Sophomore Lady Cats’ track athlete Abbi Baier qualified for the state meet in the 300-meter hurdles at the regional meet Saturday at UTA Stadium in Arlington. Baier, was seeded fourth in the field for the final on Saturday but took second. Lady Cats Coach Triston Abron said Baier just beat out a Royse City hurdler to earn the state berth. The state meet takes place May 12-13 in Austin. Coach Abron believes Baier is the first Lady Cats’ track athlete to go to state since the 1990’s. Coach Abron and Hurdles Coach Derek Tyson have high hopes for Baier at the state meet. Her best time is close to those with the best times in the state field for the 300-meter hurdles.
Coach Abron had six athletes competing at the regional meet. On Friday final events, junior Imani Taylor finished sixth in the long jump and Sydney Washburn was eleventh in the 3200-meter run. In prelims, any relay team’s nightmare occurred to the Lady Cats 4 X 100-meter relay team as they had a dropped baton during a hand off. They did not finish the race. The Lady Cats 4 X 200-meter relay team bounced back and finished ninth in a preliminary race. Only the top eight advanced to Saturday’s final. Baier competed in the 100-meter hurdles but was unable to qualify for Saturday’s final. N’ysa Dugan again shattered the school record in the prelim for the 100-meter dash. Dugan was second in her heat and qualified for Saturday’s final. Saturday Dugan finished sixth in the 100-meter final.
