3A STATE TRACK QUALIFIERS!! | Here they are: going to Austin to represent East Texas

WHITEHOUSE – Big stage, bright lights, East Texas. Gonna represent.

This time last year, West Rusk did it, and did it big, a team trophy at track’s biggest, brightest stage.

And Class 3A from the ETBlitz.com coverage area is gonna be well-represented at the University Interscholastic League State Track & Field Championships at the University of Texas in Austin on May 2-4. Troup’s Trae Davis is set to compete in four – count ‘em – FOUR events in Austin. And Gladewater’s Peyton Hunter and Paytin Thompson will each compete in three girls events.

There’s the returners. Sabine’s Sam Black is going back to the state meet in both the shot put and the discus after winning both at regionals.

There are the dominators, like White Oak’s Kyler Priest in the pole vault, who has done well this year and even though he had to win by three inches at regionals – it was still three inches, and he’s going to state, baby.

And there’s the same-name game. Hey, Cayden Tatum: if you can have the same last name as the high school you represent, and not only go to regionals in the high jump, but WIN the freaking thing and punch your ticket to state – you’re the man, dude.

That’s how the meet at Whitehouse went for a lot of the ETBlitz-area athletes, not to mention the fact that it was contested over four days. The meet actually began on Friday, was supposed to be Friday and Saturday, but couldn’t be finished on Saturday due to severe rain and some storms.

It was called on Saturday and postponed until Monday, where Davis – a Kansas State football signee who will go play wide receiver for the Wildcats – just picked up right where he left off.

Davis edged out Mount Vernon’s Haden Mitchell in the 200 meter dash, taking first in the time of 22.23 seconds – Mitchell is still going, as a second-place finisher (22.29 seconds).

Before we go any farther here, only the top two finishers at regionals go to state. For everyone else: the season ends.

And Davis was far from done. He helped the Tigers to second-place finishes in both the 400 and 800 meter relays, in both cases with teammates Noble Kendrick, Caden Claburn, and Bryce Wallum. The quartet ran the 400 in 42.44 seconds, second only to Gunter (42.39), and ran the 800 in 1 minute, 28.66 seconds, again second only to Gunter (1 minute, 28.48 seconds).

Davis also qualified for state in the long jump, edging out Trinity Leadership Cedar Hill’s Bryson McCrae by just seven inches – Davis had 23 feet, 7 inches.

Other impressive performances by boys at the regional meet, who will move on to state:

• Sabine’s Sam Black, who set a personal record in his shot put win (54 feet, 11 inches) and also won the discus (161 feet, 5 inches) and is headed, as mentioned, to the state meet in both.
• West Rusk’s Kason Reed, who qualified for state with a second-place finish to Black in the shot put (53 feet, 1 ¼ inch).
• We mentioned Cayden Tatum and he made the Tatum Eagles proud with a best of 6 feet, 6 inches and a win in the high jump, and he’ll be off to Austin.
• Kyler Priest won the pole vault for the Roughnecks (14 feet, 9 inches), fending off Paul Pewitt’s Maverick Hodges, who was three inches short. That was a personal-best for Priest.

Girls state qualifiers from this meet from the ETBlitz.com area:

• Gladewater’s Peyton Hunter, in three events: the 100 meter dash (12.16 seconds), as a leg of the 400 meter relay with Jerrica Gilmore, Paytin Thompson and Kyla Lincoln, and as a leg of the 800 meter relay with Hadassah Balcorta, Gilmore and Thompson. Hunter almost qualified for state in the long jump – she PR’d in the event with 16 feet, 11 ¾ inches, but finished third behind Gunter’s Abby Elmore and New Diana’s Starrmia Dixon.
• The 400 meter relay team of Gilmore, Thompson, Lincoln and Hunter won that event in a time of 48.50 seconds, and the 800 relay also won, in 1 minute, 42.31 seconds.
• Thompson also qualified in the 200 meter dash, second to Dixon (Thompson with a time of 25.41 seconds).
• Sabine’s Sarah Roberts ran the 400 meters in 57.53 seconds and held off some stiff competition from Whitesboro’s Brylee Weddle and Pilot Point’s Peytyn Goodin late, but got the win – Roberts is headed to state, as she set a new PR with that time.
• The West Rusk girls got a huge and emotional win by qualifying in the 800 meter relay. They didn’t win – they finished second to Gladewater – but the team of Chloe Petty, Cate-Lynn Isabella (Bella) Mata, Kamyah Lacy and Lakendra “Keke” Murphy ran not quite two seconds slower (1 minute, 44.18) seconds than Gladewater and they’re on their way to Austin.
• And Emory Cover, who came up so big for Troup Lady Tigers at the area meet, came up big one more time, qualifying for state in the triple jump. Cover PR’d in the event, with 36 feet, 7 ¾ inches, good enough for second place behind Harmony’s Kenner Pylant.

Athletes from the ETBlitz.com coverage area who competed in the regional meet but just came up short:

BOYS

• Caden Claburn (Tatum) in the 100 meter dash (third, 11.10 seconds).
• Judson Dotson (West Rusk) in the 200 meter dash (16).
• Jaxsen Ludlow (White Oak) in the 400 meter run (fifth, 50.90, a PR).
• Carson Gonzalez (Tatum) in the 400 meter run (sixth (51.02, a PR).
• Brailen Mauldin (West Rusk) in the 110 meter hurdles (eighth, 6.07).
• West Rusk’s 800 meter relay team of Brayden Wheat, Mauldin, Jase Reasoner, and Dodson (1:30.84), fourth.
• White Oak’s mile relay team of Logan Ladwig, Kyler Williams, Scotty Breitenberg and Jaxsen Ludlow (3:31.58), seventh.
• Sabine’s Jonah Brenner, fifth in the shot put (44 feet, 7 ¾ inches).
• Reed for West Rusk, in the discus (fourth, 147 feet, 3 inches).
• Lucas Frazier for White Oak in the discus (140 feet, 5 inches, seventh).
• Sabine’s Hudson McNatt was sixth in the high jump (6 feet, 2 inches, sixth at regionals).
• White Oak’s Trevor Sizemore was fourth in the pole vault (13 feet, 6 inches).
• Troup’s Riley Blackmon was sixth in the pole vault (13 feet, even) and White Oak’s Tyson Mckinney was 10^th (12 feet, even).
• Gladewater’s Kingston Sheffield was fourth (21 feet, 11 ¼ inch) in the long jump and Troup’s Bryce Wallum (21 feet, 9 ¾ inches) was fifth. West Rusk’s Dodson (20 feet, 9 ½ inches) was eighth.
• Gladewater’s Sheffield was fourth (44 feet, 4 ¾ inches) was fourth in the triple jump.

GIRLS

• White Oak’s Ally Tatum set a PR (12 minutes, 34.60 seconds) in the 3,200 meter, or two-mile run, but finished seventh.
• Sabine’s Sadie Loftis finished eighth in that event.
• Cale Brown from Sabine just missed in the 100 meter hurdles, finishing (barely) third behind Gunter’s Abby Elmore and Atlanta’s Kym Sheppard. Brown ran them in 15.84 seconds. Kaysen Foster finished eighth in that event (16.63 seconds).
• West Rusk’s Bella Mata was fifth in the 300 meter hurdles (48.58 seconds). White Oak’s Addison Saccoccio was eighth (49.11).
• West Rusk’s 400 meter relay team of Murphy, Lacy, Mata and Petty was third (49.37 seconds).
• Gladewater’s Karlee Moses was fifth in the shot put (34 feet, 8 ¼ inches).
• Gabby Coleman of West Rusk was sixth (34 feet, 5 ¾ inches).
• Arp’s Landry Langley was sixth in discus (102 feet, 2 inches) and White Oak’s Balla Baker, eighth (98 feet, 10 inches).
• Gladewater’s Reagan Verner was ninth (98 feet, 5 inches), and Hannah Cearley of Troup, 10^th (98 feet, even).
• Cover was fourth in the high jump (5 feet) and West Rusk’s Petty, seventh (10 feet). White Oak’s Addison Clinkscales was eighth (a six-way tie at 4 feet, 10 inches) and Sabine’s Autumn Rhodes was 14^th (4 feet, 8 inches).
• Lizzy Still of White Oak was fourth in the pole vault (10 feet, even) and Kooper Bogenschutz of Sabine was sixth (nine feet, even). Johanna Pennington was seventh, and Troup’s Bailey Gipson, eighth.
• As mentioned, Hunter barely missed the long jump, finishing third. Thompson was sixth.
• Hunter was fifth in the triple jump, as well.
• We’ll have more on the state meet in the days to come, here on ETBlitz.com.