by Ricky Quintana

Boys Triple
Terrance Wheatley had problems all day long and entering the finals he had
to watch as former middle school school mate Chessley "Chess" Johnson was
last in the order. His final jump, he bounded 49'00" to take the lead.
Johnson, the nephew of former NBA player Spud Webb, gathered himself and
barreled down the runway to get off a great jump. But a red flag nullified
the mark. " I just have to walk away from that one," said Johnson as he
watched them wipe away the mark that was in the 50' range.

Terrence Wheatley
"It went pretty good. It was a long day. There was some suspense there when
I jumped 47 off balance and about rolled my ankle. And then I had two
scratches and then in the finals I had two more. I had to do it. When you're
the defending champion, you don't want to lose and have your title taken
away from you. I just backed about a foot and just went for it.
Johnson went ahead. I went through it yesterday. I panicked yesterday and
that just kind of hurt me. I just thought, "I'm defending champion. What do
I have to worry about? They're gunning for me." So I just decided to go for
it.
There were two of them that were over 50' and one of those was close to 51'.
The wind was a little bit of a factor. The inconsistency in the run up. That
has to get a little bit better. Once I get the run up down again, I'll be
fine. I'm trying to get my first 100 win, but I have to run fast. I have
Earvin Parker running. I have a kid from Round Rock. I have a guy from
McNeill. I have to get up and go."
Chess Johnson
" I wanted to win it. I thought I had it. I really did. I missed by a foot.
Any particular day, it could be different things. This is my first meet that
I've been pushed. There's no greater feeling in the world. That's what you
live for... competition like that. I have to go out and work hard. I don't
get to practice the triple jump as much as I would like because I'm trying
to help out my sprint relay, my mile relay, and with my stick handoffs, so I
really don't get a chance to work on it as much as I would like to. I think
I just my best today."

Boys Shot Put

Brad Kring wasn't expected to win, but found himself throwing further than
ever before. He came away with a win setting a PR by 2 feet.

" I felt pretty good today. I felt like I had everything down. I'm happy
that I came away with a victory. I was hoping for 60, but I didn't know I
could throw that far. Because everyone else was throwing so far, I figured,
I might as well get one out there, so I pushed a little harder I guess. I
don't know. I'll just keep training I guess. I've kept the same routine,
just focused a little harder, I guess."

Girls Shot Put

Michelle Carter will get a lot of attention this year as she tries for
record setting performances. That doesn't seem to phase her. Her attention
is focused on improving on her throws any way she can. Saturday, she got her
longest throw, 52'10" out in the preliminaries. She couldn't improve, but
walked away with a record fourth title and broke her meet record from last
year by over a foot.

Michelle Carter
" I know I could have done better today, but my timing was just off. Even on
you best throws, there is still something you've done wrong. You want to
catch what you did wrong. You have to look at everything.
[On being a four time champion] I'm happy about it. I didn't know what to
expect when I first started out. I didn't really do so much with it until I
got to high school and saw how big it can be.
[ On the attention] People watch me all the time, but you have to focus on
what you have to do.

4 x 200m Div II Girls

Dallas Skyline ran the FAMU Relays nearly one month ago and won to relays in
solid, but not too spectacular times. The trio of sophomore flexed their
muscle here as they picked up their first win of the day blasting to a
1:36.25, just .14 off the record set by Long Beach Poly last year.

4 x 200m Div II Boys

Dallas Carter got out to a huge lead in the first two legs, but on the
third, Arlington Bowie and Jenks began to reel them back in. On the third
and final exchange Bowie got the edge. Jenks inched closer and closer as
they neared the finish line, but Bowie held on winning by a scant .04.

4 x 100m Div II Girls

Reagan inched past the young Dallas Skyline team in the final few meters
bringing the crowd to its feet to. Their final time, 45.89, was just off the
45.79 meet record set last year by JW North.

4 x 100m Div I Boys

Jasper collected its second relay title running away in a 41.81. The time
eclipsed the previous meet best by Giddings in 1999, by .19 seconds.

4 x 100m Div II Boys

The race was in the center of the track as favorites Jenks, Lane 4, Carter,
Lane 5, and Bowie, lane 6, vied for state bragging rights. Carter got out to
a fast start and never looked back as they won in 41.08. Bowie came on, but
it was not enough as they finished second in 41.18.

100m Hurdles Girls

Jessica Ohanaja was the fastest qualifier entering the finals. Texas bound,
Angel Boyd entered the meet with the fastest time in the state this year.
Ohanaja got out quick and was leading through four hurdles. Boyd got her
rhythm and over the final hurdles pulled away. She crossed the finish line
elated and stunned at her victory. Her time, 13.68, was a PR and just edged
out Ohanaja's 13.71.

Angel Boyd
" I wasn't expecting it. I just wanted to come out of the blocks and get a
good start and finish strong.
[On feeling pressure] Definitely. Definitely. This is a great field. In
practice, I was weak over the lat few hurdles. I told myself, if I kept
going, I' be right up there with her. At the fifth and sixth hurdle, I felt
strong. That's my best time. That makes me feel good because at state last
year, I ran 13.7. I'm already at a 13.68 and it's not even state time yet.
I'm happy.
[ Was it a "clean race'] Oh nooooo. I was pushing too hard and I was
thinking about it way too much. I'm glad to come away with the win."

110m Div II Boys

Kerron Clement has his heart set on improving himself in the 110’s.
Yesterday, he ran an easy looking 13.91 for the fastest time of the
preliminaries.
In the final, he did just the same leading at the first hurdle and pulling
away for the win. His time, 13.63, was wind aided as were all of the
performances on Saturday, but he’ll have plenty of time to improve those
marks.

” The race was smooth. I felt good.
[ On his qualifying race] Nooo. I ran sloppy. My stride was kind of off. The
first hurdle, I was sloppy. I came up with a win.
I wasn’t worried. I knew my background was good and I knew my speed would
prevail.
[ On the 300m hurdles] I’m excited. I want to go out and give it my best.
That’s what I’m doing this year. At state, I want to run a national record
pace. The crowd gets me through it.

100m Div II Girls

Krystin Lacy entered her first final with the fastest preliminary time. The
quiet spoken Lacy looked like a veteran as she ran away from the strong
competition in a windy, +2.7, 11.58.
Monique Lee ran a 11.62 in the Div I race to win going away. Wind + 2.8
Krystin Lacy

” I was kind of nervous being in the finals, but I just tried to get out
and have a good drive phase.
[ On the wind being a factor] I don’t think so, but I’m sure it did.
That was my personal best. My best time was in the finals. I’m a lot
stronger. I’m working harder in the weight room. My drive phase is a little
better.
I hope I can do it two more years. I want to be a track star.

100m Div II boys

Earvin Parker, still undecided about college, continued his dominating ways
running to a fast 10.29 to turn back a solid field. The winds were calmer
for the final, but were still illegal by a slight margin at +2.1. The 10.51
performer last year moved to the forefront on the high school sprinting with
his two performances over the weekend.

Earvin Parker
” It felt great. It was wonderful. It’s the second time coming out here.
Last year, I got like fifth or sixth and the nest year first. It’s
wonderful. Last year, it was my first time. This year, I was ready to run. I
was used to it. It gave me more confidence]having the fastest time in the
prelims]. I knew I was going to be racing some good guys and I had to get
out. That’s my fastest time. I’m glad. I’m glad. I’m just going to do my
best. That’s all.”

4 x 400m Div II Girls

Dallas Skyline was in the mix in all the sprint relays. Here, they got out
to a large lead and kept it. Splits of 57.1, 55.2, 55.6,and 55.7 gave them a
faster than expected time as they lowered their season best.

Jennifer Hunt

” Today, I had to give it my all and do what I had to do. Two of our legs
were fresh. We expected to run well because we’re one of the elite teams in
the nation. We wanted to keep that going. We were kind of shocked with the
3:44. We all ran hard. Even though, we’re nervous sometimes or are
intimidated, we try to go out and do our best. Our number one competition
wasn’t here so we decided that if they weren’t here, we were going to give
it our all. We know if they were here, we would have been pushed to better
times. We noticed that we could do it without them. That’s what we try to
do.”

4 x 400m Div II Boys

Lancaster ran away with the title as an expected showdown among some very
close teams never materialized.

David Radford
” Effort. Teamwork. We knew we all had it. We did it yesterday. No, we didn
‘t held back[ In the prelims]. We took the prelims are like the finals. In
the finals, it was even better.”

Texas Relays