Faith Academy boys track finishes third at state meet
CAPTION: The 2025 Faith Academy of Marble Falls track and field teams include Reese Ramsey (front row, left), Cuyleigh Zimmerman, Eden Thames, Zoe Rhoads, Isabelle Garcia, head coach Steve McCannon, Halley Offutt, Braelyn Taylor, Abigail Kosoglow, Ashlyn Rishavy; Graham McGraw (back row, left), Madden Kinnee, Egan Barnes, Landon Silvers, assistant coach Jay Silvers, Asher Apel, assistant coach Cedric Griffin, Grayson James, Beau Steele and Andrew Houy. Courtesy photo
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys track and field team finished third in the overall standings of the Class 3A State Championships of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
The state track meet was conducted May 2-3 in Waco.
All of the Flames’ 60 points came from the running events, which were conducted on the second day of the meet.
“It was really exciting,” head coach Steve McCannon said. “It’s the first time really that we had nothing from the field events. We worked our way up the standings. That’s hard to do.”
McCannon, who is known for his ability to crunch numbers, had an idea of what his athletes could do and had a projected point total going into the meet.
“I was hoping for 68 points,” he said. “We got to 60. It was a complete team effort. You always want the upside. We wanted to take care of business. Part of it is getting there. You better have an expectation or we won’t win anything.”
Going into the final event of the meet — the 1,600-meter relay — the Flames needed to win to get on the podium or San Antonio Lutheran would finish third.
The Flames took gold in 3 minutes and 34.90 seconds to set a new personal record.
The coach treats his athletes like he wants to be treated. So he told them where they needed to finish in the relay for the team standings.
“Anything beyond third (place) gets you nothing,” he said.
To give them a better chance, McCannon switched the order of the runners. Andrew Huoy ran the first leg followed by Asher Apel, Graham McGraw and Beau Steele.
“The boys went to the next level,” he said. “They believed what I was telling them and crawled our way onto the podium. I knew one team had a strong anchor. But if you don’t have the right order, he won’t help.”
Steele was the choice to run the final leg because of his specialty – the 800 meters.
“They have to know how to make up ground and hold a place,” McCannon said. “Beau cleans up. They need to create chaos. Winning the 4×4 was a wonderful way for (senior) Asher to finish.”
All of the points came from five Flames each competing in three events.
Individually, no one had a better meet than freshman Landon Silvers, took gold in the 300-meter hurdles in 19.68 seconds. He finished seventh in the 110-meter high hurdles.
The coach noted that a 110-meter hurdler was injured and couldn’t go, which left lane four open. Why is that a big deal? Lane four typically has the race’s fastest runner.
“Landon saw that open lane and forgot about the 110s,” McCannon said. “It’s a wonderful placement by Landon.”
Steele was the bronze medalist in the 800 meters in 2:03.17.
The Flames finished second in the 800-meter relay and sixth in the 400-meter relay. Those finishes contributed to the overall point total.
“The boys almost won the (800-meter relay),” the coach said.
One big key is that McCannon doesn’t treat his freshmen as newbies. He sets a standard for them quickly and doesn’t budge until they meet it. Then he raises the standard a little more. He believes that was a key for Silvers and assistant coach Cedric Griffin, who coached the freshman in the hurdles and has done so for three years. McCannon credited both for the results at the state meet.
“We love our times, and we continue to run our best times at the state meet,” he said. “You have to get outside of your comfort zone to challenge yourself or you don’t get to the state meet, beat your best time and go to the next level.”
Miley Fessler earned a bronze medal in girls shot put put with a heave of 30 feet and 3.25 inches.
“She’s an outstanding volleyball player,” McCannon said. “(Her bronze) is a big deal. She never did track before.”
RESULTS
Boys
800 – 3, Beau Steele, 2:03.17; 110 hurdles – 7, Landon Silvers, 19.68; 300 hurdles – 1, Landon Silvers, 42.90; 4×100 – 6, Faith Academy, 46.15; 4×200 – 2, Faith Academy, 1:34.41; 4×400 – 1, Faith Academy, 3:34.90
Girls
4×100 – 4, Faith Academy, 54.18; 4×200 – 5, Faith Academy, 1:54.95; 4×400 – 6, Faith Academy, 4:30.70; high jump – 8, Ashlyn Rishavy, 4-4; discus – 6, Miley Fessler, 83-6; shot put – 3, Miley Fessler, 30-3.25, 4, Natalie Weems, 28-2.7
