BEAUMONT — If District 22-5A track opponents were not taking Nederland and Port Neches-Groves serious before Wednesday, they might need to think again.
The Bulldogs and Indians fared well at the District 22-5A Track and Field Championship running finals held Wednesday in Beaumont.
The Nederland boys finished with 152 points and were second to Central who put up an amazing 235 points.
Nederland placed all three relay teams in the top four to advance the runners to the area meet next week.
The Bulldogs 4×100 relay team finished third behind winner Central and second place PN-G. The Jaguars ran a 42.31 while PN-G came in at 43.11 and Nederland finished at 43.43.
Jace Garrett and Carlos Rodriguez came up big for Nederland in the 1600-meter run.
Garrett was first at 4:42.85 and Rodriguez finished at 4:43.71. PN-G’s Kevin Dietrich was third with a time of 4:44.84.
PN-G junior Keynel McZeal was a highlight for the Indians. McZeal was a part of the 4×100 relay team and also ran the 4×200 and the 100-meter run. McZeal qualified for the area meet in all three events.
He ran the 100 and quickly had to prepare himself for the 4×200 relay. McZeal finished fourth in the 100 and along with teammates Preston Hughes, Kody Cropper and Roschon Johnson finished second to Central in the relay.
“There wasn’t much time to catch my breath,” McZeal said. “I tried to real quick and got back out there. I am proud of our team today. The next step is getting out of the area meet and on to regionals and then making it to state.”
The Nederland Lady Bulldogs had a strong showing and finished with 97 points, good for third behind Central and Goose Creek Memorial.
Nederland’s three relay teams all qualified for the area meet. Coach Dale Dial was really pleased with his 4×400 relay team of Madison Ledet, Breanna Wyble, Meg Sheppard and Drue VanDuker. The team had several runners with nagging injuries, especially Ledet who started the race and came in with a back injury.
“I couldn’t be happier with our girls today,” Dial said. “Those girls on the mile relay came out and really competed.”
Nederland’s Gabrielle Guitierrez finished third in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 16.24.
PN-G freshman Jacie Droddy reached the area meet in the 100 and 200 runs. She was third in the 100 with a time of 12.61 and she was second in the 200 with a finish of 25.73.
The PN-G 4×100 relay team of Victoria Jackson, Droddy, Tiffani Hughes and Breanna Hall finished fourth at 51.77.

BOYS SCORES
1. Central 235, 2. Nederland 152, 3. PN-G 68, 4. Goose Creek Memorial 64, 5. Ozen 37, 6. Lumberton 24, 7. Vidor 22, 8. Lee 17
BOYS RESULTS
100: 1. D. Broussard, Central 10.98; 2. Patrick Thomas, Central 11.09, 3. Calvin Tyler, Ozen 11.19; Keynel McZeal, PN-G 11.20.
200: 1. Broussard, Central 21.72; 2. Thomas, Central 22.34; 3. Austin Krautz, Nederland 22.48; 4. D. Harrington, Ozen 22.57.
400: 1. Jakalub Rhodes, Central 49.83; 2. Vance Vallier, Central 50.24; 3. Brandon Goins, Central 50.34; 4. Blane Hoffpauir, Lumberton 51.47.
800: 1. Rhodes, Central 2:00.02; 2. Tristan Lavan, GCM 2:01.42; 3. Tyvonne Allen, Nederland 2:03.21; 4. Cameron Foston, Central 2:04.88.
1600: 1. Jace Garrett, Nederland 4:42.85; 2. Carlos Rodriguez, Nederland 4:43.71; 3. Kevin Dietrich, PN-G 4:44.84; 4. Jose Mendoza, Central 4:47.09.
110 hurdles: 1. Quintin Derry, Central 15.42; 2. Howard Hunter, Central 15.91; 3. Zach Razo, GCM 15.96; 4. C. Boudreaux, Central 15.99.
300 hurdles: 1. Hunter, Central 39.98; 2. Julien Gillum, GCM 40.19; 3. Preston Riggs, PN-G 41.07; 4. Jalen Cunningham, Nederland 41.13.
4×100: 1. Central 42.31; 2. PN-G (Preston Hughes, Kody Cropper, Roschon Johnson, McZeal) 43.11; 3. Nederland (Devin Simmons, Krautz, Connor Thompson, Ryan Anderson) 43.43; 4. GCM 44.21.
4×200: 1. Central 1:27.27; 2. PN-G (Hughes, Cropper, Johnson, McZeal) 1:30.35; 3. Nederland (Simmons, Krautz, Thompson, Anderson) 1:30.43; 4. Ozen 1:31.49.
4×400: 1. Central 3:20.86; 2. GCM 3:22.38; 3. Nederland (Allen, Cunningham, Dylan Hendricks, Thompson) 3:29.
GIRLS SCORES
Central 147, 2. Goose Creek Memorial 130, 3. Nederland 97, 4. Vidor 62, 5. Lumberton 48, 5. PN-G 48, 7. Ozen 47, 8. Lee 32.
GIRLS RESULTS
100: 1. Kennedy Hudson, GCM 12.04; 2. Maya Kelly, Central 12.59; 3. Jacie Droddy, PN-G 12.61; 4. A. Devalcourt, GCM 12.62.
200: 1. Hudson, GCM 24.84; 2. Droddy, PN-G 25.73; 3. Kelly, Central 26.06; 4. Kayliah Carr, Central 26.70.
400: 1. Shania Ford, Central 58.27; 2. Mercedes Perry, Ozen 58.62; 3. Kelly, Central 59.19; 4. McKayla McCoy 60.70.
800: 1. Ford, Central 2:23.15; 2. Perry, GCM 2:26.41; 3. Armani Butler, GCM 2:37.87; 4. Katia Davis, Central 2:39.25.
1600: 1. Megan Wilkinson, Lumberton 5:52.22; 2. Jacey Trahan, Vidor 5:53.99; 3. Davis, Central 6:01.87; 4. Rebekah Kleinhenz, GCM 6:02.56.
100 hurdles: 1. Chelsea Cheek, Lee 14.95; 2. Haley Stogner, Vidor 15.68; 3. Gabrielle Gutierrez, Nederland 16.24; 4. S. Polfus, Vidor 17.65.
300 hurdles: 1. Cheek, Lee 47.30; 2. Malaysi St. Clair, Central 48.61; 3. Polfus, Vidor 49.76; 4. Briana Mouton, Central 50.73.
4×100: 1. GCM 49.10; 2. Central 50.02; 3. Nederland (Jada Hoang, Courtney Noel, Malia Nicolasora, Carolina Noel) 51.53; 4. PN-G (Victoria Jackson, Droddy, Tiffani Hughes, Breanna Hall) 51.77.
4×200: 1. Central 1:47.87; 2. GCM 1:49.09; 3. Nederland (Breanna Wyble, Meg Sheppard, Nicolasora, Drue VanDuker) 1:49.84; 4. Lumberton 1:51.76.
4×400: 1. Central 4:08.61; 2. Ozen 4:11.93; 3. Nederland (Madison Ledet, Wyble, Sheppard, VanDuker) 4:15.26; 4. Vidor 4:20.68.