ARGYLE:  The Varsity Track & Field team went up against the area's best on Thursday in the TAPPS Regional Championships, hosted by Liberty Christian School.  The Cardinals, coming off of a pair of 4th place finishes at the district meet last week, put together some of their best times and distances of the year.  The Varsity Girls capped off the day with a 5th Place team finish, while the Varsity Boys took home 8th Place.  

JPII was led by a number of Top-4 finishers, including gold medal winners Markus Christie (400m, 49.46) and Emma Rodrigues (300m Hurdles, 45.85).  Christie also finished second in the 100m and 200m races and will compete in all three events at the state meet in one week's time.  Similarly, Rodrigues also captured silver in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 16.64 and will run both races in Waco.  Senior captain Juliette Jowid fell short of her PR in the 100m Hurdles, placing 6th (18.23), but helped the Lady Cardinals to a second place finish in 4x400m Relay as the anchor.  Jowid, along with Jones, Meeks, and Rodrigues, turned in a 4:04.22, just four hundredths of a second off the school record pace.  Junior middle distance runner Lanie Meeks shattered her own school record in the 800m race, clocking in at 2:18.94, almost three seconds faster than her previous best, and placed second, just four tenths of a second off the leader's pace.  Meeks also took home silver in the 400m dash, putting up a time of 59.11, followed closely by sophomore bronze medalist Destiny Jones, who turned in a 1:00.66 to punch her ticket to the state championships.  

The Cardinals also performed well in the field events, with senior Jadyn Otto placing second in the High Jump with a height of 5'0", just two inches shy of the lead.  Junior Caden Kitler broke his own school record in the Shot Put with a distance of 55'6", good for second place, and also placed second in the Discus with a throw measured at 161'9".  Freshman Sydney Magennis burst onto the scene with a 4th Place finish in the Triple Jump with a distance of 34'3" and is also headed to Waco.  

Other notable performances include the 4x200m Relay team of Sydney Kitler, Sydney Magennis, Gianna Reny, and Cierra Clemons, who finished 7th (1:52.74).  Freshman Evelyn Hernandez finished just outside of the Top-4 with a height of 4'10" in the High Jump, and freshman Alexandra Foster, currently third on the JPII all-time list, placed 5th in the Pole Vault, successfully clearing 8'0".  Freshmen distance runners Marcelo Villegas (1600m, 4:54.97) and Nolan Zaby (3200m, 10:55.88) placed 8th and 7th respectively, both improving their PR times tremendously and moving up on the program record list, Villegas now at 2nd and Zaby now at 4th.  Standout multi-sport athlete Jacob Carlson, also a freshman, took 8th in the Triple Jump, clearing 37'0" on the nose.  Junior Brayden Wolfson finished 8th in quarter-mile with a time of 54.17, while junior strongman Luke Jackson missed his PR by just four inches, placing 8th in the Discus with a 106'4".  Sophomore Gianna Reny made a distance of 15'7" in the Long Jump, good for 6th Place, while freshman thrower Sidney Kitler finished 8th after recording a distance of 25'0" in the Shot Put.  

In all, eight different athletes qualified in thirteen different events to earn a trip to the TAPPS State Championships, hosted at Waco's Midway High School.  The Cardinals hope to continue their record-breaking season on April 30th and May 1st, more info on the state meet can be found by visiting https://tapps.biz/2021-track-information-championships/.