BULLDOGS STATE-BOUND! | Nelson, Walton headed to Austin
BULLARD – Braydon Nelson is trying to throw his way to Austin.
Well, maybe take “trying” out of that sentence. He’s done it.
Nelson, a senior at Kilgore High School and on his way to North Texas to play offensive line for the Mean Green on scholarship, has a stop to make along the way: he’ll represent the Kilgore Bulldogs track & field team in the Class 4A boys discus and shot put at the University Interscholastic League State Track & Field Championships on May 2-4.
And he won’t be alone.
Teammate Jacory Walton is going to state, as well, in the boys high jump after another fantastic performance at the UIL Region III Meet at Bullard ISD Panther Stadium on Friday, Saturday, well, and Monday, as it worked out, after awful weather on Saturday forced part of the meet to be held on Monday.
Walton qualified Saturday, and Nelson qualified in discus over the weekend, then had to throw shot on Monday, alongside teammate Cam Christian, who also darn near qualified.
Nelson and Christian were part of a grueling shot put field on Monday, and Demetrius Dean of Jasper gave Nelson a fairly good run – maybe the most impressive thing Dean really did all day, honestly, was stopping his throw in the finals, before he threw, when he realized the National Anthem was about to be played up the hill.
The moderator of the shot put told Dean he could go ahead, but Dean stopped, and put his hand over his heart. When Dean did that, the crowd watching the shot put also stopped and followed suit, and removed their hats. When the anthem was complete, Dean resumed his throw.
But the best he could do was a throw of 52 feet, 11 inches – just not good enough on Monday to overtake Kilgore’s Nelson, who, on his final throw, had a personal-best of his own, a throw of 56 feet, 2 inches.
Tyler Davis of Giddings was third (50 feet, 10 inches was his best), and Taylor’s Syrus Corley was fourth (49 feet, 4 ¼ inches) was fourth. Christian, who plays defensive line to Nelson’s O-line for the Ragin’ Red, was fifth, and his best of the day was 49 feet, 2 ¾ inches.
So Nelson won the shot put, and before that, last weekend, he won the discus with a best of 187 feet, 3 inches, although that’s not his personal record. That would be 192 feet, set at this year’s area meet, also obviously a school record.
And who was second place in discus: Dean, of course, with a throw of 184 feet, 2 inches, so the two will meet again at Austin.
It’s a similar story for Kilgore’s Walton in the high jump. Walton lost to Gilmer’s Brendan Webb at the District 17-4A meet at Spring Hill, then beat him at the area meet. Webb returned serve again at regionals, topping Walton by just one inch, 6 feet 5 inches to 6 feet, four inches.
But they’ll have a rematch in front of everyone at the state track meet in about two weeks.
Competing in regionals at Bullard but missing out on a trip to state for Kilgore was Ruby Almanza, who PR’d in the girls 800 meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 21.55 seconds, but finished fourth – she needed a top-two finish to make the state meet.
Almanza also ran in the 1,600 meter, or mile, run, and finished seventh, a PR of 5 minutes, 34.42 seconds.
Running in that event, as well, was Henderson’s Giselle Alejandro, who finished fifth, a PR of 5 minutes, 25.95 seconds. Alejandro also ran in the two-mile run, but failed to qualify for state, also finishing fifth there (11 minutes, 37.18 seconds).
Makayla Sanders of Henderson ran in the prelims for the 100 meter hurdles representing the Lady Lions, and finished 14th, still a PR time of 16.92 seconds.
And on the boys side, both Samuel Warren and Zachery Gutierrez of Kilgore High School ran in the 800 meter run: Warren was 12th (2 minutes, 6.68 seconds, a PR) and Gutierrez, 13th (2 minutes, 7.83 seconds).
Henderson’s Ty White competed in the pole vault, finishing 11th (11 feet, 6 inches, a PR).
ETBlitz.com will have more on the state tournament and Nelson and Walton’s competition there as the meet gets closer.