A number of Panther and Prowler athletes put forth their best performances of the season at the 4A Region I Track and Field meet at Lowrey Field in Lubbock to conclude their 2022 campaign last weekend.

Fort Stockton finished the two-day event on April 29-30 with no state qualifiers but showed the future of the program has plenty of promise in the years ahead.

Zane Hodges nearly qualified for state in the triple jump with a personal-best mark. The junior earned a bronze medal in the event with a leap of 45 feet 1 3/4 inches.

The mark was the seventh-best distance in all of Class 4A but due to qualification rules (only top two placers qualify at each regional meet plus one at-large bid), Hodges missed out on an opportunity to compete at state. Hodges was 1 ½ inches away from placing second at the 4A Region I meet.

Hodges placed fourth in the 300 hurdles with a personal-best time of 39.5 seconds – a mark that was .31 seconds away from a second-place finish and state qualification. The three-sport standout added a sixth-place finish in the 110 hurdles (15.62).

Hodges led the Panthers to an 18th place finish as a team out of 31 squads that competed in the boy’s division. Fort Stockton finished the meet with 12 points.

“We competed very well, achieving several personal records and seasons best. Each athlete

competed against the top sixteen in their event in the region,” Panthers head coach Vic Ivy said.

Sophomore Ali Jackson was the top performer for the Prowlers, placing in the top seven in all three of the races she competed. Jackson clocked a career-best time in the 400 in the prelims (59.6 seconds) and followed that up with a 1:00.25 in the finals to place fifth.

Jackson was 1.14 seconds away from qualifying for state in the 400.

The underclassman was less than a 1/2 second away from recording her best time in the 800-meter run – her strongest event all season. Jackson recorded a 2:24.71 in the race and placed sixth with the time. The sophomore placed seventh in the 200-meter dash (27.53).

Junior Fabian Perez placed sixth in the 3,200 with a best time of his career (10:10.17) and took seventh place in the 1,600 with another personal record (4:38.38). Perez, who won nearly all of the two-mile and mile races he competed in this season, was 11 seconds out from qualifying for state in the 1,600 and 40 seconds from second place in the 3,200.

The Panthers 800-relay team and 1,600-relay team took seventh place in their respective races with season-best times. The 800 relay (Miguel Trejo, Aryan Hernandez, Caleb Garcia, Marco Garcia) clocked a time of 1:30.30.

Fort Stockton’s 1,600 relay (Aryan Hernandez, Caleb Garcia, Marco Garcia, Jesus Hernandez) finished the race in 3:27.59, shaving nearly a second off their time from the area meet.

The Prowlers 400 relay (Adriana Aguilar, Gabie Renteria, Rosa Hernandez, and Aislyn Robledo) placed 10th in a time of 50.97.

Freshman Yaneli Caballero took 15th in the long jump (15 4 ½).

The Fort Stockton girls placed 25th out of the 30 female teams that qualified for the meet.

Argyle won the boy’s division by 41 points with 103 total points. Canyon won the girl’s division over Argyle by 16 points (122-106).