The Reicher boys’ relay teams produced plenty of drama Saturday at the TAPPS state track meet.

By the end of the day, they also helped produce a Class 3A state championship for the Cougars.

Reicher won the boys’ 4x100- and 4x200-meter relays, then took fourth in a rough 4x440 on its way to scoring 103 points and winning the school’s first state track title since 2005.

Reicher's Keton Schulte takes the baton from D.J. Dwyer for the third leg of the 4x200 relay, which the Cougars won en route to claiming the TAPPS Class 3A team championship. (Rod Aydelotte photo)

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Reicher seniors Nick Castillo and Stephen Harrison, both members of the Cougars’ football state champions the last two seasons, ran on the winning relay teams.

Castillo said his third state title as Cougar felt every bit as good as the first two.

“It’s just the same,” Castillo said. “It’s been quite a journey. It feels great to go out as seniors with a track title.”

By the time Castillo took the baton for the anchor leg of the 4x200 relay, the Cougars had all but grasped the team championship.

Harrison led off the 4x200 and handed to D.J. Dwyer for the second leg as Reicher kept pace with Colleyville Covenant out front. Keton Schulte took the stick from Dwyer and pulled into the lead about 100 meters into his leg.

At the final exchange, Castillo took off after a successful handoff from Schulte, but Colleyville Covenant dropped the baton and slipped to seventh place.

The Cougars posted a time of 1:31.79, their fastest of the season in the event, and defeated second-place Richardson Canyon Creek by 2.34 seconds.

Reicher had taken the team lead by seven points over Colleyville Covenant going into the 4x200. So when Colleyville Covenant failed to score points in the relay, Reicher took a commanding lead.

The Cougars’ 20 points for the 4x200 relay title gave them 75 at that point. Colleyville Covenant finished the meet in second place with 71.

“That gave us a huge boost,” Harrison said. “We were neck and neck and then that was the turning point.”

It proved to be a critical advantage for Reicher after a difficult final event.

Castillo lost a shoe shortly after taking the baton from Schulte on the second leg of the 4x440, so Castillo ran most his race with one bare foot.

But the race went from bad to worse as Howie Grieve was pushed to the track on the third leg. Grieve recovered and handed to Isaac Gonzalez, who brought Reicher around for a fourth-place finish.

“It was disappointing because winning all three relays was definitely our goal and the way we thought we would assure ourselves of the team title,” Reicher coach John Ryan said. “At the same time, though, we found out we had won the state championship, so that turned those frowns upside down.”

Reicher’s 4x100 team of Harrison, Grieve, Castillo and Rami Tamimi posted a time of 44.09 to edge Colleyville Covenant by .64 of a second.

Paden Schulte got Reicher on the board with a first-place finish Friday evening in the field events. Schulte won a jump-off against Chase Oliver of Tomball Rosehill Christian to claim the high jump gold medal. Schulte and Oliver both cleared 6 feet, 2 inches, then both took three attempts at 6-4. Oliver failed on all three chances, while Schulte cleared the height on his third try.

Jameson Wells, Keton Schulte and Isaac Gonzalez boosted Reicher’s point total with a trio of silver-medal performances. Wells finished second in the 100, while Schulte finished second in the 200 and Gonzalez took second in the 400.

The Reicher girls finished fourth in the 3A team standings with 56 points.

Katie Liu and Lindsay Thiele led the Lady Cougars. Liu finished second in the high jump, clearing 5-4, while Thiele took second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.83 and the Reicher girls’ 4x100 finished second at 51.77.