The Vernon Lions and Lady Lions shined Saturday at the Class 3A Region 1 Track & Field Meet in Abilene, as one relay and three individuals punched their ticket to the State Meet. The gold and silver medalists in each event advance to the State Meet. As a team, the Lions finished third in the region.
Jackson Aydelott captured the gold medal in the 400-Meter Dash in style, setting a 3A Region 1 Meet Record with a time of 47.86 seconds. It was a photo finish, as the second-place time was just three-one hundredths of a second slower.
It was also a photo finish in the 100-Meter Dash where Case Fleming picked up a gold medal with a time of 10.65 seconds, his fastest time of the year. He nipped the second-place finisher by four-one hundredths of a second.
The Lions’ 1600-Meter Relay team also claimed first place and a gold medal. The quartet of Ty Scott, Kameron Plyler, Julius Dawkins and Aydelott had a season-best time of 3-minutes, 20.33-seconds for the win.
“Our kids put on an inspirational performance this weekend,” Vernon ISD Athletic Director Kevin Sherrill said. “None more so than the 4x400 relay participants who finished the meet with a win. Our boys’ team absolutely brought the down the house with a gutsy win that was no doubt the talk of the meet. It is a testament to the mental toughness and heart that is being developed within our athletic program.”
Vernon’s time in the 1600-Meter Relay and Aydelott’s time in the 400-meter Dash are currently the best times in the state in Class 3A.
The Lady Lions will also have a representative at the State Meet, as Key’Maria McBride finished second in the Girls Triple Jump with a distance of 37-feet, 3-inches.
Klancy Sherrill reached Saturday’s finals of the 300-Meter Hurdles and finished fourth with a time of 46.21 seconds, her best time of the year and a new VHS school record.
Dawkins also finished fourth the Boys Triple Jump with a distance of 44-feet, three-quarters of an inch.
During the track season, McBride and Dawkins also set new VHS school records for the girls’ and boys’ triple jump.
Aydelott also reached the finals of the 200-Meter Dash, where he finished fifth with a time of 22.15 seconds.
Vernon’s 800-Meter Relay team of Fleming, Plyler, Jerick Weaver and Dawkins finished sixth with a time of 1-minute, 30.81-seconds.
On Friday, Plyler cleared 6-feet, 3-inches to grab a bronze medal in the Boys High Jump, while Sherrill cleared 5-feet even and finished fifth in the Girls High Jump.
McBride competed in the Long Jump and Mari Johnson competed in the Shot Put, but neither placed in those events. The Lady Lions’ 800-Meter Relay team also qualified for the regional meet, but did not make the finals, and Sherrill didn’t make the finals in the 100-Meter Hurdles. The Lions 400-Meter Relay team had a bad exchange in Friday’s preliminaries and didn’t make the finals.
“Our motto in the Vernon HS Athletic Program is ‘Tough People Last’, and our athletes absolutely lived up to those words this weekend,” Sherrill said. “Even though there is still work to be done, I am very proud of where our athletic program is headed. I am also very proud of our athletes as a whole. They are a great bunch of kids. I think we can all agree our kids and coaches are doing a heck of a job.”