Check Out All Photos from 5A-6A Regional - Norman!
NORMAN - Wyatt Duvall was in a hurry. The sprinter from Westmoore High had an important date to get to Saturday night. His prom.
But before Duvall could get dressed up and pick up his date, he had some work to do first at the 6A-5A track and field regional at Norman High.
Coming into the event, Duvall was one of the top ranked runners in the state. He showed why by taking home the gold in the 100 (10.87) and 200 (22.05) meter dashes. He also ran the anchor legs for Westmoore's 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.
"As a team, we wanted to go get a regional championship," Duvall said of his goals coming into the meet. "Winning the 100 and 200 for sure, get a championship in that. Just excited to get out here."
Duvall brought home three golds and one silver before hurrying off to the prom. However, the Jaguars were unable to snag the 6A team title away from Edmond Memorial. The Bulldogs eclipsed 200 points, which was more than a 100 more than Westmoore.
But Duvall likes how regionals has set him and his team up to make a run at Edmond in the state meet May 12-13 at Yukon High.
"We started out kind of slow," Duvall said. "But got a lot better. I feel like our faith in Jesus Christ was strengthened. I feel like that has a lot to with our success. We definitely got a good team put together."
Edmond Memorial laid claim to the 6A girls championship. Led by Morganne Mukes, Emma Pitts, Alysheia Joseph and their dominance in the relays, they routed the rest of the field.
In class 5A, the Eagles of Del City who won the boys championship. They owned the sprints, hurdles and relays as the regional with ease.
Assistant track coach Amber Baine had a feeling Eisenhower was going to do something special in the 5A girls competition. She came into the meet knowing the EHS girls track and field team had a chance to walk away with the tourney title if every thing fell their way.
Baine's intuition was right. The Lady Eagles scored 167 points Saturdayto win the 5A regional title. They held off Del City by two points in order to bring the championship home.
"Coming into today we wanted to see as many Eisenhower girls qualify for state as possible," Baine said. "Also run good times, be happy with ourselves and hopefully score enough points to win regionals."
Del City was the overwhelming favorite to not only win the regional, but to also win the state meet next week. But the depth of Eisenhower in a small field of competitors was too much for DCH to handle.
Under head coach Mike Burris, the Lady Eagles broke a title drought that has lasted more than decade. It was the first time they had brought home regional hardware since 2006.
"This is just amazing," Eisenhower's Ashley Pletcher said. "This is just an amazing experience."
While Del City won more individual events, Eisenhower came away with its own share of honors.
Mariah Leonard won the 400 meter dash with a time of 59.26. Brooke Boss overwhelmed the field in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 47.05.
Ashley Pletcher took home the gold in the long jump for the Lady Eagles with a leap of 16-03. She had to fend off her teammates Shania Smith and Gina Rogers in the finals as they finished first, second and third.
"I always try to outdo myself from the last track meet," Pletcher said. "But this time it was about beating my own teammates because they kind of got up their quicker than I did. It always makes me work hard. Because I know if they can do it, I can do it."