Most track and field meets have a compelling storyline. The Bulldog Relays last Thursday had two. 

The Lady Jackets of Mineola swept the relay races, taking first place in the 4x100 meters, 4x200 meters, and 4x400 meters in times of 52.21, 1:51.26 and 4:16.72, respectively. 

Senior Carmen Carrasco ran in all three races. She was joined by Jaylee Nevarez, Tierany Neighbors and Clara Marlow in the 4x100; Adelyn Steward, Stephanie Rojas and Olivia Hughes in the 4x200; and Steward, Hughes and Raylie Peebles in the 4x400. 

Sweeping the relays boosted Mineola to an overall second-place team finish. Eustace claimed the girls team title. 

In addition to Mineola and the Quitman hosts, the Bulldog Relays welcomed athletes from Edgewood, Eustace, Grand Saline, Harmony, Malakoff, Van and Wills Point.  

The second storyline was provided by Mineola’s Neighbors family. Tierany Neighbors claimed a blue-ribbon with a pole vault of 12’, while brother Kipton Neighbors won the boys pole vault with a vault of 13’6.” Tierany also took the 100-meter sprint with a time of 12.81 and finished third in the triple jump. Kipton also captured a third place in the long jump.

The strong showing of the Lady Jackets was further buoyed by Mahayla McMahon’s first-place in the high jump (5’-0) and Caroline Castleberry’s winning time of 50.59 in the 300-meter hurdles.

Other athletes producing points for the Lady Jackets included Jaylee Nevarez (100 meters), Stephanie Rojas (200 meters), Raylie Peebles (400 and 1,600 meters), Olivia Hughes (800 meters), Khloe Johnson (100 meters and 300-meter hurdles), Castleberry (100-meter hurdles), Clara Marlow (long jump), Jaeyla Dennis (long jump, triple jump), Shyli Rushing (shot put) and Milo Reed (pole vault).

The Lady Bulldogs amassed points to place fourth out of nine varsity girls’ teams. Quitman leveraged top-three finishes from Braleigh Woods (800 and 3200 meters), Katie DeGorostiza (1600 and 3200 meters), and Sadie Vander Schaaf (high jump).  

McKenna Wood (1600 meters), Cooper Marcee (100-meter hurdles, pole vault), Annabelle Popek (discus) and Annabelle Hollinquest (discus) also contributed points, as did each of the Lady Bulldog relay teams.

The Mineola boys squad claimed fourth and the Quitman boys finished seventh. Mineola’s Neighbors was the sole blue ribbon between the two teams. 

Top three finishers from Mineola were Caden Rupert (110-meter hurdles and triple jump), Neighbors (long jump), Aidan Shepherd (shot put), Trey Rushing (discus), Ainsley Steward (triple jump) and River Strange (pole vault).    

Quitman athletes Jairo Salinas (800 meters), Bryson Hobbs (110-meter hurdles and high jump), and the 4x200-meter relay team logged top three finishes.  

Additional contributing scorers for Mineola were Ainsley Steward (200 meters), Chance Williams (110-meter hurdles), the 4x200-meter relay, Austin Blalock and Grayson Dupont (discus) and Caden Rupert and Zane Strange (high jump).

Quitman athletes adding points were Jacob Powell (100 meters), Dakota Reynolds and Mark Sanders (200 meters), Enrique Olvera (3200 meters) and the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams.

Notable finishers also included the Mineola girls junior varsity team. They took the team blue ribbon with a 40-point margin over second-place Eustace.