White-Austin breaks Bates' 33-year-old school record in 100 while UA jumpers, local high schoolers show out at Willie Williams Classic

UA senior Trayvion White-Austin clocked his 100-meter attempt at 10.14 seconds Saturday in one of the final events of the annual Willie Williams Classic at Drachman Stadium, passing the 33-year-old mark set by Michael Bates, the former Amphitheater High School football and track standout who starred in both sports at the UA before going on to a decade-long career in the NFL. Bates’ mark of 10.17 was set in 1991.

“To have two Tucsonan athletes from high school hold the (past two 100-meter) school records here is amazing,” Fred Harvey said via the UA team’s X (Twitter) account.

The annual Willie Williams Classic, which ran Friday and Saturday, saw a multitude of Wildcats and Tucson-based high school athletes winning their respective events, setting personal bests and other UA sports teams attending the meet to show their support.

“It’s such a great meet,” UA jumps coach Bobby Carter said Saturday. “Everyone is coming out and supporting and seeing little kids being able to watch that and themselves ‘that’s gonna be me one day’ and that’s what it’s all about.”

UA jumpers show out

Throughout the weekend, the UA women’s jumpers excelled both vertically and horizontally.

Junior long jumper Jenica Bosko won the women’s event by tying a personal best of 21 feet, 4 inches. The Wildcats’ long jumping unit, which includes multi-sport freshman Sydney Vanez and senior jumper Lauryn Ford, swept the podium of the Friday night event. Vanek (20 feet, 2.5 inches) and Ford (19 feet, 11.5 inches) both also set personal bests.

“It’s always a good sign to see at the beginning of the season and how early it is for everyone to jump well,” Carter said. “Really, really great job by all.”

The moment overcame Bosko, who was congratulated by Carter and her teammates immediately following her attempt,

“I knew (my attempt) was out there but didn’t know it was gonna match my PR,” Bosko said. “It was super nice to have my teammates around and my coaches around to really be there and enjoy that with me.”

Bosko is “the most talented person I’ve ever met,” Ford noted.

“She just flies through the air. She’s just so inspirational, it’s just so nice to see her compete and she does it effortlessly,” Ford said.

Ford dubbed her unit as “fire” this season and believes that this group can be nationally ranked.

“We have literally four jumpers that can go over six meters and that’s so good,” Ford said.

Although not coming out on top in the high jump, the UA women’s high jumping group impressed with their showing with both sophomores Emma Gates and Paris Mikinski finishing in the top three.

Setting a personal record with a 1.80-meter (5 feet, 10.75 inches) leap, Gates had a feeling that Saturday was her day to reach new completed heights. She, however, is trying to improve that number as the season progresses with the number 1.87 (approximately 6 feet, 1.62 inches) in mind as that is the prerequisite for the Olympic Trials.

Gates added that having teammates with similar marks such as Diana Ramos (5 feet, 8.75 inches) and Mikinski (5 feet, 8.75 inches) makes the unit that much more competitive and able to push each other.

The Wildcats’ men’s long jump unit also made noise this weekend with both junior Reinaldo Rodrigues and sophomore Sir Jonathan Sims finishing in the top three. Sims finished with a personal best 26 feet, 1.75 inches, with Rodrigues in third at 25 feet, 10 inches.

For the jumping unit as a whole, Carter has been preaching consistency and hopes to build on their performance heading into conference meets, first rounds and nationals.

“Consistency is key, it’s early, just want to see them continue to hit those marks and continue to get better each meet,” Carter said.

Cats supporting Cats

Making their way to Drachman Stadium to support the Wildcats’ track and field team was Ford’s brother Dorian Thomas, who is a tight end on the UA football team. Thomas was joined by football teammates Noah Fifita, Tetairoa McMillan and Elijha Payne.

During the women’s long jump, whenever Ford was up to attempt a leap, Thomas was heard screaming, “Lets go, Lauryn!”

Ford later noted that with track and field not getting as much recognition, it was “super cool” to have them come and show their support.

Moreover, showing up during the long jump event, Vanek, who also plays on the UA volleyball team, had her volleyball teammates show up along the fence to cheer her on.

“I think it’s good for the entire program, just everyone supporting each other,” Carter said.

Notable feats

Arizona’s Jacob Allen won the 100-meter adaptive dash.

Pusch Ridge Christian Academy senior Myles Floyd won the boys’ 1,600 meters with a personal-best result of 4 minutes, 19.79 seconds.

Floyd said that running a sub 4.20 was a goal of his and he’s glad he was able to reach a new and improved mark. He also thought that the event itself was “awesome” — specifically being able to run in front of college athletes.

“You only get so many of those opportunities in high school so it was incredible,” he said. “Not just to do well but to be able to get that PR and get the win.”

UA junior Tyson Tippett and sophomore James Onanubosi finished in the top five in the men’s 100 meters with both picking up personal-best times.

Rincon/University High School senior distance runner Amelia North won the girls’ 1,600-meter run and got a personal best time of 5 minutes, 8.10 seconds.

North said that it feels good to place first in these races especially with a lot of other schools from other places she has been.

Mountain View junior thrower Nicholas Horrocks won the boys’ javelin with a throw of 159 feet, 1 inch.