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The Llano Lady Jackets didn’t overwhelm their talented opponents, March 6, at the Fredericksburg Relays, but they emerged from the Long Day’s Journey into Night with some prime prizes to help them through spring break.

Cara Mack was the standard bearer in an outstanding field in the 3200-meter race in the morning. She finished third.

“It was good, but we have high expectations,” girls’ head coach Shaun Carter said. “I think she got sucked in to a slow pace, so the middle laps weren’t as productive as they could have been. We’ll learn from that.”

“It wasn’t my best,” Cara acknowledged, “but it was crowded out there, and I got boxed in.”

Cara spent the next eight hours or so resting on the bus until she got the call for the 1600 start. Sort of like a movie star in her trailer on a set being told it’s time to shoot her scene. Well, maybe not totally like that—the trailer probably offers a few more goodies.

The idea, though, was to return in a refreshed state, and Mack fought and clawed her way to a fifth-place finish, again facing some awfully talented foes in a field of 30. At the end, she was arm-in-arm with teammate Samantha Lopez, who had to hold on until Cara was stable.

“I was worn out,” Mack admitted. “I wanted it to be over so badly I just said to myself ‘Go for it!’ the last 100 meters, and I did.” And she got the fifth place with a brilliant kick to the wire. Her time was five minutes, 50 seconds.

Amanda Lopez, the ever-improving twin, had Llano’s best finish of the day on the girls’ side—second place in the 400 meters. “I feel I can do better,” Lopez observed, “but this type of showing builds my confidence. I’m trying to make up for cross country.” Amanda fought a losing battle with injuries in the fall, but there aren’t any injuries now to slow her down.

“She’s really showing a lot of promise,” Carter said with enthusiasm. “I was worried because she ran the 400 and 800, but she was solid and beat some real good girls. Amanda’s come a long way, and we know she’s a sprinter.”

Olivia Hutto can sprint, too. Olivia, still looking like she has a couple of basketball games left in her legs, collected a Bronze Medal in the 200-meter dash. “I was happy,” Hut told a reporter, “and I was pleased the way I battled for second place.” It was a true battle with Hutto losing by four-hundredths of a second.

The Llano Yellow Jackets take this week off for spring break and then it’s on to Brownwood for the Bluebonnet Relays, March 19-20. “Break” is really an unheard-of word in the world of Track and Field. This sport refuses to allow its athletes to run on empty.