Congratulations to all of our Central Texas area student-athletes that competed in the state track meet! You all gave your very best effort and left it all on the line, displaying the ultimate high of sportsmanship.
After attending the state track meet this weekend, I came back with the notion that although we have a lot of outstanding athletes in CenTex, we still have major room for improvement.
Small town kids in CenTex! - we had our share of state champions or athletes placing higher in events whether it be individual or relays. Remember, a lot of people already think that you are only successful because you attend a smaller school. I BEG TO DIFFER! I feel that as a whole, you all play the game with more passion than the bigger school kids in part because you are often overlooked. However, (in most cases) the fact that you are not running some of the state's best times or jumping the farthest, there remains a lot of athletic growth that needs to be made.
It can indeed happen! Just think, Johnny "Lam" Jones (Lampasas), Stanley Kerr (Snook), Jermaine Cooper (Giddings), and Chris Carter (Hearne) were all small town guys from CenTex that were ranked at or near the top in the nation in their respective events. If they can reach such a feat, it is also possible for you to reach such a feat as well.
Big school kids in CenTex! - The kids in the DFW, Greater Houston, and Southeast Texas areas (as a whole) run with a lot more passion and do all they can to win their races or jumping events. They seem to recognize more so that fast "ballers" get recruited at a higher magnitude than guys who are simply good football prospects. You could see it in their eyes and the aura that they presented before, during, and immediately after their events. Nothing is held back in their performances. We've got that here too in CenTex but it's not being displayed. Again, you won't get faster by going to a bunch of 7-on-7 tourneys and a million football camps in the Spring while missing out on track meets. Track & Field still matters! Now, do the kids from those aforementioned areas attend camps and 7-on-7 tourneys? I'm sure they do, but they also have the insatiable appetite to be the best at whatever they do and to never be content with being second best. It showed at the state track meet. We need a lot more of that in CenTex, with a much bigger representation in numbers at the state track meet!
Going back to 1988, we saw Austin Reagan set the national record in the 4x100 relay with Killeen Ellison finishing 3rd, also breaking the previous national record.
In the early 90's, Killeen Ellison set the national record in the shuttle hurdle relay.
Danny McCray (Killeen Ellison) always had opponents trying to see who was going to finish second in the 400 meters as he was always ranked amongst the nation's best in that event.
Austin Reagan and Austin LBJ (located just a few miles apart) were both ranked #1 and #2 nationally in the 4x100 in 1992 with LBJ being ranked #1 in the nation in the 4x400 in '91 and '92.
Both Billy Spiller (former state meet record holder) and Dion Marion both from Killeen, are the only 25 foot jumpers to attend the same high school at the same time, something that will never ever be duplicated. Oh, they also ran on the nation's #2 4x100 relay in '91.
Joe Manor (Austin Reagan) always dominated in the 110 meter hurdles.
Charles Mitchell (Waco) seemed to have owned the world in the 200 meters in 1993.
At the turn of the century, we saw Darold Williamson (San Antonio Holmes) won state in both the 200 meters and 400 meters, who eventually became an Olympian. Brenden Christian (Austin Reagan) dominated in both the 100 and 200 meters. While Andrew Gamble (Converse Judson) was very respected in the horizontal jumps with Andre Manson (Brenham) setting the national record in the high jump.
Robert Griffin, III (Copperas Cove) ran the second fastest time in high school history in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles while also ranking near the top nationally in the high hurdles.
There are many others that have made big time accomplishments but as you can see, the history is there. You too can get there as well as long as you to want it bad enough.
Remember, if you drop those big times or marks along with having legit skills on the field, the college football coaches will come after you! History has proven that over and over.
Whatever you have to do, make sure that you work extremely hard over the summer so that next year you will come back even greater and stronger than you already are on both the gridiron and oval.
- TA!
CenTex's Marcus McWilliams (Pflugerville), '15, won state in the 110-meter hurdles.
