Canyon Lake pole vaulters golden at Navarro meet

Canyon Lake High School track and field athletes earned several gold medals Thursday, March 9 at the Navarro Panthers Relays, but probably nobody flew higher than the Hawks’ two pole vaulters — Coby Mickey and Alencia Lentz.

Lentz, the 2022 Texas University Interscholastic 4A state track meet gold medalist in the girls pole vault, cleared 14 feet at Navarro. It was six inches higher than her state record from the UIL meet last May.

On the boys’ side, Mickey slipped over the bar at 14 feet and 7 inches, a personal and school record.

While Lentz and Mickey turned in record-setting performances, they weren’t alone, as the Hawks captured a number of first places and turned in strong finishes throughout the meet. Overall, the CLHS boys junior varsity team finished second behind Wimberley High School, with the varsity boys finishing sixth. The girls junior varsity and varsity both finished third overall.

CLHS head boys track coach Bill Greene pointed out Mickey’s accomplishment but noted his junior varsity team’s strength.

“The Navarro meet was another chance for our boys to compete and continue to push towards PRs and school records,” the coach stated. “The JV team continued to impress, and many of those kids are close to moving up and helping the varsity team. The future appears to be bright.”

Junior Layton Hemann finished first in the junior varsity boys’ 1,600-meter run in 4:49.15 and first in the 3,200-meter run in 10.26:43. In the 3,200-meter run, he finished almost a minute and a half ahead of the second-place finisher, and teammate, Hagan Gill (12:03.5). In fact, the CLHS junior varsity boys took the trifecta in the 3,200 mile with Dion Villavicencio earning third in 12:05.00.

The junior varsity also finished first in the 4x400-meter relay.

The varsity girls showed tremendous strength across the meet. Senior Savanna Oberholtzer was a top performer for the Hawks. She earned 27 individual points at the Panther Relays, tying with Wimberley High School’s Emily Thames as the top individual point earners.

Oberholtzer earned gold in the 100-meter dash in 12:33, a new school record. She finished second in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet and 6 1/4 inches, just shy of her record of 17 feet and 8 inches. Thames won the long jump with a distance of 19 feet and 1/2 inch. Oberholtzer finished third in the triple jump with 35 feet and 2 1/4 inches.

In the girls junior varsity competition, the CLHS squad brought back five gold medals. These included Mia Zabarcecu in the 400-meter dash, Jazzlyn Kearney in the 800-meter run, Lydia Ross in the 100-meter hurdles, Hailey Petty in the 300-meter hurdles, and the 4x400-meter relay team.

The CLHS track and field athletes took Spring Break off for meets but not necessarily practice. The team returns to competition at the Wimberley Texan Relays on Thursday, March 23.