Magnolia’s best meet of the season for its sprinters resulted in a team championship at one of the most prestigious Houston high school track and field traditions Saturday evening.
With the medical center buildings as the backdrop at Holloway Field, Magnolia totaled four individual medals and two relays for 79 points to win the 42nd annual Victor Lopez Classic at Rice University.
The Bulldogs edged out Kingwood by 2½ points (76.5) and Bridgeland was third (66.5).
Magnolia’s sprinters made its intentions known from the start when the evening finals got underway.
Magnolia added its first eight points of the meet two nights earlier, however, as the 4X200 was run Thursday evening. Aiyana Graham Knight, Violet Unruh, Gertrude Osafo and Kate Price finished with a silver medal in 1:42.24, trailing Kingwood by .27 seconds.
Graham Knight, Unruh, Osafo and Price returned Saturday and set the tone as they ran a 48.49 in the 4X100 for a gold medal, beating Houston Lamar by just .4 seconds and Kingwood Park by over a second.
Osafo carried the emotion of that win into the 100 final, where the senior produced a gold-medal sprint of 12.58 to edge out Alil Akbar of Lamar, who crossed just .11 off the pace. Magnolia sophomore Kate Price picked up bronze in 12.78.
Magnolia didn’t medal in the 200 final, but one could argue that three top 7 finishes went a long way to the meet title.
Unruh finished fourth (25.64), freshman Amariah Molden was sixth (26.16) and Graham Knight was seventh (26.83), earned a combined 10 points. Unruh just missed the medal stand as she was .09 behind third place finisher Madelyn McFadden of Franklin.
Molden earned another of Magnolia’s medals with a third place finish in the 400 in 57.25.
Senior Lauren Lindl picked up the last medal of the night for the Bulldogs as she took silver in the 300 hurdles with a finish of 48.89. Sophomore Allie Hannan was just off the podium in fourth with a finish of 49.85, .81 behind Lamar’s Breana Garner.
Back on Thursday, sophomore Jenna Bash completed the 3,000 in fifth place for a time of 11:04.44.
In Friday’s field events, senior Jenna Cicherski, who committed to Nicholls State on Saturday for both volleyball and track, finished fourth in the discus with a top throw of 116-10. Junior Josie Honchell was just over a foot off the podium with a fifth place finish and a top throw of 36-04.
Magnolia junior varsity finishes 2nd at district
The Magnolia junior varsity finished with 117.50 points for second place in the District 15-6A meet held Thursday at Klein Memorial Stadium. Klein won with 132 points while Klein Cain was third with 101.
Here’s a recap of medalists for the Bulldogs:
GOLD
3,200
Jame Mentlewski, 12:19.41
800
Kiran Ripley, 2:26.49
400
Kayden Onibokun, 1:02.61
1,600
Kiran RIpley, 5:40.81
4X400
Kayden Onibokun, Hannah Alveraz, Rachel Bash, Khloe Horn, 4:18.02
SILVER
800
Dulce Lazaro, 2:26.49
BRONZE
3,200
Ximena Blasco Archiga, 12:35.44
800
Khloe Horn, 2:27.62
100 Hurdles
Heidi Posluszny, 17.49
1,600
Jame Mentlewski, 5:48.59
Shot Put
Addison Evans, 100-2
The Magnolia varsity track and field team pose with their Victor Lopez Classic team championship trophy. (Photo provided)
