San Angelo Relays a Chance for Wall Track Teams to Continue Flying Start

WALL, TX -- Both the Wall Hawk and Lady Hawk track teams are enjoying a phenomenal run as the track season reaches the latter stages.

The Lady Hawks are coming off a first place finish over Brownwood and San Angelo Central at the Angelo State Spring Break Meet, while the boys finished in second just behind Brownwood. Both teams took overall titles at the Sonora Bronco Relays the week prior.

Now, Wall, as well as Ballinger, Grape Creek, Lake View, Sonora and Winters, will put their work on display at the 61st San Angelo Relays, a two-day event starting on Friday, which will draw teams from across the state from Class 6A on down to the smallest classifications.

"It's always good to compete at different invitationals against some of the competition you're gonna see at district," head coach Shawn Beeles said. "One thing I have never shied away from, that our kids relish is competing against bigger schools. Division four for our girls and division three for our boys, that's the small school division, but it's Class 4A on down. Obviously, that means we get to compete against bigger schools. Typically, bigger schools have a little more competition. Our kids love it."

With that competition comes a benchmark for area teams to see where they are heading into their final few meets before the postseason meets begin. San Angelo doubly so.

"It's huge. We've already had one meet where I bumped us up and we ran against the big schools so our top-notch kids could be tested," Beeles said, referencing the Abilene Christian Wildcat High School Open. The Hawks finished that meet fourth as a behind 5A Lubbock Cooper and 6As Wolfforth Frenship and Midland Lee.

"We never shy away from competition no matter how big the school is. We're that confident in ourself. Whether we get beat or not, we know it makes us better," he added.

It's also a chance for the likes of Oklahoma State track signee and state championship contender Jayden Fiebiger and fellow three-time state qualifier Drake Holifield, to begin a sort of victory lap in their final San Angelo meet before running in their final home meet, the Cotton Patch Relays, a week later.

"It's really exciting. It's kind of like the end," Fiebiger said. "So, seeing where I've come from my freshman year to now, it's really exciting. I'm really excited to run these last two meets at home." 

Fiebiger is getting back into the swing of track following a state tournament run with the Lady Hawk basketball team. With wins in the 800-meter run and the mile relay to go with a second place finish in the 400-meter sprint last week, the Stillwater-bound senior knows these final few meets are crucial to setting up her runs for gold medals in April and May.

"I think right now, I'm just trying to push myself and race against the clock," she said. "Obviously, I might be a little behind race-wise since I've been in basketball so long. But I've been putting in the work ... that I feel like I'm in a better spot than I was last year. So, it's really exciting."

Holifield has already matched the meets he competed in last year with six in 2019. The senior sprinter feels that's helping set him up for more medals like 2017 when he set personal bests in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles and took home bronze at the state meet.

He was within spitting distance of his personal bests in both events with a 14.79-second run in the 110, 0.34 seconds off his PR, and a 40.03-second run in the 300, 0.1 seconds off his PR, at Angelo State last week.

"I think [San Angelo] is a good, big meet to get into," Holifield said. "Last year, it was my first meet to come back into and I had six meets until state. So, it was definitely good competition to get to run against those bigger classifications and stuff. I'm excited for it this year because I've had six meets to run in before this. So, hopefully I'll run faster times than I've ever gotten to there before."

The historic significance of the San Angelo Relays is not lost on Holifield, who's grandfather Ridgely ran in the meet decades ago.

"My parents and I have always talked about me getting close to those records, which they're pretty crazy, but it's always fun to go out there and see what you can do," Holifield said before proudly dropping his family tie to the event.

"You know, forever it was such a big meet. Then because of budget cuts and travel cuts, you saw that thing dwindle down to almost nothing," Beeles said. "It is so nice to have it refuel the economy of the Concho Valley. It has brought back some big name schools and some good competition. So, for those people who love track and watching good competition, it's awesome for this area."

The San Angelo Relays are scheduled to start on Friday at 1:00 p.m. at San Angelo Stadium before concluding with the finals on Saturday.