Going to state
Sawyer, White triumph at regionals
BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

Giant jump STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN COLLINS Port Aransas High School senior Matt White flies through the air in the long jump event in regional track competition at Huntsville.

Port Aransas High School seniors Matt White and Drake Sawyer took second places in their events at regional track and field competition at Huntsville.

The finishes by White and Sawyer propel them to state competition in Austin, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 9-10.

This is the second year Sawyer has qualified for the state track meet in the pole vaulting competition. White advanced for his performance in the long jump.

"After looking at the qualifying jumps from the other regions, both of these kids have a good chance to medal at state if they can put together a good day at the right time," said Coach Steve Reaves.

Sawyer and White each will be competing against seven other students from 1-A schools from around the state, Reaves said.

Sawyer will be seeded fourth. White will be seeded sixth. Their seeds are based on their jumps at the regional meet, although those jumps were not their best of the year, Reaves said.

Up, up and away! STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN COLLINS Drake Sawyer, a senior at Port Aransas High School, pole vaults in regional track competition.

While other PAHS students did not advance to state, several of them set personal records at the regional competition.

"We had a very good weekend," Reaves said. "The weather was nice, (and) the meet was run very well. It was just a good overall experience for everybody there. The atmosphere at a meet like that is awesome. All of the kids that competed were very competitive in their events." Results: 3,200 m Marina Milligan, 14:07 (personal record)

400m relay Cody Collins, Sawyer, Joseph Shrier, White, 44.42 (team record), 7th

110 HH White, 16.07, 5th 200 m Collins, 23.8

800 m relay Kelsey Cartwright, Kelsey Ortiz, Elaine Franco, Lia Phillips, 1:56 Collins, Sawyer, Shrier, White, 1:36

1600 m relay Cartwright, Perez, Franco, Phillips, 4:31

Pole vault Drake Sawyer, 14', 2nd

Long jump Matt White, 22' 1.5", 2nd