There was no catching Claremore’s boys track-and-field team last Friday.
Fueled by a flood of event victories and top finishes, the Zebras ran away with the Metro Lakes Conference championship at Tahlequah High School, scoring 193.25 points — a staggering 89.25 points ahead of runner-up Collinsville — to secure the team title in commanding fashion.
Marcus Bean emerged as the standout of the meet, winning three individual events and anchoring a dominant 4×400-meter relay finish.
Bean cleared 6 feet, 6 inches to win the high jump, leapt 22-04 to claim the long jump and raced to a 41.14-second victory in the 300-meter hurdles. He also joined Dylan Cryder, Tanner Wilson and Brandon Shaw in the 4×400, which won in 3 minutes, 28.73 seconds.
Shaw was another key contributor, taking second in the 400 (51.20) — just ahead of Cryder’s fifth-place finish of 51.65 seconds — and helping Claremore win the 4×100 (43.30) and 4×200 (1:29.64) relays alongside Breyen Dotson, Cryder and Jace Hogan. Dotson added silver medals in the 100 (11.02) and 200 (22.69), while Bryson Hall added second- and third-place finishes in the 300 (42.88) and 110 (17.01) hurdles, respectively.
Landon King secured a first-place discus throw of 161-09 and finished fourth in shot put (44-02). Gabriel Rodriguez was runner-up in the 3200 (10:23.37), just ahead of teammate Sawyer Beller in third (10:42.91).
Cooper Zickefoose (2nd, pole vault, 13-00), Ty McKnight (2nd, long jump, 19-06.5), Justice Barrow (3rd, high jump, 5-06), Mason Gillispie (4th, pole vault, 13-00) and Wilson (5th, 400, 53.05) all contributed to the point haul.
Claremore also placed fourth in the 4×800 relay, with Rodriguez, Wilson, Levi Craig and Elijah Ramos teaming up for an 8:42.08 finish.
On the girls side, Claremore came within five points of a team title, finishing second to Coweta, 116-111.
Emma Robinson starred for the Lady Zebras, winning the 1600 (5:39.75) and 3200 (11:18.80) while finishing second in the 800 (2:23.37). She also ran a leg of the winning 4×400 relay (4:07.39) with Chloe Grubbs, Addison Doyle and Addison Reavis.
Doyle and Reavis, along with Kyleigh Nolan and Lynie Bailey, won the 4×100 (49.78) and 4×200 (1:44.59) relays. Doyle (3rd, 12.43) and Bailey (4th, 12.76) also scored in the 100.
Additional point earners included Kylee Saye (4th, pole vault, 7-06), Abbie Douthitt (6th, 1600, 6:00.95), Toney Gibson (6th, shot put, 30-07) and the team of Jasmin Sandoval, Samantha Huggins and Grubbs in the 4×800 (4th, 11:41.63)
Claremore’s ninth-grade teams also turned in strong performances, placing second behind Coweta in both boys and girls divisions.
The ninth-grade boys were led by Major Poole-Cain, who won the discus (142-04) and took third in the shot put (42-00).
Miguel Hernandez and Mason Fraley helped earn silver in both the 4×100 (47.26) and 4×400 (3:54.74) alongside Jayden Schoonover and Braylen Walker. They were also third in the 4×200 (1:39.58), while Hernandez and Walker added a third- and fifth-place finish in the 200 with times of 24.78 and 25.11 seconds, respectively.
The 4×800 team of Ayden Monroe, Mario Zubia, Casey Starkey and Konnor Mason took second in 9:51.77, and Starkey was also third in the 1600 (5:23.97) while Bryce Counterman (3rd, 14:19.02) and Mark Knapp (4th, 14:53.52) placed in the 3200.
Additional points came from Schoonover (5th, 400, 57.68), LJ Sutton (5th, long jump, 17-03), Leo Holt (6th, 110 hurdles, 18.42) and Zubia (6th, 800, 2:24.72).
The ninth-grade girls were paced by Emma Perez’s win in the 3200 (15:23.81), Ava Mills’ high jump title (4-08) and Karlee Ladd’s pole vault win (8-06).
Mills, Ladd, Randa Cox and Laynie Arrowood also won the 4×100 (55.69) and finished second in the 4×200 (2:01.06), while Ladd, Cox, Alexis Moreland and Jasmin Sandoval were runners-up in the 4×400 (4:57.45).
Moreland added three individual point-earning finishes: second in the 1600 (6:50.16), third in the 400 (1:14.11) and fourth in the 800 (2:59.75). Arrowood took second in the high jump (4-06), Mills placed third in the long jump (13-01), Scarlett Ramos was fourth in shot put (28-02) and Perez finished fifth in the 1600 (7:07.4).
