UIL state track: Lubbock-Cooper teammates Niomi Wines, Brentley Preston earn high jump medals
AUSTIN — Mike A. Myers Stadium had the feel of a Lubbock-Cooper practice on Friday.
Like their training in Woodrow, Niomi Wines and Brentley Preston went jump for jump during the Class 5A state meet. The result was a pair of Pirates on the podium.
Wines cleared 5-foot-7 to win the girls high jump, with Preston nabbing bronze at 5-6. Preston won the Region I title just ahead of Wines, and the teammates almost went 1-2 in Austin as well.
Throw in sophomore Sara Goltz, the fourth-place finisher at regionals, and it's easy to see how the Cooper competition breeds success.
"It makes practice outstanding every day," Pirates jumps coach Taylor Read said. "We've got two state-champion caliber girls jumping against each other, and then we've got a third one that's just as good. So practice is at a high level, and you see that come meet day because they see that competition on a daily basis."
It was Wines' second time to compete in high jump at the state level. The outcome was much better than her debut as a freshman at Big Spring. In fact, shortly after she was still processing her championship.
"It's honestly surreal," Wines said. "Like, I actually don't believe that I got a medal. Every year I come to state, I get almost last place, so I'm just really proud of myself."
Wines admitted she felt pressure entering the event in 2022. She said she's since "grown a lot as a person" and learned how to control those nerves.
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Preston hopes to make similar strides after a bronze debut. Read would love to see both, if not three Cooper jumpers, return to state in 2025.
"(Three) was the goal," Read said. "Honestly, we were very close to it this year at regionals. … Had (Goltz) been third place, she would've been our wildcard jumper in 5A and competed down here. That's the goal next year, absolutely."
Sudan's Slade Nickels takes silver as No. 7 seed
On the drive from the hotel, Sudan's Slade Nickels was a little nervous. But he maintained his faith, and that helped calm him before he surprised the 2A boys high-jump field.
Nickels, who came in with the seventh-best seeding mark, had a personal-best 6-5 to earn silver in the event Friday.
He started every attempt with the same routine, which ended with a finger pointed to the sky.
"That's how I get loose," Nickels said. "Whenever I put my hands up, that's like getting out of my mind, then just thanking (God) and running up and doing it."
New Deal's Madison Nunes surprises self again
Despite winning a bronze medal last season, Madison Nunes was still surprised to end up on Friday's podium.
Seeded eighth for the second consecutive year, Nunes took silver in the 2A girls 3,200 meters in 11 minutes, 41.63 seconds.
"I was not expecting to get second at all. At all," Nunes said. "I'm really excited about that."
Adding to the surprise, Nunes said she lost count of her laps. She kicked it into gear once she realized the end was near.
"I actually didn't even know it was the last lap," Nunes said. "… The (last) 100 they started sprinting, I was like, 'Oh, I gotta go.' I was locked in almost the entire (race)."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: UIL state track: Lubbock-Cooper girls take medals in 5A high jump
