T&F: Timpson runners primed for State bids
a gold medal in the boys' 800-meter relay Friday in Austin.
(Photo by John Krueger)
Five Timpson High School track & field athletes will be in Austin on Friday, looking to bring home some precious 'medals' when the compete in the 2010 Texas High School State Track & Field Championships.
The State meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Mike Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Class 1A and 4A athletes will compete on Friday, with Class 2A, 3A and 5A athletics battling it out on Saturday. All races are finals. The top two athletes in each event from each region have qualified for the elite competition.
Timpson will be represented in four events at the meet. Cameron Courtney will be competing in the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs, while Jakelia Caraway will run in the 100-meter dash and be part of the 4x100-meter relay foursome of Latoya Cartwright, Tan Eaden and Jakelia Caraway, which will also be vying for a gold medal.
Boys’ 800-meter run
Courtney will be making his second consecutive trip to Austin on Friday after finishing fifth last year in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:59.79.
The Class 1A 800-meter run is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and will be followed by the Class 4A competition. Courtney will be running in Lane 1.
Courtney has an excellent chance to capture the gold medal in the event as he comes in with the third-best qualifying time in the state, but it is only .51 of a second slower than the top qualifier, Logan Foster of Elkhart Slocum. Foster placed third in the event a year ago, running the event in 1:58.70. The top time in 2009 was accomplished by Jonathan White of Bremond, who posted a 1:58.07. White has the No.2 qualifying time of 1:57.21. Only .63 of a second separated the top three finishers in last year's race.
Foster has the top qualifying time of 1:57.06, followed by White, and then Courtney, who has a 1:57.57 qualifying time. Abel Rivas of Sterling City is fourth at 1:59.37; Swasey Brown of Boys Ranch is fifth at 1:59.83; Jaime Ibarra of Iraan is sixth at 2:0061; and Brendan Douglas of Blue Ridge has the No.7 qualifying time of 2:01.81.
Courtney's regional time that gave him the gold medal was his top posting of the season in the event. He also ran a 1:58.44 at the District 23-1A Meet and a 1:59.41 at the Huntington Meet in late March. He finished first at district, Area and at the Class 1A Region III Meet.
The state record in the 800-meter run is 1:48.21 and the Class 1A record of 1:55.24 was set in 1970.
Boys’ 1,600-meter run
Courtney has the fifth-best qualifying time in the 1,600-meter run, which will be held at 8:55 p.m. at Myers Stadium. He will occupy Lane 3 in the event.
Dylan Doss of Water Valley has the top qualifying time of 4:30.32, followed by Travis Roberts and William Roberts, both of Sanderson, who own the second and third-best times, respectively. Travis qualified with a 4:35.15 and William posted a 4:35.34. Caleb Williams of Tolar has the No.4 qualifying time of 4:37.69 and Courtney is at 4:38.30, just 7.98 slower that the top qualifier.
Other qualifiers and their times include Logan Foster of Elkhart Slocum at No.6 with a 4:40.23, Tomas Callejas of Mason at No.7 with a 4:41.09 and Phillip Thomas of Itasca with the No.8 qualifying time in the state with a 4:44.63.
Courtney's qualifying time was not his fastest of the year, but it was good enough to give him first place in the region. He posted a 4:32 at the Huntington Meet in March and an even better time of 4:27.00 at the Area Meet last month.
The winning time in the Class 1A 1,600-meter run in 2009 was a 4:30.12. The state record is a 4:03.27 set in 2003, while the Class 1A state record is a 4:13.84 set back in 1975.
Girls’ 100-meter dash
Caraway will compete in two events at the State meet. She posted a qualifying time of 12.80 in the 100-meter dash. She is scheduled to run at 7:05 p.m. Friday and occupy Lane 7.
Although her qualifying time was better than her time of 12.87 in the Class 1A Region III Meet preliminary round, it wasn't her best time of the year. She posted a 12.78 to win the Area meet and a 12.79 and placed third at the Huntington Meet. She was the No.1 finisher in the event at the Region III Meet.
Caraway has the fourth-best qualifying time heading into the State Meet. Roddricka Patton of Neches is the top qualifier with a 12.55, followed by Shelby McKnight of Wellington with a 12.61 and Laneshia Hunt of Shiner, who has a 12.71. Other qualifying times include Kyetta Lewis of Detroit with a 12:85; Shelby Greenwalt of Shamrock with a 12.90; Kimber Koonsman of Meridian with a 12.91 and Jasmine Sillemon of Crowell who posted a 13.02.
Girls' 4x100-meter relay
The Lady Bear 4x100-meter relay has been steadily improving its times as the season has gone on and will compete at 6 p.m. Friday in the event. The Lady Bears will occupy Lane 1 and come into the event with the fifth-best time in the state.
After running a 51.70 at the Center Meet on April 1, the Lady Bears finished second to Tenaha in the District 23-1A race with a time of 54.24. But the foursome improved that time to 51.12 at the Area meet in Carthage to take top honors. The Lady Bears did not compete in a regional qualifiers meet, and then finished second to Dallas Gateway with a time of 50.96, which was their fastest time of the season. Gateway ran a 49.62, which is the fastest qualifying time in the state heading into the finals in Austin.
Shiner posted the No.2 qualifying time of 49.89, followed by Grapeland (50.14) at No.3, Happy (50.78) at No.4 and ahead of Timpson. Meridian comes in with a 51.31, which is sixth, Sundown owns a 51.51 for seventh and Munday is the eighth qualifying team with a 51.54.
2010 STATE TRACK & FIELD MEET
At Mike Myers Stadium
University of Texas at Austin
Lane Assigments & Qualifying Times
Event 103 Girls 4x100 Meter Relay 1A - Race begins at 6 p.m. Friday
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School Seed
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Section 1 Timed Finals
1 Timpson 51.15
2 Grapeland 50.14
3 Shiner 49.89
4 Happy 50.78
5 Sundown 51.51
6 Munday 51.54
7 Dallas Gateway 49.62
8 Meridian 51.31
Event 106 Boys 800 Meter Run 1A - Race begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday
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Name Year School Seed
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Section 1 Timed Finals
1 2678 Cameron Courtney Timpson 1:57.57
2 1174 Brendan Douglas Blue Ridge 2:01.81
3 2607 Abel Rivas Sterling Cit 1:59.37
4 1580 Logan Foster Elkhrt Slocu 1:57.06
5 1193 Swasey Brown Boys Ranch 1:59.83
6 1919 Jaime Ibarra Iraan 2:00.61
7 1203 Jonathan White Bremond 1:57.21
Event 109 Girls 100 Meter Dash 1A - Race begins at 7:05 p.m. Friday
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Name Year School Seed
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Section 1 Timed Finals
1 2294 Roddricka Patton Neches 12.55
2 2239 Kimber Koonsman Meridian 12.91
3 2560 Laneshia Hunt Shiner 12.71
4 2754 Shelby McKnight Wellington 12.61
5 1514 Kyetta Lewis Detroit 12.85
6 2548 Shelby Greenwalt Shamrock 12.90
7 2673 Jakelia Caraway Timpson 12.80
8 1407 Jasmine Sillemon Crowell 13.02
Event 120 Boys 1600 Meter Run 1A - Race begins at 8:55 p.m. Friday
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Name Year School Seed
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Section 1 Timed Finals
1 2517 Travis Roberts Sanderson 4:35.15
2 2518 William Roberts Sanderson 4:35.34
3 2678 Cameron Courtney Timpson 4:38.30
4 2680 Caleb Williams Tolar 4:37.69
5 2222 Tomas Callejas Mason 4:41.09
6 2736 Dylan Doss Water Valley 4:30.32
7 1580 Logan Foster Elkhrt Slocu 4:40.23
8 1925 Phillip Thomas Itasca 4:44.63