Jesuit Ranger Track and Field would kick off the month of March with quite the BANG. Yes, the month of March for the Rangers can only be described by excited onomatopoeias. The Rangers took home two overall gold medals in the DFW showcase and the BVU invitational. Now, we’ll take a look at the remarkable results from these meets. These include a record-breaking performance by the 4×100 teams, that would break a 69 year old record and then reset the record again the next week.
DFW Showcase Recap
Kicking off the track and field individual events, we have Patrick Bennett ’22 capturing gold in the open 400 meter dash with a 48.69. Sophomore duo of Caden Cutchall ’24 and Henry Beckman ’24 would place 2nd and 4th for the Rangers in the 800 meter. Dechi Peterson ’22 would continue his hot streak claiming gold once again in the 110 meter hurdle dash. Charlie Humbert ’23 would claim 1st in the 300-meter hurdles. We’ll move onto the field events now as the Rangers dominated the competition. Grant Kostos ’22 claimed silver in the high jump while Carson Walls ’22 out jumped his competitors for 1st place in the long jump. Richard Hambleton ’22 and Evan Bare ’22 would round out the field events with gold medals in the pole-vault and the shotput.
The highlight of the day would be the Rangers’ success in the relays. The senior led 4×100 meter relay team, consisting of Hunter Krepp ’22, Cole Younger ’22, Patrick Bennett ’22 and Thomas Wray ’22 would place 1st with a record-breaking time of 42 seconds. The 4×400 would also claim gold with a time of 3:27.
BVU Invitational
The individual track events would be highlighted by unreal performances once again. Especially another sub-49 second 400-meter time from Patrick Bennett ’22, while he claimed gold. Hunter Krepp ’22 would run a 10.91 100 meter dash to claim a gold medal of his own. On the field, the Rangers would snag first and second in the high jump with quite the showing from Grant Kostos ’22 and Dechi Peterson ’22. Thatch Balady ’24 would dominate competition claiming gold in the pole-vault. To round out the field events at St. Marks, Jesuit would sweep the podium as Carson Walls ’22, Dechi Peterson ’22 and Blake Hunter ’22 would claim first, second and third.
The relays again would not disappoint. The Rangers’ 4×100 team would yet again break the school record posting a 41.97. The team would have a slight change from the last weekend with Sammy McFarland ’24 replacing Thomas Wray ’22, while Wray was dealing with a minor injury. Jesuit would also claim first in the 4×200 as Zachary Musso ’24, Sammy McFarland ’24, Hampton Aldridge ’23 and Drew Betts ’24 ran a 1:33. Finally, ending the meet the 4×400 team consisting of Hunter Krepp ’22, Cole Younger ’22, Enrique Borrego ’22 and Patrick Bennett ’22 claimed gold.
Analysis
The Jesuit track and field squad is hotter than ever this month and are running absolutely blazing times. The 4×100 has shown that they can run elite times with the addition of Krepp ’22 who is one of the fastest sprinters in Jesuit’s recent history. It seems like the coaching staff has been loading the 4×100 and 4×400 with the fastest seniors, while letting some of the talented underclassmen run in the 4×200. This team is senior-heavy and will need runners like McFarland ’24, Humbert ’23 and Musso ’24 to step up next season.
The Ranger’s next meet will be their biggest non-playoff meet of the year. The Jesuit-Sheaner relays is one of the largest and most competitive track meets in the state of Texas. I would say that 80% of the eventual state champions will be running in this meet. Along with some of the fastest relay teams in the country. A few storylines to follow will be where our record-breaking 4×100 relay team places as well as our highly competitive 4×400 team. With individual events, I’m excited to watch how long-jumper Carson Walls ’22 does as well as Patrick Bennett ’22, who will either run the 400 or 300 hurdles. The meet will occur on March 25th and 26th. I encourage all who can, to attend and support the Rangers.
Thank you and stay tuned to the Roundup for more Ranger’s Track and Field content!
