DAY TWO RESULTS:
Longhorn Football signees/offers -
Adrian Colbert (Mineral Wells), Class 3A 4x100 meters - 3rd place (41.65); 400 meter dash - 8th place (49.38); 200 meter dash - 1st place (21.45)
videos: 4x100 relay, 400 meter dash, and 200 meter dash
Notes: Future Longhorn defensive back Colbert and his Mineral Wells 4x100 relay teammates ran their best time of the season and set a new school record, but it wasn't enough to catch the teams from Stafford (41.34) and Celina (41.41), who both ran much faster than they had all year. (Celina and Stafford finished 1st and 2nd in the final team points standings.)
Running in the 400 meter dash, which he won at the state meet in 2011, Colbert ran hard but was unable to defend his title against one of the fastest 3A groups to ever run at state. He looked good for the first half of the race, then got passed by Celina's Zack Bilderback on the final curve and looked like he had run out of gas with with 125 meters to go. (Either that, or he knew he had no chance of medaling at that point and decided to go on cruise control the rest of the race and save what energy he had for the 200 meter dash, which was less than 40 minutes away.) Even had he matched his winning time at state from a year ago (48.27) he would not have threatened the leaders, as Bilderback won in 47.27 and each of the top 4 runners had sub-48 second times, which is commonplace for 5A and 4A but hasn't happened in 3A since the 1999 state meet. Colbert staggered to the finish line in 8th place out of the 9 runners, clocking a 49.65 that was a half-second slower than his regional time.
He redeemed himself in the 200 meter dash, running a strong last 100 meters despite going against the wind, and winning a close finish in 21.45 (0.14 separated first from third place).
Bryson Echols and Don'tre Wilson (DeSoto), 1st and 2nd legs of 4x100 meter relay - 1st place (40.09); 1st and 2nd legs for 4x200 meter relay - 2nd place (1:24.62)
videos: 4x100 relay and 4x200 relay
Notes: DeSoto already owned the fastest 4x100 relay time in the nation this year and on Saturday they ran at their best and appeared to have nearly flawless handoffs on the baton exchanges, something that had reportedly been a problem for them earlier in the year. Mansfield Timberview, owner of the nations 2nd best time coming in, was thought to be DeSoto's toughest opponent, but Don'tre Wilson and Tremayne Acy staked DeSoto to a big lead running the 2nd and 3rd legs, before (2012 New Mexico football signee) Ridge Jones finished things off with a good anchor leg and finished 0.49 ahead of 2nd place Galena Park North Shore (the schools would also end up finishing 1-2 in the team standings). Timberview actually fell significantly behind, particularly on the 3rd leg, and was in 5th or 6th place when anchor Aldrich Bailey got the baton, but he shot down the final straightaway like a missile, getting Timberview into 3rd place and very nearly catching the North Shore anchor.
In the 4x200 relay, which DeSoto also had the nation's best time in going into the meet, DeSoto recorded a very good time but simply got outrun by a (on this day) faster Galena Park North Shore team.
Longhorn track signee -
Reese Watson (Spring), Class 5A pole vault - 1st place (17')
Notes: Watson has posted some of the top pole vault heights in the nation this year, and he won gold in a good 5A group that had three other vaulters go over 16'.
Other Day Two runners of interest and Day One results after the jump.
Other runners of interest -
Aldrich Bailey (Mansfield TImberview), Class 5A 4x100 meter relay - 3rd place (40.70); 400 meter dash - 1st place (45.92); 4x400 meter relay - 3rd place (3:14.66)
videos: 4x100 relay, 400 meters, 4x400 relay, and interview
Notes: I only include Bailey in this post because I wrote about him in my preview of the state meet. It's almost a shame that he ran on Timberview's relay teams and we were robbed of a chance to see him go for the 100-200-400 trifecta. He posted very good times in the 100 and 200 at the Lancaster regional qualifiers meet three weeks ago but specialized in the 400 when he wasn't running on relays. He'll be running for Texas A&M during track season a year from now, but there is a possibility we could see him running for Team USA this summer, as his best 400 meter time (45.19) is not only the best of any high schooler in 2012, going into this weekend it was third best time by any U.S. runner this year, and he has qualified to run the event at the U.S. Olympic Trials. We'll be seeing more of him in the years to come, it's just too bad he'll be wearing Aggie colors.
In the 4x100 relay, he ran Timberview's anchor leg and got the baton with too much of a deficit to make up, though he passed three runners in the last 100 meters of the race and crossed the line in 3rd place.
In the 400 meter dash, one of the most anticipated races of the weekend, Bailey got off to a blistering start and looked very strong for the first 200 meters. Coming out of the second turn he looked like he was struggling to keep up his pace and he appeared to tighten up in the last 100 meters. He didn't have the kick to meet his stated goal of running under 45 seconds, but he still ran a very good 45.92, a full second in front of the 2nd place runner.
In the meet's final event, the 5A boys 4x400 relay, Bailey made another furious comeback for the ages that, nevertheless, fell just short of victory. DeSoto lead after the first three legs, with Duncanville and Converse Judson not far behind and Timberview far behind the leaders. Bailey took the baton with his team in 7th or 8th place and had to sidestep a third-leg runner from another school who had just handed off the baton and was moving in Bailey's path. Like a Mario Kart racer using a mushroom, he made a tremendous run to get near the front of the pack by the time he got to the final straightaway. By that time DeSoto's anchor had run out of gas and faded to the middle of the pack, while Duncanville was running away, followed closely behind by Judson. Bailey didn't have quite enough of a kick to catch the Duncanville anchor (who ran a 47.09 final leg), but he was almost neck-and-neck with the Judson runner at the finish line, The Judson runner seemed to make one last push in the last 10 meters to hold him off and take 2nd place just 0.03 ahead of Bailey, who ran an incredible 45.48 anchor leg.
Abraham Hall (South Grand Prairie), 5A 4x100 meter relay - 6th place (41.28), 100 meter dash - 1st place (10.19), and 200 meter dash - 1st place (20.58)
videos: 4x100 relay, 100 meters, 200 meters, and interview
Hall will be running for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point next year. He recorded the nation's fastest times in both the 100 and 200 meters at the state meet. There was a very slight tailwind in both races but not enough to make his times wind-aided. A starting-gun error famously resulted in the computers showing him running a 9.74 in the 100 meters at his district meet. He's not quite that fast. Yet. But his performance at Mike A. Myers Stadium showed that he may be capable of getting there in the future. His 100 meter time was one of the best ever run by a Texas high schooler, but his 200 meter time might have been more impressive, considering his competition. Five runners in the 5A 200 meter final ran sub-21 second times, something that hasn't happened since 1990 (and the wind was almost certainly a bigger factor that year). The 5th place runner last night ran a 20.90, which would have been fast enough to 1st at state almost any other year. Just an incredible race.
DAY ONE RESULTS:
Texas football signees -
Kendall Sanders (Athens), Class 3A long jump - 4th place (23'1")
Notes: As expected, Arkansas track signee Jarrion Lawson (Texarkana Liberty-Eylau) defended his long jump title and blew away the field in the process, jumping 25'8" and winning by nearly two-and-a-half feet. Lawson's winning jump set a Class 3A state meet record, and based on the most recent Track and Field News list of top 2012 high school performances, it appears to be the best one in the nation. Lawson later smashed the 3A meet record in the triple jump, landing 51'10.25" from the board and missing a new state record by an inch and a half, but comfortably setting the top mark in the nation in that event as well.
Sanders flew 23'1" on his first jump, which turned out to be his best. His 2nd jump measured five inches less, and neither of his next two jumps broke 22'. He was in 3rd place after the first four rounds, but fouled on his last two jumps and couldn't improve his distance, while Waco Connally's Jeremiah Payne jumped 23'2.5" on his last jump to take 2nd place and bump Sanders down to 4th. Sanders may have set a personal record, but he'd surely like those last two jumps back, knowing he was a mere 1.75" away from the silver medal.
Kennedy Estelle (Pearland Dawson), Class 4A shot put - 3rd place (60'8.25")
Notes: Estelle improved on his season-best throw by nearly 7 inches, but it wasn't nearly enough to get him into the top two. The winning heave by Rio Grande City's Alex Garza - owner of the 7th best mark in the nation going into the weekend - traveled 63'9.75" to win by over a foot. This was Estelle's third and final time to compete in the shot put at state; he placed 6th in 2011 and 2nd in 2010.
Texas football commits -
Antwuan Davis (Bastrop), Class 4A 100 meter dash - 2nd place (10.58)
video: 100 meters
Notes: Davis appeared to get a very slow start out of the blocks, and while he got faster as the race went along he came up a hair short of winner Cameron Burrell, who officially ran a 10.57. Burrell is the oldest son of former two-time 100 meter world record holder Leroy Burrell, who is currently the head track coach at the University of Houston, his alma mater. Eldridge Massington finished 3rd in 10.74. The 3rd through 8th place times were separated by 0.13.
Texas football targets:
Robert Rhodes (Fort Worth Southwest), Class 4A 4x100 meter relay - 1st place (40.90); 4x200 meter relay - 2nd place (1:25.45); 200 meter dash - 1st place (21.06)
videos: 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay, 200 meters, and post-meet interview
Notes: I didn't see the 4x100 relay but according to multiple reports Rhodes, running Southwest's anchor leg, was behind when he took the baton but made an amazing surge to catch the anchor from Lancaster and win by 0.007. Southwest's winning 4x100 relay time appears to be tied for 7th best in the nation. Eldridge Massington's West Mesquite relay team was 4th with a season-best 41.51.
Rhodes was again behind when he took the baton as the last leg in the 4x200 meter relay and he made up a lot of ground but the deficit was too great and Lancaster won with a Class 4A state meet record and 2nd-best 2012 national time of 1:24.89.
An hour after that disappointing finish, Rhodes got off to a great start in the 200 meter dash. He was leading coming off the curve and lengthened his lead going down the straightaway. He won handily and despite running against a slight headwind, his 21.06 time was a personal best and a top ten national time for the year.
Texas track signees -
Victor Glaze (Killeen), Class 4A high jump - 2nd place (6'8")
Brady Turnbull (Frisco Liberty), Class 4A 3200 meter run - 5th place (9:22.31); 1600 meter run - 4th place (4:16.91)
Notes: Glaze cleared 6'8" on his first attempt at that height but went no higher. He had jumped as high as 7' earlier in the season, as had winner Logan Brittain, who cleared 6'10" to best the field.
Turnbull had the best seed time in both distance running events coming into the state meet but didn't medal in either. His time in the 3200 was nearly 10 seconds slower than his regional time, as he finished in 5th place, 7 seconds behind the winner. Afterwards he had over 11 hours to rest and prepare for the 1600 meter run, but despite beating his regional time he still fell short of the top 3 in a tight finish where 1.22 seconds separated 1st place from 4th.