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by Juan Plaza and Terry Dawson
It was a great meet, however, the wind would just not agree. There
were
reports of 25 mile an hour gusts of wind and I knew then that the
wind
probably would not cooperate. Nevertheless there were some "electric"
times posted in the sprints.
Starting Friday evening with the 3A, 400 meter relay, Forney
drew lane
one and right in front of them, Gainesville drew lane two. They
had the
two fastest times going in the state meet and they prove to be the
two
fastest teams at state. Gainesville fastest runner, Robert Franklin
ran
the second leg for them so he put them out front leaving it up to
Blanton
and the rest of the Forney relay team to go catch them if they could.
At
the regional meet Blanton got the baton nearly 10 meters behind
and
barely missed catching the Gainesville anchor. However this time
he may
have been a little closer but not by much, and he did go catch him,
winning in a good time of 41.50. Later in the 100 meter finals Blanton
won in a fine time of 10.26, although it was wind aided, Franklin
coming
in second. Franklin got his gold medal in the 200 meters upsetting
Blanton with a time of 20.69 to Blanton's 20.77. Coach Rush (Blanton's
coach) said that Blanton had gotten sick earlier in the week and
simply
did not feel well.
Meanwhile Atlanta was racking up points in the 2 mile, with
a first place
finish from Bo Price, points from their two entrants in the 800
meters,
Dallas Washington and Cole Eason and also a second place finish
from
their 400 meter runner Bobby Sheppard. A spirited finish between
Price
and the 800 meter champion, Kyle Atwood from Muleshoe, was highlighted
in
the 1600 run. With the Muleshoe runner pulling off a double
and winning
the 1600 meters as well, however with a win in the 1600 meter relay,
Atlanta was able to win the meet.
In the 4A division Ft Worth Wyatt had good exchanges and won the
400
meter relay. In the finals of the 100 meters Brendan
Christian won in
super time of 10.15, which would have tied the National Federation
Track
record, except he was being pushed by a 2.5 meters per second wind.
For a few seconds the
crowd did not know who won because Houston Forest Brook's Willie
Hordge
ran step for step with him to the finish line and was only one hundred
of
a second behind in 10.16. (Hordge was the 100m silver medalist in
last
year's World Youth Championhsips in Hungary. Trinidad's Darrel Brown
won
the 100m in 10.31 to Hordge's PR 10.41, USA's Jonathan Wade placed
third). When the time was first posted on the big scoreboard it
said
10.10, but with the Flags blowing almost straight out everyone knew
that
the wind would not allow it as a record.
Kelly Willie of Houston
Sterling got down under 46 seconds in the 400 meters winning
in 45.96 and
not having to worry about the wind. Next up Mt. Pleasant's Terry
Beard avenged his only lost of the season in a fine time of 36.57
for the
300 meter hurdles. In the 200 meters, Brendan Christian
blew away the
field winning in a 20.32 with the next fastest person being Jarvis
Murchinson of Jasper, who was nearly 10 yards behind.
The 1600 meter relay proved to be a bittersweet event for
Austin Reagan.
The crowd was hyped up for a possible show down on the final leg
between Christian and Kelly Willie.
Throw in Fort Worth Dunbar who came in with the fastest time and
North
Crowley who also had a good time and this event was much anticipated.
The Houston Sterling team dropped the stick between the first and
second exchange,
which put their team far behind. When Kelly Willie got the baton
he was
in last place by nearly ten yards and the kids he were chasing were
no
slouches themselves. Nevertheless he passed 3 runners to bring his
team
into 5th place. This 5th place finish would later become a 4th place
finish because even though Austin Reagan had won the event, they
later
got disqualified for interfering with a runner on the second leg.
This same thing happened to
Greenville last year. The UIL is tough on relay teams and will not
allow
any runner to interfere with another. In any other meet this
disqualification probably would not have happen.
Meanwhile Lancaster girls were running away with the 4A
division as they
won all three relays, Jerrika Chapple won the 400 meters,
they pick up
points with a 3rd place finish from Teshaina Langston, as well as
points
in the hurdle races, to run away with their division. About the
only
athlete to benefit from the wind with a wind legal performances
was
Greenville's Latoya Phelps who ran wind legal 11.44 in the
100 meters.
Her race proceed Blanton's and Christians by just a few minutes.
In the
3A division New Boston's Dnisha Goldsmith was 2 time defending
champion
in the 800 meters but did not have it together at this meet and
finished
out of the medal standings in both the 400 meters and 800 meters.
The 1A and 2A finals were held Saturday afternoon and it
was pretty warm,
with some good results but no outstanding ones. Johnny Thacker of
Alto
won the 100 meters in a time of 10.53 but also with a 4.0 wind.
Matt
Morgan of Ranger winning the 100 meters with a highly respectable
time of
10.64 but with a 4,8 wind, he also won the 200 meters as well.
As the announcer said, Saturday evening it was 5A time,
with probably one of the
most exciting races of the evening, the 100 meter dash, being
won by
North Garland's Edorian McCullough in stunning time of 10.08. The
scoreboard clock first listed it as 10.06 which would have tied
it with
the world jr record, and the 10.08 would be a tie for the American
jr.
record, but just like the previous night the wind was over the limit,
this time with a 5.0 meters per second wind. McCullough is a very
big
muscle athlete and it is easy to see how he can motor down the track
so
well. Even with such a
fast time, McCullough did not simply stroll to the finish line.
Beaumont
Central's Ivory Williams was not to far behind with a 10.12. With
Hordge
and possibly Williams both being underclassmen, expect some more
electricity next year. This goes to show that you cannot always
depend on
the times coming in from regional because Williams time was only
10.90
which was next to last.
In the ladies 100 meters finals, another big strong athlete
San Antonio
Southwest's Marshevet Hooker, did stroll to the finish in
the 100 meters
winning in 11.28 and beating the pack by nearly 5 meters, but also
with
the help of overzealous wind. She came into the meet with a time
of
11.10 for the 100 meters, she also won the 200 meters handle as
well. In
the 400 meters Arlington Lamar's Jeremy Wariner proved he
was the real
deal winning in a time of 46.52. Many wondered, was he saving a
little
for the deuce? This set up a big showdown between him and McCullough
in
the 200 meters which Wariner won in a time of 20.48. which McCullough
coming in second with a 20.58 and Williams 20.70. Wariner was in
lane 8
and McCullough was in lane 4 and Williams was in lane 1, so they
were
spread out on the track. Do I have to say it, yes it too was over
the
allowable wind. An event that does not have to worry about the wind
was
the 300 meters which was won by Kerron Clement of Laporte
in a time of
35.78, the fastest time in the nation. He also ran away with the
110 meter
hurdles in a time of 13.48 with a 3.3 wind reading. The last event
of the
state meet prove to be highly competitive as well. The 1600 meter
relay
was won by Dallas Carter in 3:14.11 with the Duncanville team coming
in
4th with a time of 3:14.82 and being boxed in and unable to swing
around
the other runners for fear he would fall further behind he could
do no
better then this 4th place although it seemed like he had more left
in
his tank then the 3 runners in front of him.
Once again a terrific state meet came to a conclusion. Only another
364
days to next year state meet.
Texas State Meet
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