WR’S MURPHY, GILMER’S CANO! | They’re the Whataburger / ETB Players of the Week!

Gilmer’s Lucas Cano (standing above the ‘1’ here at the area track meet in Lindale) was a winner not just at the discus at the UIL Class 3A, Region II track and field meet, but also in the shot put. He’ll compete in both at next week’s UIL State Track & Field Championships at the University of Texas in Austin, as will West Rusk’s Adelaide Murphy. They’re the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week for April 14-19. (Photo above courtesy of GILMER ISD SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER FACEBOOK PAGE)

None of us can know exactly what was going through the mind of Gilmer High School’s Lucas Cano when he competed in the UIL Class 4A, Region II meet last weekend in the discus, or the shot put, for that matter, on the campus of Texas A&M-Commerce.

Likewise, we can’t know what West Rusk’s Adelaide Murphy was thinking before taking the track for two of them most important runs of her young life last week in the 3A-Region II meet last weekend at Whitehouse High School.

We do know this: the results were something special.

And now we know who our winners are for the April 14-19 Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week.

Neither of these athletes is a stranger to athletic success, to be sure. And Cano saw success at the state level up close a year ago.

But excelling at qualifying normally – not always, but normally – can lead to something outstanding when it’s time for a trip to the state track meet in Austin.

That meet is officially called the University Interscholastic League State Track & Field Championships, and it is set for May 1, 2 and 3 at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas at Austin campus, just as it has been every year for generations.

Now, Cano heads in after winning regionals in both the shot and discus.

West Rusk’s Adelaide Murphy was second in both the mile run and the two-mile run at the UIL Class 3A, Region II meet at Whitehouse last weekend, meaning she qualified for the state track meet in both events! (Murphy is shown here after winning at the area meet in Eustace) The state meet is next week, May 1-3, at the University of Texas in Austin, and a large group of student athletes from schools in the ETBlitz.com coverage area will be competing there. Murphy and Gilmer’s Lucas Cano are the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week for the week of April 14-19! (Photo courtesy of WEST RUSK RAIDER ATHLETICS FACEBOOK PAGE)

Last weekend, in Commerce, Cano not only won the discus qualifier to go to state, he set a personal record, a throw of 194 feet, 9 inches. Second place was Athens’ McCager Smith, whom Cano faced last year in a field of competitors at the state meet. And Cano’s winning throw in Commerce was more than 13 feet better than Smith’s. They’ll meet again in Austin, though, as Smith qualified, as well, since he finished second.

Cano also qualified for the shot put in boys 4A, with a best in Commerce of 63 feet, 2 inches. He’ll be joined by another athlete from the ETB coverage area, Kilgore’s Cameron Christian, who finished second with a best of 50 feet, 7 inches.

ETBlitz.com had four stories on the area and regional track meets last week, which are all still available on the home page, and we’ll have a preview of next week’s state track meet on Monday, complete with every athlete from our coverage area that’s going to compete, the events and start times in which they’ll compete, ticket prices, parking, streaming information and everything else you’ll need to know.

While Cano was busy making throws in Commerce, Murphy, West Rusk’s girls long-distance runner, was lacing up her shoes for two monumental appearances on the track.

Murphy’s run in the 3,200 meter, or two-mile, gave West Rusk an excellent start to the meet. She killed it with a second-place finish time of 11 minutes, 44.09 seconds, not quite seven seconds behind the winner of the event, Ponder’s Rylie Rivers, whose time was 11 minutes, 34.82 seconds.

Third place went to Quitman’s Katie De Gorostiza, but Katie was a good eight seconds behind Murphy.

Later, Murphy was back, this time in the 1,600 meter, or mile, run. She narrowly missed a win, but took second again, which means another qualifying position for state. Murphy’s time in the mile run was 5 minutes, 15.20 seconds, second only to Pilot Point’s Ava Smith (5:13.53).

Again, Quitman’s De Gorostiza was third (5:25.32), and Tatum’s Akeria Oden, fourth (5:31.50).

These are four phenomenal performances by two athletes that we’ll watch with great interest next weekend, as they try to bring gold back to Gilmer and to West Rusk – the four latest performances in a school year full of them that have produced Whataburger / ETB Player of the Week awards.

This year’s previous winners:

ETBlitz.com partners with Whataburger on this award each week, specifically with DKT Investments-owned Whataburger, and there’s no one more fitting with which TO partner on this than Whataburger, simply because of the restaurant’s reputation for greatness – and for being synonymous with high school sports in the state of Texas.

Whataburger is the most frequent stop of the ETBlitz crew, whether it’s a road game or a home game, because they’re open 24-7, and they have such a large menu, everyone is happy. You can order ahead in their app, or here online on their website: Whataburger!, and where else can you get breakfast on the go, if you want it, from 11 p.m. through the morning, 11 a.m.?

Did you know that Whataburger is in 16 states, employs over 51,000 people, has 60 million customers annually, and is celebrating its 75^th anniversary?

Congratulations to Whataburger on that milestone, and to Adelaide Murphy of West Rusk, and Gilmer’s Lucas Cano, on winning last week’s Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week!

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