Lady Dogs qualify for six regional events
Jasper captures third place at District 21-3A track and field meet
By GEORGIA PURDY Newsboy Correspondent

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy RUNNING THE THIRD LEG of the 1600-meter relay, Victoria Tukes takes the handoff from Daffney Sells. The Lady Bulldogs finished in second place.

The Jasper Lady Bulldog track team finished in third place at the District 21-3A meet in Silsbee April 5. Hampshire-Fannett won the meet with 183 points, followed by Silsbee, 113; and Jasper, 70.

Jasper qualified six events that will compete in the Region III meet at Humble High School, April 25-26.

Sophomore Breeunna Hafford will compete in three events. She won the 400-meter in 1:02.55. The race was never in doubt as Hafford jumped out in the lead and held it to the finish. Courtney Prudhomme of Hamshire- Fannett was second at 1:04.45.

Hafford also placed second in the triple jump Thursday in the field events with a leap of 34- 91/2, behind Chasity Foster of Silsbee, 37-61/2. Foster, who moved from Woodville, was the 2A state champion last year.

She ran the first leg of Jasper's 1600-meter relay that placed second with a time of 4:22.51 behind Hamshire-Fannett who clocked in at 4:18.41.  Daffney Sells, Victoria Tukes, and Tasia Wysingle rounde  out the Lady Bulldog team.

“I put Breeunna in to run the first leg. The strategy was to get out ahead and make the other runners come get us,” Head Coach Charles King said.

“Daffney Sells stepped up to replace the injured Shanae Randall, who was in a car wreck. I didn’t want take a chance on the team having to come from behind to place. The girls did a good job in this race.”

Jaleesa Johnson won third place in the 200-meter dash in 27.25 seconds. Patrisha Johnson of Silsbee was first with a time of 26.87.

King, who came here from John Tyler High School in Tyler where he also coached the girls’ team, said he worked with Johnson in the Tiger Belles summer program when he was here from 1998-2000.

“We go back a long way,” King said. “She did a good job. We set benchmarks for various events and Jaleesa has exceeded hers.”

In field events Thursday, freshman Petrina Bronson won third in the long jump with a distance of  16-61/2.

“Petrina was a real surprise in the long jump,” King said. “She improved by four feet in the last month. That is remarkable.”

In field events, Brandy Goff was fifth in discus.

“She is only a sophomore and was competing against a field of all seniors,” Coach Shareba Smith said. “She did very well.”

King said that he was very happy with the team’s performance and especially the improvement over last year.

“I’m very proud of what they did,” King said. “Last year, we only qualified in three events. We have a very capable staff and credit goes to them. Shareba Smith coaches the throwers, Casey Murphy works with jumpers, and Joe Baker works with our sprinters. We also had great parent support. Both moms and dads came to see the girls compete.”

He also recognized the girls who had just completed soccer but came to run: Haley Shipman, Caroline Kipp, and Allison Collins.”

King said that the Region III competition will be stiff, but his team plans to be competitive.

“It will be very stiff,” he said, “ We know that, but we are going there to compete. Our motto is ‘We Represent’. That means we represent our school, our community, our parents, and ourselves. These girls have given 100 percent and a coach can’t ask for more than that.”

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy SOPHOMORE BREEUNNA HAFFORD leaves a string of runners far behind as she sprints across the finish line in first place in the 400-meter race. Hafford also qualified for the Region III competition in two other events. Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy JASPER’S JALESSA JOHNSON who finished third in the 200m dash. She qualified to run both the 100 and 200m at regionals.