McKenzie Hogue captures 1,600 meter title on first day of state meet

One race, one state title for Thompson High junior McKenzie Hogue.

The standout distance runner, who is seeking three individual titles and is also a part of one relay team, opened up the AHSAA Class 7A State Track and Field Championships at Gulf Shores by outrunning the field in the 1,600 meters competition. She finished in a time of 4:58.34 hold off Auburn’s Samantha Rogers (5:03.28) and Harper McGowan (5:06.26) and Hoover’s Sydney Steely (5:08.62).

Hogue’s performance helped the Thompson girls finish the first day of the three-day event in fifth place with 15 points. The Warriors trail James Clemens (21 points), Auburn (19 points), Smiths Station (18 points) and McGill-Toolen (16 points).

Two more athletes scored points for the Warriors in the girl’s side on Thursday. Ebony Butler also scored by finishing sixth in the discus with a top throw of 110 feet, 10 inches. Niya Oden finished seventh in the triple jump with a top distance of 36 feet to score two points for the Warriors.

Thompson also qualified first in the 4 x 100 relay with a time of 47.47 seconds. Zakiria Holified and Alandria McCurdy qualified in the 100 meters. Holifield (12.01 seconds) finished second in qualifying behind Hewitt-Trussville’s Hope Igbinoghene (11.88 seconds). The finals for both events are on Saturday.

On the boy’s side, the Warriors’ highlight was Steve Villegas and Viktor Turek finishing fourth and fifth in the shot put competition. Villegas, a Sectional champion last week, threw 49 feet, 10.50 inches while Turek’s top throw was 49 feet, 10 inches. Both narrowly missed making the top three.

Jace Jones finished 10th in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:27.52.

Thompson’s boys team is in ninth place after five events. The Warriors have nine points, which is 10 points behind leader Hewitt-Trussville and just four points away from being in the top five.