Marble Falls’ Lemon, distance runners advance to area

CAPTION: Triple jumpers Greg Lemon, a Marble Falls senior (left), and Burnet junior Colt McGraw and sophomore Fisher Powell are on the podium as the top three finishers of the event at the District 24-4A meet April 8. Courtesy photo

Three Marble Falls High School track and field Mustangs nabbed medals from the District 24-4A meet to continue their seasons.

The meet was at Bulldog Field in Burnet April 8. 

Senior Greg Lemon took silver in the triple jump with a leap of 41 feet and 2.5 inches and freshman Joaquim Edwards and junior Owen Martin finished third and fourth in the 3,200 meters.

Lemon’s finish in the triple jump had plenty of drama.

“He went from fifth to second on his last jump,” horizontal jumping coach Jamie Graham said.

“I’m glad with how I finished it,” Lemon said. “My first 5 jumps were really bad. My coaches told me to dig deep and go for it. And I pulled out that really big jump.”

He attributes his finish to 50 percent technique and 50 percent mentality.

“I had to make sure I didn’t let myself get to into how bad I was doing, to be able to push through and finish,” he said. “Because I let it get to me during long jump (finishing 16th with a leap of 17-9.5), and I wasn’t able to place as well as I should have. All the hard work I’ve done is really paying off.”

Though Lemon didn’t start competing in the triple jump until the Cotton Boll Relays March 5, the coach said he and his colleagues knew the athlete had the skills to do well in the triple jump last fall.

“We saw him during football drills, going through boundary drills, and he’s just a natural,” Graham said. “His biggest problem is his first phase is too high. Whenever he learns to control that, good things will happen.”

Edwards ran to bronze in 10 minutes and 5.98 seconds to set a new personal record by a second, just edging Martin, who crossed in 10:05.98 for a new personal best by 30 seconds.

The 3,200 was an especially competitive race with less than a minute separating the topic six finishers.

“I’m very proud of Joaquim and Owen,” said Gonzalez, who serves as the distance running coach. “They ran a smart, disciplined race. Coming in, we knew Salado had the top two spots, so our focus shifted to securing third and fourth. (Sophomore) Clark (Yanez) from Burnet was in the mix, but we had a clear race plan, and both athletes trusted it and finished strong.”

She noted that Martin’s finish was “especially impressive as this was only his second time running the 3,200 this season.”

“I’m just really happy for them,” the coach said. “It makes me smile seeing them succeed. I know how hard they work for everything they earn, and I truly love coaching them.”

The District 23 and 24-4A area meet is April 15 at Lorena High School.

The running finals of the district meet will resume at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 9, at Bulldog Field.

CAPTION: Junior Owen Martin (left) and freshman Joaquim Edwards stay in front of Burnet sophomore Clark Yanez to get on the podium and advance to the area meet. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography