But from the heartbreak sprung maturity. And so on a long, dreary afternoon at D.W. Rutledge Stadium, it was Koenig who carried the banner for the area contingent at the Class 2A Region IV Track and Field Meet.
Koenig used a steady stride down the homestretch to hold off kicking Jessica Mendoza of Rogers in the girls 800-meter run Saturday, finishing second and securing the only state berth for area athletes on the meet’s final day.
Koenig, who also qualified for the University Interscholastic League state meet by winning the 3,200 on Friday, will be joined at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin by Academy’s Andrew Sodek, who was second in the boys pole vault Friday.
After combining to send large groups to state in the past, Academy, Salado, Rogers and Jarrell sent a total of just three athletes to Austin last season and only two this year as Universal City Randolph, Wallis Brazos and East Bernard have risen to become Region powerhouses.
“This is just the way it is,” Salado girls coach Cindy Mewhinney said. “We were fortunate to even make the sprint relay finals today. We had never made it before. We had won the sprint relay at almost all of our meets around Central Texas, then set a school record today and were fifth. It’s just that much faster here.”
But Koenig wouldn’t be denied. After waiting out a bad-weather delay of almost five hours, she was never farther back than second after the gun fired.
Poth’s Kara Lucherk pulled Koenig with her down the backstretch on the last lap, and the duo started to pull away from the pack. But Mendoza found her kick coming off the final turn and closed to within a step before Koenig strode away to finish in 2 minutes, 22.63 seconds - .62 seconds behind Lucherk and .95 ahead of Mendoza.
“My plan was to stay on a nice pace the first 200, then when I hit the bell lap to start going,” Koenig said. “I knew (Mendoza) was close, but not as close as she really was.”
Koenig qualified for state in the 3,200 and 1,600 as a freshman but dropped the latter in favor of the 800 this season and the swap has paid off.
“The coaches kind of pushed me to run (the 800) and see what I could do,” she said. “And they did a good job of pushing me to do it.”
Added Academy distance coach Lee Bender: “She has good speed and we knew that. So we thought that speed combined with the endurance she has from the 3,200 would be great for the 800. We tried it early in the year, and she liked it.”
And as a result, Koenig is headed back to Austin after a one-year absence.
“That has driven me to work even harder than I ever have,” she said. “It broke my heart not to get to state my sophomore year.”
The Lady Bumblebees also got a bronze-medal showing from Charlecia Gillum in the 400 and a fourth place from Jennifer Pekar in the 800 to help Academy garner 30 points and finish ninth in the girls team standings - the highest rank of the four local schools.
Led by Kasey Smetana’s fourth-place finish in the pole vault - in which she cleared a personal-best 10 feet, 6 inches - the Salado girls were 13th with 13 points. Rogers accumulated six points and Jarrell five.
On the boys side, Academy - which had a third-place finish from James Ash in the 800 - was 14th with 16 points. Rogers tallied seven points, Salado had six and Jarrell was shut out.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
