That’s just fine with Belton’s Skylor Alford and Myca San Miguel, who are more than accustomed to a heavy workload.
Alford and San Miguel - two of Belton’s multi-sport, multi-event athletes - will be part of a nine-member Lady Tigers contingent competing today and Saturday in the Class 5A Region II Track and Field Meet at Baylor’s Hart-Patterson Track Complex.
Jourdan Brown, Tasha Bryant, Aereal Dickerson, Ashlie Francis, Rachel Kimbrough, Regan Tindell and Morgan Toone also will compete for Belton.
Alford - a senior 800-meter runner - and junior hurdler San Miguel also run on the Lady Tigers’ relays, and their times in their individual events stack up well against the 24-competitor field.
That should come as no surprise. Both athletes know all about time management.
Alford is an outfielder on Belton’s softball team and played Thursday in the Lady Tigers’ 3-2 win over Round Rock Westwood in Game 1 of a bi-district playoff series. She is among the area's leaders with a .449 batting average and 37 runs batted in for 25-6 Belton.
San Miguel, who also plays volleyball, qualified for regionals in four events before finally dropping the triple jump in favor of focusing on the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and mile relay.
“It’s really tough on them, and we’ve really been trying to monitor them,” Belton girls track coach Denise Petter said. “We’ve stressed to them that it’s really important to monitor their diet and make sure they’re getting enough sleep, because they are pulling double duties.”
Alford goes through a running workout with Petter at 7:30 each morning and again during the athletic period before practicing with the softball team after school.
It’s that kind of work ethic that has her ranked among the top four in the regional’s 800 field.
“After doing this for four years, I know how to balance things,” Alford said. “I know track is what’s going to get me to college. So if there’s a conflict, I do track over softball.
“And (softball coach Matt Blackburn) is very understanding. I never thought about quitting one because I love softball and I love track.”
San Miguel ranks fifth in the 100 hurdles field, but the 300s are her best event. Her District 13-5A winning time of 44.03 seconds is the fastest in the region this year, just ahead of Lufkin’s Amber Sellers, Spring Westfield’s Tatiana Miller and Harker Heights’ Jasmine Smalls.
“The 300s are my best event, but I still train for all of them because any type of sprint workout will help me in all of the events,” San Miguel said. “I’m still learning how to balance everything, but my mom keeps me on top of things.”
The top two finishers in each event will advance to the University Interscholastic League state meet, and Alford and San Miguel aren’t the only Lady Tigers with a chance to advance.
Sophomore distance runner Tindell was the district champion in the 1,600 and runner-up in the 3,200, and her times rank among the top five in the regional field in both events.
“Regan has a great chance, and she always knows where she stands,” Petter said. “She has scouted every girl in both races and knows what they have run. Then when she gets on the line, she already has everything worked out in her head.”
Junior pole vaulter Toone, a three-time district champion, is one of only two vaulters in the regional field to have cleared 12 feet this year. Her mark of 12-6 at last week’s tune-up meet is only an inch short of the early-season 12-7 posted by defending regional runner-up Shelby Kennard of Rockwall.
“Morgan has been there before and knows what it takes,” Petter said. “For her to go 12-6 last week and win that meet in a jump-off shows that she’s focused and has the right mindset.”
Belton's boys understand challenge of regional meet
WACO - The Belton Tigers contingent for the Class 5A Region II Track and Field Meet understands what it will take to duplicate its finishes from the District 13-5A meet.
“The challenge that we’ve put to them is that it’s going to take their best performances of the year,” Belton coach Mike Morgan said. “They know that, and that’s why it was encouraging at the regional qualifiers meet to see some of our kids post their best marks.”
Distance runner Paul Boston, 800-meter runner Erling Johnson, pole vaulter Jose Cerna and discus thrower Kyle Voss will try to take another step forward when the regional meet begins today at Baylor’s Hart-Patterson Track Complex.
Johnson, who will run in the 800 preliminaries at 4:55 p.m., will be the only Tiger competing today. Cerna and Voss get their shots at noon Saturday, followed by Boston at 6:10 p.m.
At last week’s qualifier meet - also held at Hart-Patterson - Boston recorded a time of 4 minutes, 30.12 seconds in the 1,600, shaving more than 5 seconds off his district runner-up time.
On Saturday, he’ll try to keep pace with defending regional champion and state bronze medalist Michael Cook (4:16.92) of Magnolia, Klein Oak’s Jeremy Warren (4:14.18) and The Woodlands’ Reed Connor (5:15.45).
Voss, the district runner-up, also had a season-best effort of 149 feet last week. The favorites in the 24-competitor field will be Kyle Bishop (170-5) of Conroe - the reigning regional silver medalist - and Tyler John Tyler’s Adren Dorsey (171-1).
“Even more important than competing in the same facility as regionals last week was getting to compete in the same format that they’ll see this week,” Morgan said. “There’s a difference between vaulting with 24 guys at regionals instead of seven at district, or running the mile with 24 guys on the track.”
Cerna, the district silver medalist at 12-6, will need to up his mark considerably to contend with The Woodlands’ Ryan Hodges (15-6) and Rockwall’s Grant Gunderson (15-1).
Johnson ran a 2:01.28 and was the 800 bronze medalist at the 13-5A meet, missing out on a silver by only 0.19 seconds. Today, he’ll be chasing The Woodlands’ Drew Butler (1:53.30) and Klein Oak’s Matt Herring (1:54.91).
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
