Seguin, Navarro and Marion Student-Athletes to Compete at Regional Track Meets

(San Antonio) -- A number of Seguin Matadors will compete at the Class 5A Region IV meet at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio this Friday and Saturday.

Daisha Shular will compete in the girls long jump.

Arianna Shular and Leah Brown will compete in the girls triple jump.

In the boys triple jump, Kayden Holz will represent the Matadors.

Garrett Machado will compete in the 800 meters.

Holz, Nik Henry, Ocean Moreno and Elliot Weaver will compete in the 4X100 and 4X200 relays.

Henry will also compete in the 100 meters. And Christian Ramirez will compete in the wheel-chair shot put.

(Kingsville) -- The Navarro Panthers will be represented at the Class 4A Region IV meet at

Texas A&M-Kingsville Friday and Saturday. For the Navarro girls: Vanessa Garcia will compete in the 400 meter dash.

Ryan Hepp will compete in the 300 meter hurdles.

LeAnne Rogriguez will compete in the girls high jump.

In the 1600 meters, Lilia Flo will represent the Navarro girls track team while Ethan Luu will represent the boys team. Luu will also compete in the 3200 meters.

Also for the Navarro boys track team: Mason Tate will compete in the triple jump. Rylan Ward will compete in the long jump and the high jump.

And the group of Caleb Garcia, Xavier Cropper, Jacob Gilbert and Gabe Rangel will represent the Panthers in the mile relay.

(Seguin) -- And the Class 3A Region IV meet takes place at Seguin Matador Stadium on Friday and Saturday and there will be plenty of Marion track athletes there.

For the boys:

Michael Purcell and Kade Murdoch will compete in the discus.

Kenneth Erwin will compete in the Shot Put.

Chase Hallmark will represent Marion in the triple jump and 4X400 relay.

Gavin Soeftje is in the 800 meters and the 4X400. Aiden Rios and Dominic Castellanos round out the Bulldog 4X400 relay team.

Marion girls competing in the Seguin regional meet are:

Kamryn Garza, Ellie Parker, Kylie Balderas, Jaida Rideaux, Preslee Wiggins are a part of the 4X200 team.

Maggie Rudisaile and Kaitlyn Rackley is competing in the pole vault.

And Sarah Cook is representing the Lady Bulldogs in the shot put.

Sandra (Sandi) Ann Leibenguth Lankford was one of the most beautiful, strong loving and caring persons anyone would ever want to know. She was loved and cherished by a large number of family and friends.

Sandi passed away peacefully after years of suffering with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis on the 21st day of April, 2023, in the 77” year of her age. Her lovinghusband Roy was with her until her final breath.

“A Soul prepared needs no delays The Summons comes the Saint obeys Swift was her flight, and short the road She closed her eyes and saw her God.”

Sandi was born on September 10, 1945, in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. She was the first of two children born to her parents, Foster John Leibenguth and Fern Elizabeth Wertman Leibenguth. Her parents divorced in about 1952 and Fern later married Frank Derrill Banks who Sandi always considered her Dad. Fern and Derrill then had two additional children to add to the family. Derrill was in the Air Force, so the family moved around. They were stationed in Illinois where Sandi graduated from Mascoutah High School, in 1963. They were later stationed in Washington DC where Sandi began her Civil Service career. The family finally all moved to San Antonio, where she continued her career at Lackland AFB as a Clerk Typist Supervisor.

After meeting at The Golden Stallion Dance Hall in San Antonio in May of 1971, Roy and Sandi were married by Reverend Harold Zirkel at Aldersgate United Methodist Church on February 18, 1972, and then honeymooned in Cloudcroft, NM. From the beginning to the end, Roy called Sandi “Babe” and Sandi calledRoy “Babe”.

Sandi continued to work for 10 years at Lackland AFB until she eventually had to retire due to medical reasons in 1975. At this time, she began taking college classes at SAC to increase her knowledge and education. In 1979, Sandi and Roy moved to Seguin where they built a little house, started a farm and Roy began working for Motorola. At this point, she volunteered for 20 years with her favorite cohort, Dorine Volmer as a Pink Lady and Front Desk Receptionist for Guadalupe Valley Hospital. They had a lot of fun together. After the hospital, Sandi took painting lessons before she started taking Tai Chi lessons. She eventually earned a teaching certificate and began teaching Tai Chi at the Guadalupe Reginal Wellness Center until she was physically incapable of the strain of teaching. Even then she continued with her love of Tai Chi until Covid shut things down. After teaching Tai Chi, Sandi decided she needed something to do in her spare time, so she started taking Guitar lessons at Dellview Music Center in San Antonio. She took Dobro and Electric Lap Steel Guitar lessons from Don Pack and Denny Mathis for many years loving every minute and every note of music. That was one of her favorite experiences. She loved music. What a wonderful time she had there making music and meeting the local legends of country music.

Roy and Sandi both loved to travel and camp in their earlier years. They camped in many of the national and state parks in Texas, Wyoming, California, Montana, Colorado, Utah and South Dakota. Their favorite place to camp was always Big Bend, just barely ahead of Yellowstone. Then in 1999, they bought their first travel trailer and began going to state parks around Texas and once to Yellowstone. In the trailer, their favorite place to go was Goose Island State Park to meet their buddies, Don and Gayle Pack, drop a line in the water and drink some wine. Besides camping, they were able to travel to Germany, France twice, England, Scotland, and Canada three times and Puerto Rico as well as two cruises to Alaska. In addition to the camping and travels, they were able to attend numerous music concerts including; ZZ Top, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, the Platters, Fleetwood Mac, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Arlo Guthrie, Hayes Carll, Albert Collins and many other groups and performers around Texas.

Sandi and Roy never had children, so Sandi poured her love and time into her animals. Her beloved horses Cajun Queen and Ole Blue: all of her dogs and cats, and hundreds of cows and calves who each had a name. Sandi loved everybody, some not as much as others, but she did love everybody and she loved every animal too. There was never a dog she didn’t want to pet or a horse that didn’t get a nose rub.

Sandi is preceded in death by her father Foster Leibenguth, her mother Fern Banks, her step-father Derrill Banks and her brother Randy Banks. She is survived by her husband of 51 years Roy J. Lankford of Seguin, TX, her sister Gail Hilfiker of La Vernia, TX, her sister Patricia Walden of Windsor, MO and numerous nieces and one nephew.

Serving as pallbearers will be Glenn Targac, Dale Muenzler, Kris Gulleen, Dan Lankford, Ernest Forman and Kenneth Gold.

A visitation will be held Friday, April 28, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. at Tres Hewell Mortuary. Funeral service will follow to celebrate Sandra’s life Friday, April 28, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor Cathe Evins officiating at Tres Hewell Mortuary. A private graveside interment of Sandi’s ashes will be in the Lankford/Pritchard plot at the Jones Cemetery in Utopia, TX at a later date.

Memorial contributions in Sandra’s memory may be made to Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc. in Houston, Texas. The website is www.gbgrr.org.

You are invited to sign the guest book at www. treshewell.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Tres Hewell Mortuary, 165 Tor Dr., Seguin, Texas, 78155, 830-549-5912.