Lady Hornets claim region championship
Louise sends five to state track meet
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.

Contributed Photo Regional Champs The Lady Hornet track team claimed the regional championship this past weekend at Huntsville. Members of Louise's first place squad include (front, l-r) Kierra Thornton, Kelsi Kutac, Anna Martinez, (back, l-r) Nicole Roades, Shelby Kotulek, Amber Bain and Lauren Gresham. Thornton, Kutac, Martinez, Kotulek and Bain all advanced to the state meet.

Louise is getting used to championships.

The Lady Hornets traveled to Huntsville this past weekend for the regional track meet and took the whole competition.

Louise earned several high placings to finish as the best overall team at the competition with 63 points - eight points better than second place Falls City.Head Coach Bryan Branch said the win was a surprise, but he knew his team was a contender.

"I thought we had a chance at it," Branch said. "We had a few surprises. Shelby (Kotulek) really jumped a big jump in the triple jump and Anna (Martinez) getting out in the 800 (meter run) was kind of surprising to me. She ran a really good race and ran really hard."

At the end of Friday's competition, Branch realized Louise could finish first. Saturday, the 400- and 800-meter relay teams sealed the victory by finishing in the top two spots.

A long time track coach, Branch had seen several individuals advance to state, but never was a part of a firstplace team.

"Not any school I've ever been at has won the entire regional meet," he said. "I've never had that so we didn't even know how to act when the whole thing was over. They were asking me, 'What do we do?' And I was like, 'I don't know. I've never been to this part before.'"

The Lady Hornets quickly learned how to celebrate the win, and now they are practicing for the state track meet at Austin May 9-10.

Kierra Thornton, Kelsi Kutac, Amber Gain, Kotulek and Martinez will all compete against the state's best Class 1-A athletes.

Martinez will take on the 800- meter run while Kotulek will try the triple jump. Thornton, Kutac, Bain and Kotulek will run the 400 and 800-meter relays.

For Martinez, Louise's only senior to qualify, the state meet is a recent goal for her final year of high school.

"I just wanted it so bad," she said. "I was like, 'Anna, you've got to make it to state. It's your last year.' That's what mainly motivated me."

When she qualified for the trip to Austin, Martinez thought instantly of two friends who passed away during her sophomore year. She wanted to make it to state for Meagan Wendel and Dusty Ochoa.

"I was like, 'They're up there watching me,'" Martinez said. "Right now, they're probably really, really happy for me and saying, 'Man, I knew you could do it.' If they were here, they would tell me that. I know they would."

Kotulek, a freshman, said she is proud of her relay teams for qualifying in two events.

"We all work together," she said. "It's not like someone outshines anybody. We all pushed really hard this season to get to state. That was our main goal and we made it now. It's exciting."

Along with the relays, Kotulek placed in the triple jump. She said she enjoyed wearing her three medals around school Monday.

"They were clink, clanking too," Kotulek said. " Everyone is just like, 'Congratulations!' Everyone is just talking about us and I feel famous."

Kutac said she is happy to accomplish one of her main track goals in only her freshman year.

"It's really exciting," Kutac said. "Me and Shelby's goals were to go to state and we never thought that we would actually make it, it was just a goal for us. To actually accomplish it, it feels really awesome."

When the Lady Hornets get to Austin, they can expect to run in front of the largest crowd they have ever seen.

To combat nerves, Bain said she just competes and never focuses on the atmosphere around her.

"I just run," Bain said. "I don't listen to anything. I block everything out. I don't do it on purpose, it just happens. That's how I am at basketball games too. I don't hear anybody but Coach Branch."

A sophomore, Bain said that she does pay attention to where her competition is and uses them for motivation while she runs.

"If they're right next to me, it does make me run faster and harder," she said. "If they're kind of behind me, I do run hard but it's not as hard because they're not pushing me to get that first place. We're already there."

Thornton agreed with Bain that tough competition makes the Lady Hornets even better.

"We perform a lot better when we have somebody in our eyesight when we compete," Thornton said. "It pushes us to do better and our outcome is a lot better. I'm looking forward to going to compete and getting top two again."

The following is a list of results from the Lady Hornets run at the regional meet. All results are from the finals unless otherwise noted.

400-Meter Relay

2. Louise (Kotulek, Bain, Kutac, Thornton), 50.86

800-Meter Run

2. Martinez, 2:26.00

800-Meter Relay

1. Louise (Kotulek, Bain, Kutac, Thornton), 1:47.41

Triple Jump

2. Kotulek, 35-08 1/4; 3. Bain, 34-01 1/2

100-Meter Hurdles

3. Bain, 15.98

Long Jump

6. Bain, 15-10

1,600-Meter Run

10. Nicole Roades, 5:51.25

300-Meter Hurdles

Preliminaries 15. Lauren Gresham, 55.39

Final Standings

22 total teams

1. Louise, 63; 2. Falls City, 55; 3. Chilton, 45; 4. San Antonio Stacey, 40; 5. Thorndale, 34; 6. Brackettville, 26; 7. Barksdale Nueces Canyon, 24; 8. Woodsboro and Valley Mills, 22; 10. Bruni, Rocksprings, Round Top-Carmine and Comstock, 20.