikerman, who rested after huge performances in the 100 and 200 earlier
“That was only the second time I’ve run the 4X400 ever,” Ogorchock said. “So I was really nervous. Once I gave it to Jade, we got ahead. It was really, really good. I was really proud of them and myself.”
Addie Micklos and Hailey Johnson covered the rest of the track as Johnson came across the finish line in 3:57.74, ahead of Magnolia’s 4:02.08.
Although she didn’t run this one, Spikerman was proud of her teammates.
“It gets me fired up,” Spikerman said. “I love the 400 and I love training for it. The 400 helps the 200. I knew I needed to take the backseat running it this time. But it got me fired up. I’m so ready for districts. I’m excited and it gets me hyped.”
Spikerman was resting a stubborn hamstring after an outstanding day.
She ran a 25.63 in the 200 for a new school record and a silver medal. The senior was in the fourth (out of five) heats and won it seemingly with ease.
“Because of my time earlier this season, that’s where I was seeded, in the fourth heat,” Spikerman said. “But I feel pretty good. I’m confident that I’m going to rest up my hamstring and be 100% next week.”
Spikerman took over the record from Ogorchock, who previously ran a 25.71 at the Texas Tech meet in late January.
“It’s been going back-and-forth,” Spruill said. “Maggie had it during indoor season and then they’ve been flirting with it for the past few meets. We wanted to get a lot of opens done today. That and the 4X400. (Sydney) looked great coming around the bend and it’s just a great way to go into Texas Relays next week.”
Running in the fifth heat, Ogorchock finished the 200 in 25.82 seconds and Ashlynn England was fifth in 26.46.
Earlier, Spikerman ran the final heat of the 100 and took bronze in 12.39.
“I felt good,” Spikerman said. “It was nice finally to be able to get a chance at running it (200) this season. I’ve run it once every season and this is my senior season, so I got to run it a second time. Feeling good. Hopefully I’ll run that at districts. I may have to switch from the 100 to the 200 for district. Obviously, there’s room for improvement, but I’m feeling good.”
Ogorchock was fourth in the 100, just .01 behind her teammate in 12.40.
“It went really well,” Ogorchock said about the meet. “It was really weird to see everybody here, but it was really fun because we all got to hang out and stuff.”
Added Spruill, “Very happy with our sprinters and the way they performed, especially in the 200. I thought we were really strong in that today.”
Johnson, Micklos and Knox put on a dominant performance in the 800.
Johnson, a three-time state qualifier in the event, raced to a 2:14.45 win with Micklos following in 2:16.54. Freshman Frankie Knox was fourth in 2:25.82.
Oravainen’s successful day began at the high jump, where the junior took silver with a best leap of 5-02. Peyton McKee was third.
“Very happy with our high jumpers going second and third,” Spruill said.
Other notable performances included Bella Eulitt attacking a windy 3,200 run with a time of 12:00.23. In pole vault, Lucy DeWolf and Maria Ceballos both maxed at 10-00.
“I was very happy with it,” Spruill said of the overall performance of the team. “Of course the wind played into some times early on in the day, but it calmed down.”
Lake Creek will be sending part of the crew to Huntsville for a meet on Thursday while the Texas Relays takes place next Friday and Saturday at Michael A. Myers Stadium.
The District 17-5A meet is April 2 and 3 at College Station.
Lake Creek senior Sydney Spikerman is seen during her 200-meter dash at the Dog Pound Invitational on March 20, 2025. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
