Here is a complete list of the state track and field qualifiers from the Big Country Preps coverage area with seed ranking and time/mark:
Category: Track & field
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wylie sophomore takes this week’s award with a no-hitter
Nothing quite like starting off a playoff series with a masterpiece from your pitcher.
Wylie sophomore Gehrig Fletcher delivered this artwork last week in a 7-0 win in Game 1 of a bi-district series with Lubbock Coronado.
Not only did the 10th grader throw a seven-inning no-hitter, but he did it with an unusual twist: he only struck out three batters.
No-hitters are rare enough, but throwing one while pitching to contact is something one almost never sees in a game dominated by aluminum bats.
“Gehrig is a kid that puts in the work every day,” coach Grant Martin said. He is the epitome of hard work, determination, and resilience.
“He is the best teammate and exemplifies what a student athlete should be. What a performance in a big time setting. So proud of him!”
REGION I-2A TRACK MEET: Bangs boys, Coleman girls score area’s highest team finishes
CANYON — Big Country Region II athletes had a long way to travel for their regional track meet — competing at West Texas A&M University in Canyon on Friday and Saturday.
Bangs was the top team finisher for the area, finishing fourth with 39 points — 28 behind regional champion Abernathy.
Coleman was the top area finisher in the girls meet with a third-place 52 points — 49 points behind a dominant performance by regional champion Panhandle.
REGION II-2A TRACK MEET: Hico boys take regional title; Cisco girls take second
SPRINGTOWN — With Porcupine Stadium serving as the backdrop for the Region II-2A Track and Field Championships, a couple of teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area scored big in the event.
The Hico boys earned the team championship with 78 points, topping Tioga (66) and Bosqueville (62). In the meantime, the Cisco girls earned second in the team standings with 65 points behind Hamilton’s 93.
CLASS 1A REGIONAL TRACK ROUNDUP: Cross Plains boys, May girls flex muscles at III-1A meet; Guthrie girls strong at I-1A meet
HEWITT — The Cross Plains boys and May girls both finished second in the team race at the Region III-1A meet Friday at Saturday at Panther Stadium to headline a strong showing for the Big Country Preps Coverage area.
The Buffaloes finished with 70 points, 23 behind team champion Saint Jo, while the Lady Tigers tallied 54 points to finish 18 points behind Saint Jo, which also won the girls title.
Blanket (3rd, 62 points), May (7th, 26), Bryson (T8th, 24) and Gorman (T8th, 24) also posted top 10 finishes on the boys side, while Cross Plains (T5th, 37), Newcastle (T5th, 37), Perrin-Whitt (8th, 29) and Gorman (10th, 26) achieved the same feat for the girls, as area athletes combined for 43 total medals and 25 automatic berths to the Class 1A state meet May 16 in Austin.
REGION I-4A TRACK MEET: Brownwood girls run away with team title as area athletes shine
LUBBOCK — The Brownwood girls track team feasted at the Region I-4A meet Friday and Saturday at Lowrey Field, collecting nine medals and five automatic state berths to make a comfortable run to the event’s team championship.
The Lady Lions, who accounted for all but two of the area’s medals on the girls side, got scoring from 13 entries on their way to 107 points — topping second-place Canyon by 31 points and third-place Krum by 44.
The BHS girls success headlined a strong overall showing by area athletes, who combined to claim 22 medals and 12 automatic spots to the Class 4A state meet May 14 in Austin.
REGION I-5A TRACK MEET: Abilene High’s Jackson, Wylie boys 800 meter relay earn bronze to top local efforts
LUBBOCK — The Wylie 800-meter relay team of Adrian Jurado, Max Thornton, Jett Wilson and Liam Chapman and Abilene High sprinter Jaden Jackson both earned bronze medals Saturday at the Region I-5A meet to top the list of performances by local qualifiers at Lowrey Field.
Behind its relay effort, the WHS boys finished with 12 team points, while AHS earned seven and Cooper finished with two.
On the girls side, meanwhile, Wylie scored two team points and Cooper earned one.
REGION I-3A TRACK MEET: Wall boys defend regional title to headline strong area effort
ABILENE — The Wall boys track team successfully defended its Region I-3A championship Saturday, piling up 141 points to run away from the field at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
The Hawks swept all three relays, setting new meet records in two of those, while accounting for all eight of the area’s gold medals on the boys side.
Wall also had the top finish among area girls teams at the Region I-3A meet, taking second in that race behind champion Holliday — three points ahead of third-place Jim Ned, which also made a strong showing.
Collectively, athletes from the Big Country Preps coverage area combined for 37 medals, earning 23 automatic berths to the Class 3A state meet May 14 in Austin.
REGION II-1A TRACK MEET: Gordon boys, girls sweep team titles as area athletes clean up on medal stand
ABILENE — The Gordon Longhorns dominated the Region II-1A track meet for the second consecutive year, piling up an impressive 132 team points to take the boys title by a 50-point gap over second-place Hamlin on Saturday at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
And the Lady Longhorns got in on the championship action as well, though the margin was not nearly as large.
The Gordon girls finished with 58 points to edge second-place Highland by four points and the third-place duo of Menard and Eula (last year’s girls champion) by nine in a tightly contested team race that saw six schools finish within 15 points of the lead.
Together the Longhorns and Lady Longhorns headlined a wildly successful meet for Big Country athletes, who combined to earn 74 medals and claim 40 automatic berths to the Class 1A state meet May 16 in Austin.
UIL Region I-3A, Region II-1A Track & Field Championships (Day 1)
ABILENE — With Mother Nature doing her best to interfere with sporting events across the Big Country this week, area athletes still managed to gather on Friday at Abilene Christian University for the UIL 3A Region I and II-1A Track and Field Championships.
The schedule wasn’t exactly as originally scheduled at Elmer Gray Stadium, with all field events bumped to Saturday to escape inclement weather and running preliminaries bumped to late Friday evening.
There was, however, an opportunity for a pair of area athletes to punch their tickets to the state meet in the 1A girls and boys 3200 meters, with Jayton’s Jace Chisum and Roby’s Camden Lummus both taking regional gold at 11:49.38 and 9:51.21 respectively.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brock’s Blue wins accolade with remarkable performance
If you’re going to top someone who throws a perfect game in our in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column, you had better do something very special.
This rare occurrence took place last week when Brock sophomore shortstop Kayden Blue helped the Lady Eagles to a three-game bi-district series win over Levelland with a truly memorable performance. In the process, she edged Abilene High ace George Ferguson, who delivered a perfect game win over Cooper.
With Brock sandwiching wins in Games 1 and 3 (5-1 and 5-2) around a 5-4 loss in Game 2, Blue was quite literally unstoppable, going 10-for-10 in the series with five runs scored (accounting for more than a third of BHS’ run tally. Yet it doesn’t stop there. She also posted a pair of walks (one intentional), making her a perfect 12 for 12 in reaching base throughout a difficult series against excellent competition.
“Kayden showed all the characteristics of a great leader in all three games and was phenomenal in the leadoff spot for us”
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ferguson’s heartbreak sufficient for this week’s award
There are varying degrees of “no-hitter” in both high school baseball and softball. This is especially true when the mercy rule is concerned, with pitchers holding the opposition hitless through five innings (in a 10-run rule game) and in the case of the 15-run rule, through only three frames.
Whether those should be called actual no-hitters, depends on who you speak to.
There was, however, nothing arguable about the potential no-no delivered by Abilene junior pitcher George Ferguson in last week’s 2-0 win over Wichita Falls Memorial. To begin with, Ferguson held Memorial hitless through 8.2 innings before finally giving up an infield single in the ninth. In the process, he walked only one batter and fanned 17.
It was nothing short of a brilliant performance against a Memorial team that had won eight straight games. If ever one deserved credit for a no-hitter without actually throwing one, it’s Ferguson.
“George did a great job on the mound from start to finish and that included a 45-minute weather delay,” coach Brad Harman said.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Stephenville senior takes our weekly award
In a week that featured at least a half dozen athletes who could have taken our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, we finally settled on a Stephenville senior for our weekly award.
Willis Jackson, one of the premiere speedsters in the Big Country, took four district titles in the District 6-4A meet last week
This included individual gold medals in the 100 meters (10.66), long jump (22-8.5) and Triple jump (43-8.5). He also collected gold with the 800 relay team (1:28.53), along with a silver with the 400 relay (42.45).
“Willis is headed to the area track meet in five events,” coach Kolt Kittley said. “He comes to workouts every day with a big smile and a great attitude.
“He was huge in helping us win the district track meet this year.”
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall senior claims this week’s award
As one would expect, the Jim Ned Relays had a quality field of competition last week, opening the door for one of its athletes to snag Big Country Preps Player of the Week honors.
So it’s not surprising that its top performer sits atop of our weekly list of highlighted competitors from around the area.
Wall senior Bryson McFarden takes our weekly accolade after medaling five times in Tuscola with four golds and a silver.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde’s Reynolds is the hands-down winner
In the pitcher’s circle, there are varying degrees of perfection. And in the case of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, that statement was fully illustrated on Friday in a 6-0 Clyde win over Merkel.
Yes, CHS freshman Brynli Reynolds threw a perfect game. But this wasn’t your standard, every day, run-of-the-mill, garden variety perfecto.
In fact, it may have been the most dominating performance by a baseball or softball pitcher the Big Country has seen in the last two decades.
Aside from retiring 21 straight hitters from a very good Merkel team (19-2), Reynolds fanned the first 17 batters she faced and finished with 20 strikeouts. She also helped herself at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI.
It was the second time this season that the Clyde freshman has taken our weekly accolade.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF WEEK: Jayton’s Stanaland takes this week’s spotlight
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week earned the accolade on the state’s biggest stage.
Jayton senior guard Sean Stanaland was a big contributor in several areas for the Jaybirds in a surprisingly easy 78-45 win over Kennard in the Class 1A Division II state title game. This began with the 28 points he scored to help JHS to its third straight championship.
He also pulled down 15 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals as Jayton capped its season with a victory in San Antonio’s Alamodome.
SIGNING DAY: Gordon seniors headline area signees for 2025-26
Of all the Big Country area collegiate signees in the 2025-26 school year, what would the odds be for two of them to be from a tiny school from the six-man ranks? And what would the odds be that both would sign to participate in two sports?
What are the odds that they would have the same last name yet be of no relation? And what would the odds be that both would play in the prestigeous Military Appreciation Bowl in Frisco on Dec. 21 (featuring several of the top players in the country)?
Would the planets have to be aligned for both of them to be among the top academic athletes in the Big Country? Or for them both to sign with separate military academies to participate as two-sport athletes at the DI level?
FEATURE: Gordon’s Reed honored to earn NFHS national track award
Mike Reed didn’t get into coaching to win awards.
But the Gordon athletic director was honored to receive a prestigious honor last week when the National Federation of High School Coaches Association named Reed the 2024-25 Coach of the Year for boys track and field.
Of the 24 coaches across the country that were honored, Reed was the only one hailing from Texas. And he said it meant a lot to him because Reed feels like he’s been a supporter for small schools during his time at Rule, Throckmorton and Gordon.
SIGNING DAY: Twelve Cooper athletes make their futures official
Cooper football coach and campus athletic coordinator Aaron Roan had a hard time hiding his elation Wednesday at Cougar Gym, where 11 student-athletes from four sports (baseball, track, soccer and golf) and a cheerleader made their college decisions official.
The signees’ school choices ranged from Division I to junior college, but getting to continue their careers while pursuing further education is what really mattered.
While most are staying in state, Asharee Davis is heading to Tennessee Tech of the Ohio Valley Conference, where she will take part in the long jump and triple jump for the Golden Eagles.
SIGNING DAY: Eight Abilene High athletes make commitments official at super-sized ceremony
Eight Abilene High athletes made their college commitments official on Wednesday during a Signing Day ceremony at Eagle Gym, capping a week of signings that began Tuesday when Eagle football players Bryson Perez and Dristain Payne solidified their commitments to Hardin-Simmons University.
Kinzley Cantu (softball; Hardin-Simmons), Mason Murray (cross country/track; Baylor University); Jazlyn Ortiz (cross country/track; Franciscan University of Steubenville), Keeley Aston (soccer; Seminole State College), Laly Dehoyos (cheer; Hardin-Simmons), Rylan Stokes (baseball; McMurry University), Camp Churchill (baseball; McMurry) and John Alcantar (cross country/track; Western Texas College) all took part in the event, signing letters of intent in front of friends and family who packed the gymnasium’s lower level.
That group gave AHS 11 signings in a two-week span, after tennis player Allie Dunn committed to Hardin-Simmons last week.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Gordon’s Stryker Reed takes our final accolade of 2024-25 school year
As our tradition dictates, we close the books on our Big Country Preps Player of the Week on the first Monday following the UIL State Track and Field Championships in Austin.
And more often than not, our final award of the school year goes to someone who scored big at the state capital.
This year is no exception, with Gordon’s Stryker Reed taking the award after helping GHS win the boys team state championship, setting two individual state records and helping to set a new relay mark in the process.
STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Gordon sweeps team titles as numerous 1A state records are broken
Cover photo courtesy Mike Reed
AUSTIN — Class 1A athletes and teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area set five state records as the track and field season drew to a close at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on Saturday with the UIL state championships.
The Gordon boys (88 points) and girls (52 points) swept the team titles as area athletes put forth a dominant effort on the day, winning a total of 44 medals.
STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Big Country athletes persevere in 2A/5A meet despite weather delay
AUSTIN — It wouldn’t be the UIL state track and field meet if there wasn’t a weather delay, but this time the UIL was ahead of the game with bad weather forecast for the Central Texas region on Friday.
As the field events were ongoing for Classes 2A and 5A, the UIL made the decision around lunch on Friday to delay the track portion of the two classifications to Saturday morning in the interest of spectator and competitor safety.
When the meet resumed on Saturday morning, all the drama one could hope for, and more, was ready to unfold.
STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Brownwood girls claim team title; Wall boys narrowly miss out
Cover photo courtesy Brian Hodnett
AUSTIN — The 2025 UIL state track and field meet got underway on Thursday at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Track & Soccer Stadium, and the Big Country is bringing home some hardware.
The Brownwood Lady Lions made the most of their trip to Austin, claiming the Class 4A girls team championship on the strength of their three relays.
The Wall boys came “painfully close” in the words of track coach Craig Slaughter to giving the Big Country Preps area a second team title as the Hawks’ 64 points left them just two points behind Holliday in the Class 3A boys team standings.
Even so, Slaughter said that Wall’s relay teams, both boys and girls, all set personal records in an “incredible day.”
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brock’s Mylee Cedillo takes this week’s accolade with two doses of late-game heroics
If one is to play the role of hero, there’s not a better time to do it than in postseason play in your senior year.
Brock’s Mylee Cedillo lived that experience — not once, but twice in last week’s uber-intense bi-district series with fifth-ranked Levelland that saw the Lady Eagles edge the Loboettes 2-1 and 7-6 in 13 innings.
It all began Friday night in Game 1, with Levelland pitcher Aubrey Rivas carrying a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning. Cedillo responded to the pressure with an RBI double to drive home both Lily Springstead (who walked) and courtesy runner Emily Faddis (running for Ali Coleman who reached on an error) to give Brock a 2-1 win.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall’s Jones holds down the top spot yet again
At Big Country Preps, we pride ourselves on sharing the love as much as possible. But Wall senior Briggs Jones has been so spectacular of late, that he’s making that difficult.
Jones has not only taken our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for a second straight time, but for a third time this year and a fourth time in his athletic career.
CLASS 4A REGIONAL TRACK ROUNDUP: Brownwood girls take team title, area athletes earn 23 medals at I-4A meet
LUBBOCK — The Brownwood girls won a team title and Stephenville finished second behind Canyon on the boys side over the weekend to headline a strong effort by programs and athletes from the Big Country Preps coverage area at the Region I-4A track meet.
The Lady Lions earned 113 points to run away from the competition at Lowrey Field, topping second-place Canyon by 38 points and third-place Canyon Randall by 53. The Stephenville boys, meanwhile, finished with 76 points to fall 15 shy of Canyon for the team championship.
Those efforts highlighted a successful meet that saw area athletes claim 23 total medals — 13 on the girls side and 10 on the boys.
PHOTO GALLERY: Region II-1A and I-3A track meets Day 2 (70 images)
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REGIONAL TRACK: Wall, Gordon take boys regional titles; Eula snags 1A girls regional championsip
ABILENE — Both teams had dominated the Big Country and surrounding area for the entire track season, so few were stunned on Saturday when both Wall and Gordon captured the Region I-3A and II-1A boys championships at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
It completed a near clean sweep of the regional meets from teams in the Big Country Preps coverage area, with Eula taking the 1A girls title and Wall finishing second to Holliday in the 3A girls regional meet.
“That’s always awesome ,” Wall coach Craig Slaughter said of taking the regional team title. “You have to have talented kids who perform at the right time.
“We just had some monster performances all weekend long. Kid after kid PR’d and we just had an incredible couple of days.”
REGION II-1A TRACK MEET: Big Country athletes dominate medal stand on Day 1
Area athletes cleaned up on the first day of the Region II-1A track meet Friday, claiming 28 combined medals, including golds in all but one of the 14 completed events at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
Between the boys and girls divisions, competitors from the Big Country Preps coverage area locked up at least 19 berths to the state track meet on the meet’s opening day, which saw all field events and the 3,200 meters completed ahead of expected overnight thunderstorms.
In addition to the 13 gold medals, Big Country qualifiers accounted for six silvers and nine bronzes while setting themselves up for another big day Saturday with strong performances in the running prelims. The meet will conclude with the running finals, which are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. back at ACU.
REGION I-3A TRACK MEET: Area athletes nab 12 field event medals on first day
ABILENE — Area athletes got off to a successful start at the Region I-3A track meet, combining to collect 13 medals and earn nine automatic berths to the state track meet during the event’s first day Friday at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
With expected overnight storms pushing all field events to Friday, male competitors from the Big Country Preps coverage area tallied seven total medals — four golds, a silver and two bronzes — while area girls athletes claimed six medals, earning two of each shade.
The big winner Friday was the Wall boys, who accounted for five of those medals on their way to an early lead in the team race. The Hawks, who earned 42 points take a 22-point lead on second-place Idalou, will try to close out the team championship when the meet continues at 2 p.m. Saturday with the running finals.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall’s Jones takes the award with spectacular effort at area meet
The best way to describe the area meet performance of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week (Wall’s Briggs Jones) is to simply let his coach, Craig Slaughter do the talking.
“He ran a blistering 10.41 to set a school record and win the 100 meters,” Slaughter said. “He broke his long jump record with a jump of 23-11.5. I only let him jump twice because he was running out of room in the pit and I need that dude cranked up this week.
“Then he destroyed his triple jump record with a jump of 48-7.25
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco junior takes the top spot with no-hitter
While no-hitters are fairly common at the high school level, the bulk of them are of the five-inning variety — ending early while locking down a mercy rule win.
Going the full seven innings without allowing a hit, however, is much less common. And in the case of Cisco junior Case Williams, his seven-inning no-no in a 2-0 win over a good Coleman team last Tuesday secured our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the Week ending April 5.
