The Class 5A Region II and Class 6A Region I Track and Field Championships got off to a rainy start last weekend at UTA’s Maverick Stadium. The preliminary running events were scheduled to begin with all divisions of the 400-meter relay at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

At around 1:00 p.m. Friday, lightning was detected in the area, so the stadium was cleared and a shelter-in-place order was issued. After a three-hour delay, the stadium was re-opened at 3:30 p.m. and running was scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m.

The Lions 400-meter relay team of Brandon Stephens, Shawn Brown, Kenton Anderson, and Crishon Guster was on the track and preparing to run their preliminary heat of the race when another lightning strike was detected and the track was cleared. After another lengthy delay, the decision was made around 7 p.m. that preliminaries would be pushed to Saturday Morning with Finals scheduled for that evening.

The Lions missed qualifying for the finals by only 0.14 seconds after running a season-best 43.11 in the preliminaries. They would finish with the ninth best time in the region.

Senior sprinter, Miles Denson ran a 10.67 100-meter dash in the preliminary heat giving him the second-best seed time going into the finals Saturday evening. He would go on to finish third after being edged out by DeKalon Taylor of Longview and Thomas Donley of Frisco Lebanon Trail.

Denson had the fourth best seed time after the preliminary heats of the 200-meter dash after running a 21.56. He would go on to finish fifth in the finals after posting a time of 22.09.

Greenville’s 800-meter relay team made up of seniors Crishon Guster, Brandon Stephens, Shawn Brown, and Miles Denson ran a 1:29.19 in the preliminaries, giving them the fifth best seed time heading into the finals. They would go on to finish fourth in the final running.

Junior, Alyssa Cortez was the lone Lady Lion that qualified for the regional meet after qualifying in the shot put. Her mark of 32’00 was enough for her to place 12^th in Region II.

“We were put behind the 8 ball after preliminaries were rained out on Friday,” said Greenville Coach Alex Contreras. “Some of our kids had to run six races in one day, so I think it affected our performance. I’m really proud of this group of seniors and the way they’ve represented themselves and our program. We’re going to miss all of them.”