By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor

Apparently, only a springtime flu bug can slow Westlake sprinter Linh Tran.

A year after suffering sickness and a subpar district meet, Tran reaffirmed her status as one of fleetest girls in Central Texas by winning the 100- and 200-meter sprints at the District 25-5A meet Thursday at Chaparral Stadium.

Tran, the 2007 district champion in the 100 and the school record-holder in the 100 and 200, also helped Westlake’s 1,600 relay team qualify for the Region IV meet in San Antonio May 1-2 with a blistering anchor leg. And the Baylor-bound senior achieved that trio of medals despite the presence of district newcomers Pflugerville and Pflugerville Connally, whose sprinters traditionally rank among the best in the Austin area.

“I was just trying to make it to regionals, to be honest,” Tran said. “I was shocked when I came in first. I’m glad I pulled it out when it counted.”

Tran’s modesty belied her success. With a searing start in both the 100 and 200, Tran gained a quick edge and held on for the win.

“Linh has been doing this all year, so we weren’t worried about her,” Westlake coach Debbie Wingfield said. “She works and works and works on her start. That’s the key for her.”

Tran clocked a time of 12.60 seconds in the 100 on a track moistened by occasional drizzle. That time fell short of her school-record mark of 12.06 set during the 2007 district meet, but it outpaced a second-place time of 12.69 by Connally’s Jazmine Henderson. She recorded a time of 25.54 to beat Kaylah Burton of Pflugerville (25.79) in the 200.

A dramatic comeback in the 1,600 relay capped Tran’s meet. The Chaps fell behind Bowie and Pflugerville after the first two legs and appeared set for a battle for the third and final regional spot with Bastrop. Tran had other ideas, however; despite trailing Pflugerville’s L’Tania Taylor by almost 10 meters at the start of her anchor leg, Tran caught the Panther with 10 meters to go as the Westlake team – which also included Liz West, Lexi Iverson and Rachel Quigley – clocked a time of 4:01.86, which was .31 seconds faster than Pflugerville. Bowie won the event with 3:59.38.

According to Wingfield, that type of mental toughness proved just as important as Tran’s speed.

“She was focused, and she didn’t crater under the pressure,” Wingfield said. “We talked about that the other day. I told Linh to stay focused on what you want to do and what you want to achieve. 

“Mentally, a lot of seniors can get off their game. It can be a headcase for a lot of girls. But not Linh.”

That saltiness applied to the entire Westlake team, which sent off Wingfield in style by finishing second with 134.5 points. Wingfield will depart for Port Neches-Groves after the semester in order to join her husband, Jared Wingfield, a former assistant football coach at Westlake who accepted a job at PNG as offensive coordinator earlier this year.

Pflugerville won the meet with 138 points.

Ashley Maton advanced to regionals after winning the 3,200 in 11:24.47 on Wednesday and placing second in the 1,600 Thursday with a time of 5:15.58.

Iverson edged Pflugerville’s Tyler Sanders in the long jump with a winning leap of 17 feet, 11 ¾ inches. She also defended her district title in the triple jump with a mark of 37-3 feet.

Westlake’s Rosie Maddox advanced to regionals by placing second in the shot put with a mark of 35-7 ½ feet.

In addition, Westlake’s 400 relay team of Leslie Rice, Iverson, Meghan O’Rourke and Liz West advanced by finishing third in 50.58. Myeshia Foley joined Rice, O’Rourke and West to place second in the 800 relay.

 

Results

 

Team totals — 1. Pflugerville, 138; 2. Westlake, 134.5; 3. Bowie, 101; 4. Anderson, 81; 5. Bastrop, 79; 6. Connally, 39; 7. Austin, 37; 8. Akins, 10.5. 

100 meters — 1. Linh Tran, Westlake, 12.60; 2. Jazmine Henderson, Connally, 12.69; 3. Aisha Fuller, Pflugerville, 12.74; 4. Chelsea Moore, Bastrop, 12.88; 5. Tyler Sanders, Pflugerville, 12.99; 6. Brittany Steubing, Bastrop, 13.01.

200 meters — 1. Linh Tran, Westlake, 25.54; 2. Kaylah Burton, Pflugerville, 25.79; 3. Hana Setterquist, Bowie, 25.86; 4. Allison Dillawn, Anderson, 26.23; 5. Sasha Gibson, Anderson, 26.65; 6. Peyton Farrell, Anderson, 26.87.

400 meters – 1. Briana Aiken, Pflugerville, 58.74; 2. Hana Setterquist, Bowie, 59.40; 3. Liana Charles, Bowie, 59.51; 4. Lexi iverson, Westlake, 59.70; 5. Csinese Harrell, Bastrop, 1:01.87; 6. Rachel Quigley, Westlake, 1:01.92.

800 meters — 1. Ashley Benes, Bowie, 2:21.17; 2. Roxanne Washington, Bastrop, 2:20.20; 3. Sarah Mason, Anderson, 2:22.79; 4. Meredith Wiliams, Austin, 2:23.95; 5. Rebekah Voight, Bastrop, 2:26.73; 6. Catherine Jordan, Westlake, 2:29.36.

1600 meters — 1. Rachel Baptista, Austin,  5:08.76; 2. Ashley Maton, Westlake, 5:15.58; 3. Ashley Benes, Bowie, 5:16.32; 4. Hillary Raemsch, Bastrop, 5:27.02; 5. Rebekah Voight, Bastrop, 5:38.39; 6. Roxanne Washington, Bastrop, 5:43.23. 

3200 meters — 1. Ashley Maton, Westlake, 11:24.47; 2. Rachel Baptista, Austin, 11:36.35; 3. Bethany Shadburne, Bowie, 11:57.12; 4. Sydney Shutter, Bowie, 12:43.11; 5. Samatha Moore, Bastrop, 12:51.92; 6. Samantha Martinez, Pflugerville, 12:59.09.

4×100 relay — 1. Pflugerville, 50.09; 2. Bastrop, 50.47; 3. Westlake (Leslie Rice, Lexi Iverson, Meghan O’Rourke, Liz West), 50.58; 4. Anderson, 51.16; 5. Connally, 51.26; 6. Bowie, 51.44.

4×200 relay — 1. Anderson, 1:45.6; 2. Westlake (Leslie Rice, Meghan O’Rourke, Liz West, Myeshia Foley), 1:47.58; 3. Bastrop, 1:48.55; 4. Austin, 1:49.25; 5. Bowie, 1:49.63; 6. Akins, 1:51.42.

4×400 relay — 1. Bowie, 3:59.38; 2. Westlake (Liz West, Lexi Iverson, Rachel Quigley, Linh Tran), 4:01.86; 3. Pflugerville, 4:02.17; 4. Bastrop, 4:13.65; 5. Austin, 4:14.13; 6. Anderson, 4:22.35.

100 hurdles — 1. Sasha Gibson, Anderson, 15.42; 2. Kelti Rippinghagen, Anderson, 15.45; 3. Megan Matthews, Connally, 16.03; 3. Holly Morkosky, Bastrop, 16.03, 5. Jessica Pena, Bowie, 16.08; 6. Jessica Bradley, Pflugerville, 16.62. 

300 hurdles — 1. Kelti Rippinghagen, Anderson, 47.37; 2. Monia Clark, Pflugerville, 47.63; 3. Alex Colley, Anderson, 47.69; 4. Hailey Thompson, Westlake, 48.23; 5. Codie Kyle, Westlake, 49.61; 6. Holly Morkovsky, Bastrop, 49.95.

Long jump — 1. Lexi Iverson, Westlake, 17-11 3/4; 2. Tyler Sanders, Pflugerville, 17-10 1/2; 3. Kaylah Burton, Pflugerville, 17-4; 4. Christie Mooney, Pflugerville, 17-2 3/4; 5. Megan Matthews, Connally, 17-0 1/4; 6. Markley Ehlrich, Austin, 16-10 3/4.

Shot put — 1. Brittany Roberts, Connally, 37-9 1/2; 2. Rosie Maddox Westlake, 35-7 1/2. 3. Krysti Scroggs, Bastrop, 33-0; 4. Jackie Manzano, Westlake, 32-10; 5. Samantha Marquez, Bastrop, 32-5; 6. Dymesheon Hyder, Pflugerville, 31-4.

Discus — 1. Brittany Roberts, Connally, 115-3; 2.Vanessa Winston, Akins, 92-3; 3. Melissa Salinas, Pflugerville, 91-0; 4. Jackie Manzano, Westlake, 89-1; 5. Dymesheon Hyder, Pflugerville, 88-4; 6. Jenny Brewer, Bowie, 81-8.

Triple jump — 1. Lexi Iverson, Westlake, 37-3; 2. Jillian Guerrero, Bowie, 35-5 1/2; 3. Kaylah Burton, Pflugerville, 35-0 3/4; 4. Jessica Pena, Bowie, 34 1 3/4; 5. Cori Bruce, Austin, 33-10 3/4; 6. Chelsea Moore, Bastrop, 33-9.

High jump – 1. LaTrece Moore, Pflugerville, 5-4; 2. Monia Clark, Pflugerville, 5-4; 3. Elena Edwards, Bowie, 5-3; 4. Kelti Rippenhagen, Anderson, 5-2; 5. Aneisha Carter, Bastrop, 5-2; 6. Caroline Farmer, Westlake, 4-10; 6. Dezsanae Smith, Akins, 4-10.

Pole vault – 1. Briana Aiken, Pflugerville, 10-0; 2. Taylor Callahan, Bowie, 10-0; 3. 1. Sarah Foley, Pflugerville, 8-6; 4. Kate Travis, Westlake, 7-6; 4. Danielle Aiken, Pflugerville, 7-6; 6. Hailey Thompson, Westlake, 7-6.