T&F: Courtney captures silver, bronze at State
and bronze medals at the Texas State Track & Field Champion-
ships held Friday and Saturday in Austin. He finished second in
the 1,600-meter run and third in the 800-meter run. (Photo
by John Krueger)
In the past several years Timpson's Cameron Courtney had trained hard to become the best distance runner he can be. On Friday those efforts paid off as the earned two medals at the Texas State Track & Field Championships held at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin.
Courtney better his qualifying time by almost 14 seconds to place second in the 1,600-meter run and took the silver medal. He just missed capturing the gold, finishing 35-hundredths of a second out of first place. He also posted the second-best time in the 800-meter run to place third and capture the bronze medal for his effort.
Four other Timpson athletes advanced to the State Track Meet as the Lady Bear 4x100-meter relay foursome of LaToya Cartwright, Tan Eaden, Shanee Adams and Jakelia Caraway ran sixth in the event Caraway placed seventh in the 100-meter dash.
Courtney's best this time season in the 1,600-meters was posted at the Area Meet in Carthage when he ran a 4:27. He advanced to State by posting a time of 4:38.30 at the Class 1A Region III Meet, which was the fifth-fastest qualifying time of those headed to State.
Courtney then bettered that time by 13.40 seconds to a 4:24.90, which was good enough for second place. Courtney nearly captured top honors in the state, but he was nosed out by Sanderson's Travis Roberts, who posted a 4:24.55. Sanderson had the second-best qualifying time coming into the State meet.
Dylan Doss of Water Valley, who was the fastest runner coming into the event, posted a third-place finish of 4:28.68, some 3.78 seconds behind Courtney. Caleb Williams of Tolar placed fourth with a 4:31.87, William Roberts of Sanderson came in fifth with a 4:35.29 and Phillip Thomas of Itasca ran a 4:37.23 for sixth place. Other participants included Logan Foster of Elkhart Slocum running a 4:52.23 for seventh and Tomas Callejas of Mason finishing eighth with a 4:53.96.
Courtney had the third-fastest qualifying time in the 800-meter run with a 1:57.57. He bettered that time by 1.20 seconds to finish the State event in 1:56.37 and captured the bronze medal. His State time was his best of the season.
Jonathan White of Bremond, who qualified second for the State meet in the event, ran a 1:55.69 to take the gold medal. He ran 1.52 seconds faster than his qualifying time. Logan Foster of Elkhart Slocum received the silver medal, running the event in 1:56.23. Foster had the top qualifying time of 1:57.06.
Other competitors in the event included Michael Rodriguez of Haskell placing fourth with a 1:56.90, Abel Rivas of Sterling City ran fifth with a 1:58.49, Jaime Ibarra posted a 1:59.18 to come in sixth, Swasey Brown of Boys Ranch was seventh with a 1:59.72 and Brendan Douglas of Blue Ridge ran a 2:00.14 for the eighth best time in the state.
The Lady Bear 4x100-meter relay had the fifth-best qualifying time entering the State meet with a 51.15 and nearly equaled that mark, placing sixth with a time of 51.38.
The relay team that beat out the Timpson foursome at the Class 1A Region III Meet and had the best qualifying time, Dallas Gateway, took the gold medal with a time of 48.98. That time was 0.64 better than its time at the Regional meet.
Shiner, which qualified second, placed second with a time of 49.93, 0.95 behind Gateway. Grapeland placed third with a 50.66, Meridian ran fourth with a 50.88, and Happy posted a 51.00 for fifth and 38-hundredths of a second ahead of Timpson.
Munday placed seventh in the event with a 51.62 and Sundown ran a 52.21 for eighth. The difference between third and eighth place was only 1.55 seconds.
Like Courtney, Caraway had double duty at the State meet, participating in the 100-meter dash along with the relay. She had the fourth-fastest qualifying time heading into the State meet with a 12.80, but posted only a 13.48 in Austin to place seventh.
However, all of the runners posted slower times at the State meet. Jasmine Sillemon of Crowell, who had the eighth-fastest time heading into the finals, came through with an impressive performance of 13.01 to win the event. Kimber Koonsman of Meridian, who had the seventh-fastest qualifying time, ran second, and Roddricka Patton of Neches, the fastest qualifier, took home the silver medal with a 13.05.
Other finishers included Laneshia Hunt of Shiner placing fourth with a 13.37, Shelby McKnight of Wellington also running a 13.37, but taking fifth, Kyetta Lewis of Detroit placed sixth with a 13.44 and Shelby Greenwalt of Shamrock running eighth with a time of 13.62.
STATE TRACK & FIELD MEET
at Mike Myers Stadium, Austin
Boys 1600 Meter Run 1A
1 Travis Roberts Sanderson 4:24.55
2 Cameron Courtney Timpson 4:24.90
3 Dylan Doss Water Valley 4:28.68
4 Caleb Williams Tolar 4:31.87
5 William Roberts Sanderson 4:35.29
6 Phillip Thomas Itasca 4:37.23
7 Logan Foster Elkhart Slocum 4:52.23
8 Tomas Callejas Mason 4:54.96
Boys 800 Meter Run 1A
1 Jonathan White Bremond 1:55.69
2 Logan Foster Elkhart Slocum 1:56.23
3 Cameron Courtney Timpson 1:56.37
4 Michael Rodriquez Haskell 1:56.90
5 Abel Rivas Sterling City 1:58.49
6 Jaime Ibarra Iraan 1:59.18
7 Swasey Brown Boys Ranch 1:59.72
8 Brendan Douglas Blue Ridge 2:00.14
Girls 4x100 Meter Relay 1A
1 Dallas Gateway 48.98
2 Shiner 49.93
3 Grapeland 50.66
4 Meridian 50.88
5 Happy 51.00
6 Timpson 51.38
7 Munday 51.62
8 Sundown 52.21
Girls 100 Meter Dash 1A
1 Jasmine Sillemon Crowell 13.01
2 Kimber Koonsman Meridian 13.02
3 Roddricka Patton Neches 13.05
4 Laneshia Hunt Shiner 13.37
5 Shelby McKnight Wellington 13.37
6 Kyetta Lewis Detroit 13.44
7 Jakelia Caraway Timpson 13.48
8 Shelby Greenwalt Shamrock 13.62