GILMER’S CANO, GLADEWATER’S THOMPSON | The Whataburger / ETB Players of the Week for April 28-May 3!

Gladewater High School’s Paytin Thompson won gold with the Lady Bears’ 400 meter relay team at the UIL State Track & Field Championships, then won bronze in the 3A girls 200 meter dash. Below: Gilmer’s Lucas Cano stands atop the No. 1; he did it twice, because he won gold in both the shot put and the discus in 4A last week at the state meet. Thompson and Cano are the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week for the week of April 28 through May 3. (Photo above from KESHIA GREEN-LEWIS FACEBOOK)

There’s only one real state track and field meet a year.

Just one.

And if an athlete wins a gold medal, that signifies they were the best in that sport in the state of Texas in their classification on that day.

OK – so what if you win TWO medals?

That pretty much ensures that you’ll at least be nominated for the player of the week.

That’s what happened last weekend at the University of Texas in Austin, as Gilmer’s Lucas Cano not only won the shot put gold, but also brought home the discus gold, as well.

And Gladewater’s Paytin Thompson ran a leg of the 400 meter relay, helping the Lady Bears win gold, then turned around and finished second in the 200 meter dash.

For their efforts, and heck, for doing fantastic at the UIL State Track & Field Championships, Gilmer’s Lucas Cano and Gladewater’s Paytin Thompson are the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week for the week of April 28-May 3.

Neither of these young people are strangers to this award. Thompson won it twice last school year, and plays more than one sport for the Lady Bears, so it’s no surprise, with the excellent relay team and track and field athletes, that she is once again claiming the honor.

And for Cano, it’s actually the second time in the last three weeks that he’s won the award.

So back to Austin we go for just a bit, as Cano, who fell just short of a state title in discus last year, was back for a dominant performance.

It was last Thursday morning when Cano took the infield at Mike A. Myers Stadium to compete in the boys Class 4A shot put. Each competitor got six throws. On the first, Cano threw 59 feet, 10 ¾ inches. The closest to him was Tuloso Midway’s Shawn Burdick, who was almost three feet back.

On his third throw was when Cano set the bar: 60 feet, 2 ¼ inches.

Only three competitors in the event – Cano, Burdick and Ingleside’s Nathan Edlin – were hitting over 58 feet. But as it turned out, the one throw that Cano had over 60 feet was good for gold. Burdick took silver, and Edlin, bronze.

As it worked out, Cano was back on the infield for the 4A boys discus in the event right before Gladewater’s girls would hit the track for the 400 meter relay.

This performance was more dominant than the one in the shot. Cano threw 187 feet, 4 inches right out of the gate. Only one other athlete – Jasper’s Demetris Dean – threw over that distance, and Dean hit 187 feet, 6 inches. Cano, though, hit 194 feet, 2 inches on his third throw, and that more than sealed another gold.

Dean was silver (187-6, as mentioned), and McCager Smith of Athens, who finished right behind Cano at regionals, was third (184 feet, 1 inch).

The very next event was the start of the running events, and the Lady Bears were burning. Adyson Evans, Thompson, Ki’zyah Miles and Peyton Hunter looked to be the class of the field going into the state meet, and that proved correct, They finished the 400 meter relay in 47.66 seconds, collecting the gold at that winning time.

Liberty-Eylau was close, coming in at 47.80 seconds, for silver, and Fairfield was third (48.51).

Thompson had to wait until almost the end of the night on Thursday before doing her solo event, the 2A girls 300 meter dash.

Taylor Nunez of Universal City Randoplh, who also was a multi-event winner last week, would cross the line first in 22.76 seconds for the win. Holliday’s Breagan Blowers came in second (23.98) and it was fast.

And Thompson’s time was 24.09 seconds.

In this note, Starrmia Dixon of New Diana had gotten past a few of the Gladewater girls in some events the last couple of years.

That didn’t happen this time, as Thompson held off Dixon for third: Dixon finished fourth, right behind Paytin, in 24.48 seconds.

We’ve seen so many impressive performances this school year. If anyone would like to look back on them, here they are:

With the state track meet last week, the baseball and softball playoffs also happening, and various halls-of-fame making their nominations, there’s been a lot of talk of greatness over the last month or so. Can’t really have that conversation without mentioning Whataburger.

They’re celebrating 75 years of giving people what they want: great food, without fail, at over 1,000 locations, including many in East Texas, by local owners DKT Investments, who aren’t just invested in their own affairs – they’re invested in the community.

Whataburger does quite a bit behind the scenes that many in the public don’t ever see, donations of food and time to various charities, especially to schools and to colleges, and one of those is the gifts that the Whataburger / ETB Players of the Week receive every week.

Check out their app for your phone, order ahead and pick it up and use your app for points for free items, or look at their complete menu here: Whataburger | Order Online with Curbside and Delivery.

Whataburger is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and breakfast is served 11 p.m. until 11 a.m.

Go see one of the East Texas Whataburger stores today. And when you see Cano and Thompson, congratulate them for being the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week!

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