Wren, Herring lead Mac track teams to top 10 finishes

Varsity boys place ninth, girls take sixth at AISD Invitational

Junior David Herring runs the 1600-meter race where he was able to stick with the lead pack throughout the entire race, placing third overall with a time of 4:41.

Lillian Gray and Nate Williams
March 19, 2023

Senior Aasja Wren made two trips to the medalist stand and varsity boys runners earned three top 10 finishes, powering the girls to a sixth-place finish and the boys to a ninth-place finish at the Austin ISD Invitational on March 9.

“

The best part of the meet is cheering on other runners and the shared pride that takes place when your teammate crosses the finish line.

— junior Sivaan Sharma

Wren was a huge reason why the girls varsity team placed sixth at the meet. With a third-place finish in shot put and a second-place result in discus, Wren earned 14 of the team’s 26 points.

“I am happy that I placed third for shot put because I was telling myself that I should try to throw farther than all the other girls at the meet and I did,” Wren said. “I was shocked that I was able to get third.”

Wren noted that although she placed high in discus, she felt her performance could have been better.

“I am not very happy that I placed second for discus because I know I can throw farther in that event,” she said.

Later in the day, after the field events and two mile finished up, sprinting and hurdles began. With many 6A and out-of-district schools attending the meet, the field was fast, leaving many runners with a new personal best but struggling to place in the top of the competition.

For the boys varsity, junior David Herring placed third in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:41.92 and sixth in the 800 meters, running a personal best of 2:08.51. Herring also contributed seven points total to the varsity team. Sophomore Austin Gourrier raced to eighth place in the 100 meters with a time of 11.94.

Senior Aasja Wren poses with her third-place medal in varsity shot put she earned earlier in the day. Wren earned the girls varsity team six points from shot put and eight points from her second-place discus performance (Lillian Gray).

In the junior varsity division, sophomore Gus Ehlers placed eighth with a time of 2:19.34 in the 800 meters. For the relays, the 4×400 team consisting of freshmen Evans Thayer, Tristen Wright and Joshua Zuniga and sophomore Mark Sanchez got third place and 12 points for the team. The 4×200 team with freshman Manson Harris, sophomores Felix Murdock and Camden Willis and junior Sivaan Sharma ran to time 1:44.31 for the Mac “A” team.

“

I was telling myself that I should try to throw farther than all the other girls at the meet and I did.

— senior Aasja Wren

In field events, sophomore Mitchell Butler contributed two points to the varsity team in the triple jump and fellow sophomore Luke Dunham took away the second-place award in the high just with a new personal record of 5’ 8”.

Sharma points to the success of the relay teams as a whole but recognizes that there is room for improvement personally and as a team.

“We had some sweeps and wins in the individual heats and all that can be said is we can only go uphill from here,” Sharma said. “Overall, the best part of the meet is cheering on other runners and the shared pride that takes place when your teammate crosses the finish line.”

The boys and girls runners will compete this Friday again at Burger Stadium in the South Austin Relays.