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****WO-S WINS 3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP****

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KFDM COOP

KFDM COOP

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Alot of sweat and class led WO-S to 3A state track title

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

You could see the gleam in their eyes.

Each time a West Orange-Stark Mustang trackster stepped to the awards stand in balmy Austin Saturday, that gleam just seemed to get brighter and brighter.

Of course, by now everyone knows the Mustangs stormed to the Class 3A State Track & Field team championship.

They did it with style and grace, taking home three golds and a silver.

The one wearing the best-looking smile was senior Josh Gloston, who ran the first leg of both the gold-medal winning 400-meter relay and the silver-winning 800-meter relay.

Gloston, like he has done so many times over the last four years, set the table for a Mustang runaway.

He set the tone for Phillip Jones, Trey Franks and James Haynes in the 400-relay and did the same for Ed Ivory, Haynes and Franks in the 800-relay.

Gloston was thrilled with the medals and one thing for certain, Mustang track coach Toby Foreman was proud of the kid they call “Honey Man.â€

However, the Mustangs may be dipping into more “honey†next season. Gloston was the lone senior representing the Mustangs on Saturday.

That’s right, they’re all back and will be knocking on Austin’s door again next year. If they can find that “starter†out of the blocks in the two relays, which those of us that know Toby Foreman well, that will happen.

For Franks, what more can you say about the kid.

His father Kerry Sr. was a tremendous athlete wearing the blue and silver.

Ditto for big brother Kerry, Jr., who recently played for Texas A&M and other brother Jacoby, who is currently playing as a wide receiver at Texas Tech.

The Franks’ family has made its mark on the WO-S program over the years and Trey put another exclamation point on it Saturday.

He became the fastest man in Class 3A, running a great 10.36 in the 100 meters. He was a key cog in the winning 400-meter relay (41.31) and when he got the baton in the 800-meter relay on the last leg, he moved the Mustangs from fourth-place to second.

Talking about scary, how would you like to be a defender trying to cover or run down Franks or Mr. Haynes on the gridiron next season. Something tells me those two might be a little bit more involved in the offensive scheme as seniors.

The one race that certainly made the trip to Austin worthwhile was the performance in the 110-meter hurdles by sophomore Phillip Jones.

All year long, I watched that young man’s time shrink and shrink from week to week.

He ran at some meets which featured the fastest hurdle guys from the 5A and 4A ranks and Mr. Jones was right there with them.

Jones entered the 3A state field with the fifth fastest time going in after the regional meets.

Iwas thinking, wouldn’t it be great for the young man to sneak in there and get a bronze. After all, this was a sophomore on the Austin stage.

Man, did he ever fool me.

He didn’t show any nerves after another competitor false-started.

He came flying out of the blocks and showed the tremendous form he showed all season.

The 110-meter hurdles has a lot to do with speed but form counts just as much and Jones almost ran the whole thing flawlessly. His 14.21 clocking was a personal-best and he was whisked away to the medal stand so he could snatch his gold.

After the ceremony, his family and friends flocked him and so did the WO-S coaches. There were hugs and kisses all around.

Forget the sweat pouring off one another, a sophomore just won a state title.

That was what the State Meet was in a nutshell. The happiness at that moment will stick with me forever.

Let’s not forget about the young Mustang ladies in Brittany Brantley, Hannah Mobley, Johnesha Sims and Danyale Thomas, who made it to state in the 400 and 800-meter relays. They set a new personal mark in the 400-meter relay at 49.15 and ran the 800-meter relay in 1:44.38.

Those four might just punch their ticket again to our state’s capitol. After all, all four of them are underclassmen.

The journey was great.

Nothing could’ve been better, watching Coach Foreman sweat it out from district, to regionals, to state and then there was that darn swine flu thing. That, folks, was priceless. If you want to see a young coach that goes that extra yard for his kids, go find Coach Foreman and observe. It’s in his blood, and Mark Foreman has to be proud.

The countless effort Coach Foreman and staff put forth this season was amazing. Foreman spent many sleepless nights working things out in his mind but I could see it in his eyes at the District 21-3A Championships that he thought the Mustangs could accomplish a state title.

Then there were regionals, where everyone was sweating it out. Just go out and execute the handoffs, get in the top two and move on to Austin. Mission accomplished Coach.

To the WO-S’ top brass, do something special to honor these kids and what they accomplished this year.

Take pride in what is a wonderful program. Spend a few bucks on long jump and triple jump runways so no kid will break their ankles. Resurface the track so shin splints don’t creep up. Buy a hurdle or two. Keep from taking the kids to the Orangefield track to workout, although Orangefield has been extremely gracious.

This track team and the coaching staff surrounding it is very special. They certainly went out there and got it done.

Step up to the plate WO-S school district, this was your first state team championship since 1987. Step up, and be proud.

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I agree also. Track is the key and WOS is the proof. I have been preaching this for years and nobody listens at Orangefield. If you have a good track program it will translate into a good football program. It is a proved fact.

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KFDM COOP

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Ex-Gander coach leads WO-S to track title

By Dave Rogers

Published June 10, 2009

Toby Foreman said he learned a lot in the year he spent on the Baytown Lee coaching staff.

And his return home last fall was rocky for the West Orange-Stark grad as his home in Orange County was destroyed by Hurricane Ike.

But the school year had a good ending last weekend when Foreman coached West Orange-Stark’s to the Class 3A state track championship.

“It was a crazy day, the way things went down,†Foreman said of the Mustangs’ first-ever track championship, which they achieved with 58 points, 14 more than runnerups Argyle and Waco LaVega.

“Going into the mile relay, if Waco LaVega had gotten first or second, they would have won state instead of us,†he recalled.

“They handed off in first place to the anchor leg, but he just couldn’t hold it.â€

And with LaVega fading to finish last in that race, the title belonged to WO-S.

“It was about the equal of the state championship game and the other team is going for two at the end,†Foreman said. “You just hold your breath.â€

Foreman coached receivers for Lee’s football team in 2007 and he was a track assistant last spring.

But he returned to WO-S after that one season and reclaimed his job as head track coach there.

“I came to Baytown because I was looking for a move and coach (Dick) Olin hired me on as an assistant,†Foreman said. “I learned a lot from him and from coach Southall and coach Crooms (Lee track coaches Charles Southall and Mark Crooms).

“But my grandparents had gotten sick. That’s part of the reason I moved back to Orange. Then my house got destroyed by Hurricane Ike, so this was really a good end to a difficult year.â€

WO-S won state football titles in Class 4A in 86 and 87 and was runnerup in 88 and again in Class 3A in 2000. But the Mustangs hadn’t won another state title in any sport until last Saturday.

They did it in a span of less than an hour under the hot afternoon Austin sky.

Josh Gloston, Trey Franks, Phillip Jones and James Haynes won the 4x100 relay in 41.31 seconds.

Franks came back 20 minutes later and won the 100 meters in 10.36 seconds. Ten minutes after that, Jones won the 110 hurdles in 14.21 seconds and shortly after that Gloston, Ed Ivory, Haynes and Franks finished second in the 4x200 relay in 1:27.02.

That was 56 of the Mustangs’ points, with the other two coming from Haynes’ fifth-place finish in the long jump.

It was the third top-five finish for WO-S at the state meet. The Mustangs won district, regional and state titles this spring.

“Five of the six boys who ran for us at state are coming back and all four of the girls who ran relays for us there are coming back,†said Foreman.

“Now all the talk is about winning state next year in football and doing it again in track. It’s been 22 years since we won state around here and with all the great athletes they’ve had here, people were beginning to wonder if it was possible.

“Now they know it’s possible.â€

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