Lake Travis didn’t walk away from last weekend’s state track and field championship with any medals, but that doesn’t mean something wasn’t accomplished.

In fact, just getting to state was an accomplishment considering the team’s performances in the past few years.

Victoria Noetzel, Sidney Cauthorn, Keeley Wagner and Madison Vickery all competed at Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas, and the best finish in three events was sixth place.

Wagner was the first to compete on the afternoon, running in the 100-meter hurdles. Despite finishing with a time of 15.01 – 14 tenths of a second faster than her region time – Wagner finished seventh. Evonne Britton of El Paso Chapin won the title with a time of 13.80.

About an hour later, Cauthorn and Noetzel both competed in the 400-meter dash. Cauthorn took home the best finish of the day with a sixth-place time of 56.85. It was over a second better than her regional time of 58.02. Noetzel took eighth with a time of 58.22 – also better than her regional qualifying time of 59.11. Kristyn Williams of Mansfield Timberview won the event with a time of 53.88.

The final event of the night for the four girls was the one they all compete in together – the 4×400- meter relay. Once again, the girls improved on their regional qualifying time of 4:00.50, running 3:59.32 in the state final. It was only enough for eighth, though. The winning team from Mansfield Timberview finished with a time of 3:47.35.

Noetzel was making her second appearance at the state tournament, after qualifying in the triple jump as a sophomore in 2007. For the rest, it was their first trip the state’s biggest stage for the sport. They were greeted by sweltering temperatures that forced many competitors to either bow out of events, or resulted in breakdowns afterward. The conditions made it all the more remarkable that the Lake Travis girls improved all of their times from two weeks earlier.

Noetzel is the lone senior in the group, leaving a strong nucleus for next year’s track season, which should be a favorite for a region title, after finishing third this year. That would also mean returns to state, and a chance to improve with more point-winning finishes.