AUSTIN – Boerne Champion closed out the 2022 track and field season last Friday in Austin at Mike Myers Stadium on the UT campus and two of the athletes brought home state medals.
In the final race of her Charger career, Chachi Gonzales finished third in the 1600 to win bronze. Gonzales also raced in two other events on Friday and pointed in all three races to tally 11 points and help Champion finish 14th in the state as a team.
Gonzales picked up a point in the 3200 after she was sixth in 11:29, earned four more points in the 800 after she placed fourth with a 2:12 and then closed it out with her bronze-medal performance in the 1600 after clocking in at 4:58 for six more points.
Gonzales will go down as one of the most decorated athletes in Boerne ISD history with at least eight state medals, three of them gold, in cross country and track combined. She did all that in only three years after her sophomore season was wiped out because of COVID.
Gonzales said Friday’s bronze means as much to her as any of the others because it was her final high school race and she really had to dig deep after she fell to fourth on the final lap but passed up a runner to take third.
“This last one means a lot just because today was very difficult and it’s been hard to stay mentally in it with three races,” she said. “I’m just proud I came out and pushed myself to get this last medal. With 300 meters to go, I just felt like I had to dig down and kick as much as I can, I’m just thankful I came out of here with a medal. I was happy with how it ended.”
Ephraim Tonn-Bourg also finished third in the boys 100 wheelchair race in a time of 17.37 to pick up a bronze medal. Tonn-Bourg also raced in the 400-wheelchair event but didn’t finish the race.
Unfortunately, his thirdplace finish in the 100 wheelchair didn’t earn any team points since wheelchair races are scored differently than other state events.
Also for the Chargers, Connor Warzecha placed seventh in the discus with a throw of 170-1 on his last attempt, the boys 4x100 of Corbin Mitchell, Arlis Adickes, Alex Rodriguez and Sawyer Bolli finished ninth in 42.04, while Bolli, Adickes, Rodriguez and Mitchell were also ninth in the 4x200 relay with a time of 1:27.80.
In the final race of the day, the Champion girls 4x400 relay of Addison Hankins, Regan Garcia, Meghan Huerta and Riley Burkey just missed out on scoring a point after they were seventh with a time of 3:55.36.
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