BrooksNDone Posted 1 hour ago Report Posted 1 hour ago [email protected] Tom Halliburton’s Track Volume 38, Number 10 When a walker strides into the wind on Port Arthur’s seawall, the Gulf Coast breeze can create the illusion that it’s blowing 20 miles an hour. Then that walker looks at his phone, checks the weather app only to discover it’s blowing only five miles an hour. Appearances can be deceiving. Back in early February, this so-called “expert’’ anticipated that two or three Southeast Texans would compete at the UIL state track and field championships. Let’s think back to how bleak it seemed for this year’s area tracksters from this dumb mind after Nederland’s Bulldog Relays. Ok, we thought Dinah Tippins of Little Cypress and Brandon Richards of Port Arthur would make it to Austin… and maybe an Orangefield pole vaulter probably would, because it’s hard to have a state track meet without an Orangefield pole vaulter. Those modest expectations fooled me again just like the walker at the seawall. Life is not always as it seems. Appearances are delightfully deceiving this year, because Southeast Texas has qualified a full busload of athletes for the state meet May 14-16. Every regional weekend contains its share of tough breaks and disappointments. This year was no exception. A Region III meet in Texas easily can contain the caliber of performances in many other state meets. Eight Golden Triangle high schools qualified athletes for state along with five other area schools near the fringes of the Triangle and schools in our Beaumont Enterprise circulation range. Our list of area-best performances required considerable revision on Sunday evening. The 34 categories (17 boys and 17 girls UIL events) contained 11 new improvements. We have such an extensive crop of state qualifiers that I hope to not leave out any deserving name from the following group. But here goes our very unofficial state roster as far as I know. 5A STATE QUALIFIERS FROM CHALLENGER STADIUM, WEBSTER GIRLS: Addelyn Hooper, Port Neches-Groves, Sophomore High jump Tatiyana Crain, PA Memorial, Junior Shot put & Discus Throws BOYS Joe Bowser, Jr., Beaumont West Brook, Junior Discus Throw John Fowler, Beaumont West Brook, Junior 800 & 1,600-meter run Port Arthur Memorial (Darrell Granger) 800-meter relay team (Payton Bell, Cam’Ron Roberts, Alex Eugene, Brandon Richards) Port Arthur Memorial (Darrell Granger) 1,600-meter relay team (Matthew Christian, Cam’Ron Roberts, Jaylon Gibson, Brandon Richards) 4A STATE QUALIFIERS FROM PANTHER STADIUM, BULLARD GIRLS: Dinah Tippins, LC-M, Senior 200-meter dash Magadyn Boudoin, Lumberton, Senior Shot put Rocsan Hadnot, Jasper, Junior High jump LaBrayia Waalee, Jasper, Junior Long jump Jaislyn Heater, Vidor, Sophomore High jump Little Cypress-Mauriceville (Becca Peveto) 800-meter relay team (Amaya Meadows, Dinah Tippins, Brianca Barclay, Janet Le) BOYS: Brodie Ferguson, Vidor, Junior 300-meter hurdles Sage Gilder, Hamshire-Fannett, Junior 200-meter dash Kobe Prejean, Hamshire-Fannett, Senior High jump 3A STATE QUALIFIERS FROM HORNET STADIUM, HUNTSVILLE GIRLS: Haylee Spears, Orangefield, Senior Discus Throw Ja’Mya Anderson, Kountze, Senior 400-meter dash Newton girls and boys teams 400-meter relay BOYS: Gavin Gravett, Orangefield, Junior Pole vault Vaughn Westhoven, Warren, Junior 110-meter hurdles Jayden Phelps, Hardin, Junior Long jump GOLDEN TRIANGLE-AREA HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD LEADERS DISCUS – Girls: Tatiyana Crain, PA Memorial, 145-8; Boys: Joe Bowser, West Brook, 171-11 SHOT PUT – Girls: Madagyn Boudoin, Lumberton, 43-6; Boys: William Crosby, Orangefield, 48-10.5 HIGH JUMP – Girls: Addelyn Hooper, PN-G, 5-6; Boys: Ja’Cory Davis, PA Memorial, 6-10 LONG JUMP – Girls: Kelsey Banks, Hardin-Jeff, 18-8.75; Boys: D’Andre Carter, WB, 22-11.25 TRIPLE JUMP – Girls: Jaislyn Heater, Vidor, 38-8; Boys: D’Andre Carter, West Brook, 44-9.75 POLE VAULT – Girls: Janet Le, LC-M, 10-9; Boys: Gavin Rubio, Hardin-Jefferson, 14-0 100 M – Girls: Jalexis Neal, PA Memorial, 11.42; Boys: Willie Clark, WB, 10.53; Sage Gilder, Hamshire-Fannett (hand-held) 200 M – Girls: Jalexis Neal, PA Memorial, 24.11; Boys: Brandon Richards, PA Memorial, 21.47 400 M – Girls: Jada Guilbeau, PA Mem, 57.85; Boys: Matthew Christian, PA Memorial, 48.88 100 M Hurdles – Girls: Kiley Havard, Nederland, 14.57 110 M Hurdles – Boys: Hayward Monceaux, Nederland, 14.11 300 M Hurdles – Girls: Paisley Angelle, LC-M, 45.78; Boys: Shay Stacy & Brodie Ferguson, Vidor, 37.56 800 M – Girls: Meribeth Owens, Bmt Veritas Classical, 2:19.65; Boys: John Fowler, WB, 1:52.33 1600 M – Girls: Meribeth Owens, Bmt Veritas Classical, 5:11.77; Boys: John Fowler, WB, 4:12.91 3200 M – Girls: Ella Mecom, Nederland, 11:19.37; Boys: John Fowler, West Brook, 9:28.87 400 M Relay – Girls: LC-M (Janet Le, Dinah Tippins, Amaya Meadows, Brianca Barclay) 47.86; Boys: West Brook (D’Andre Carter, Willie Clark, Aden Mills-Teate, Jay’vier Fair), 41.37 800 M Relay – Girls: LC-M (Janet Le, Dinah Tippins, Amaya Meadows, Brianca Barclay) 1:41.08; Boys: PA Mem (Payton Bell, Cam’Ron Roberts, Alex Eugene, Brandon Richards), 1:25.69 1600 M Relay – Girls: Bridge City (Rylee Carver, Jada Juneau, Makya Augustine, Kylee Britten),4:06.15; Boys: PA Memorial (Matthew Christian, Cam’Ron Roberts, Jaylon Gibson, Brandon Richards), 3:12.46 Tom Halliburton is a senior sports correspondent with the Beaumont Enterprise Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.