McKenzie Hogue and Viktor Turek win state indoor track championships Saturday

McKenzie Hogue captured her second state championship and Viktor Turek won the shot put competition on another strong day by the Thompson Warriors in the AHSAA State Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

In the boys team competition, the Warriors finished fourth with 47.50 points. The Warrior’s girls team finished fifth with 42 points.

One of the highlights was certainly accomplished by Hogue, who added a Class 7A 1,600 meter title to the 3,200-meter championship she won on Friday. Once again, she won the race down the stretch. On Saturday, Hogue and Hoover’s Sydney Steely were side-by-side on the final straight but it was Hogue getting to the finish line first. Hogue finished in a time of 5:03.81 and Steely was clocked at 5:03.97.

The victory capped off an amazing weekend by Hogue.

Turek’s state championship winning throw, which traveled 49 feet, 2.50 inches in the Class 7A came on his final attempt. However, his first attempt, which was measured at 48 feet, 7.50 inches would have been enough to win. Thompson teammate Steve Villegas finished sixth with a throw of 45 feet, .75 inches.

Other notable Saturday performances by Thompson athletes included:

*Sam Holmes and Alondae Vassar each placed in the topseven in the 400 meter competition. Holmes finished fifth in a time of 51.19 seconds and Vassar was seventh in a time of 51.89 seconds. Both were part of a 4x200 relay team that finished second on Friday and a 4x400 relay team that finished second on Saturday.

*Jace Jones was fifth in the 1,600 meter competition with a time of 4:25.01.

*The boys 4x800 relay team finished fifth in a time of 8:15.16. They were less than a second away from finishing fourth.

*The boys 4x400 relay team finished less than a second behind Hoover in the final race of the day. Hoover won in a time of 3:24.01 and Thompson’s team finished at 3:24.92.