2019 Texas Track & Field Year in Review

By all accounts, 2019 was a year to remember in Texas Track & Field. At both the high school and collegiate levels, names we’re familiar with grew into legendary status, while many had breakout seasons and became part of the weekly discussion. Others, as we anticipate annually, flew onto our collective radar for the first time; these are tomorrow’s stars, Texas’ next great track and field athletes.

2019 is filled with drama and intrigue at all levels, so let’s look at some of the stories that kept our attention. In no particular order; rather, off the top of my head:

• FasTrak Athletix and the University of Houston

• Bella and Anthony

• Matthew Boling and Jasmine Moore: Gatorade National High School Track & Field Athletes of the Year

• UIL All-Time Marks Set

• TAPPS All-Time Marks Set

• SPC Re-Cap

• Who Moved into the Texas All-Time Top 5?

• Austin Hosts an Amazing NCAA DI National Championship

• No Branson Bragg

• DeSoto Sprints to a National Record

• Clyde Hart Retires

FasTrak Athletix and the University of Houston

On December 18, 2018, the University of Houston issued a press release to announce a 10-year agreement with Net Lease Capital to house a $2 million, 6-lane, 200-meter banked track with an 8-lane straightaway for sprints and hurdles and two runways for the horizontals and two vault runways.

Said Head Coach Leroy Burrell: “It has been a goal of mine to someday get a banked track in the facility during my career here. I'm excited to say that it will happen in a few days now thanks to the generous donation and partnership with Net Lease Capital, FasTrak, Doug, Thor and Steve. I also would be remiss if I didn't thank our athletics administration for sharing our vision and helping us to make a dream a reality. Today is a game-changing day for our program. Our current and future student-athletes will benefit greatly from the state of the art facility we will have and will continue the tradition of excellence that is Houston Cougar Track & Field.”

The track, now one of two indoor tracks in the United States that meet IAAF standards and is certified as such, proved game-changing, as multiple high school and collegiate personal bests were set along with several facility times and marks. The 2019-20 schedule is already available at the FasTrak Athletix website (https://fastrakathletix.com) and on the 2020 Meet Schedule page of the TTFCA website - https://www.ttfca.org/2020-meet-calendar.

From FasTrak Athletix Twitter

Bella and Anthony

It seems like an annual happening – a vaulter (or two) soars to new heights, building expectations for the future, be it the remainder of high school or the anticipation of a great college career. This year is no different, as two freshmen from Woodsboro who train at the Vault Barn with Coach Kevin Hall garnered the accolades.

Bella Coscetti

On January 12, 2019, at the Arkansas High School Invitational, Bella cleared 12-10 to set the national freshmen mark. Makayla Linebarger of Nevada and Mackenzie Hayward of Flower Mound owned the prior mark of 12-09. Bella ended the indoor campaign ranked #1 in Texas and #19 in the US at 12-10. Outdoors, she PR’d at 12-06 for Texas #13; no doubt, bright days ahead.

Anthony Meacham

At the Region 4-2A meet, Anthony cleared 16-01, the #1 mark for freshmen in the US. Among all grade levels, he finished the season ranked #9 in Texas and #41 in the nation. It’s apparent the Vault Barn will be a staple of pole vault production for years to come.

Courtesy MySouTex.com

From Twitter

Matthew Boling and Jasmine Moore: Gatorade National High School Track & Field Athletes of the Year

While Jasmine built her reputation over four years of winning medals and setting national age-group records in the triple jump, Matthew Boling, it appears, became an overnight – and viral – sensation.

Jasmine Moore

Jasmine collects medals and accolades as if they were on sale: multiple age-group triple jump records, four straight TTFCA Field Athlete of the Year honors, UIL long and triple jump golds (4 each), and recognition by Gatorade in 2018 and 2019 – this year culminating in National honors.

At the UIL State meet this year, Jasmine finally broke through: she jumped 44-10 (wind legal) to set the all-time Texas mark from Ychlindria Spears. If you remember, at the 2018 state meet, she tripled 45-04.75, but the wind-aided effort denied her record. Now she stands alone.

Matthew Boling

The snowball started March 15th and 16th at the TSU Relays when he ran a 10.28 100 in the prelims and then a 10.22 in the finals. At Texas Relays, he ran 10.21 in the prelims and 10.20 in the finals. Boling lowered his time to 10.11 at his 6A district meet, and then he ran the fastest-ever all-conditions 100 in high school history at the Regional 3-6A meet: 9.98.

Boling was now a viral sensation. His explosive 100 meters was broadcast and rebroadcast everywhere; rarely does a high school sprinter garner such national and international attention for 10 seconds of work. On June 22, at the USATF U20 National Championships, Boling ran a 10.13 wind-legal 100 to tie his wind-legal time set at the UIL State Championships, tying him for #1 all-time in Texas history.

In what may be his best event, the 200, Boling moved to #3 all-time in Texas when he ran a 20.36 in the finals of the USATF U20 National Championships. As well, his 26-03.50 wind-legal long jump at the Texas Relays ranks #3 all-time in Texas.

For their outstanding seasons, Boling and Moore were named Gatorade National High School Track & Field Athletes of the Year.

Both pictures from Matthew's and Jasmine's Twitters

UIL All-Time Marks Set

The #1 high school meet in the state – and quite possibly the nation – did not disappoint. In addition to the multiple PRs, four all-time UIL marks were established.

Sophomore distance sensation Brynn Brown of Denton Guyer smashed the 3200 time set in 2013 by Kingwood’s Sandie Raines (10:13.81.) Brown thrilled the crowd, running 10:09.91.

Matthew Boling of Houston Strake Jesuit, already a viral sensation – and quite inexperienced in the 100 – set the all-time UIL mark and tied the all-time Texas mark, blistering the track in a wind-legal 10.13.

With five of six jumps exceeding 44-00 (and all wind-legal), it was the second attempt that allowed Jasmine Moore to breathe – 44-10 – and the all-time UIL and state of Texas mark.

And of course, DeSoto’s 4x100 squad lowered its National Record time of 44.44 (set at the Regional meet) to 44.24 – JaEra Griffin, Jayla Hollis, Taylor Armstrong, and Rosaline Effiong etched their names into the annals of high school track and field.

TAPPS All-Time Marks Set

While in the shadow of UIL, several student-athletes produced all-time marks, among them Bishop Dunne’s 4x100, which lowered the time to 41.54. Hali Murphy, a freshman from Austin’s St. Dominic Savio, lowered the all-time 400 meter time to 55.59, and Brynn King of Tomball Concordia Lutheran – on her way to Duke – raised the bar in pole vault to 13-01.

SPC Re-Cap

The Kinkaid School Girl’s team captured back-to-back titles, while the St. John’s Boys won for the third time in four years.

Led by Genson Hooper Price, a Northwestern University football signee, and Collin Fullen, St. John’s outpaced runner-up St. Mark’s by 11.5 points while the Kinkaid squad totaled 198 points, 72.5 points better than runner-up Greenhill. Kinkaid was paced by Jalen Elrod, Emma Sykes, Marilyn Nwora, Audrey Ho, and Lydia Patterson.

Who Moved into the Texas All-Time Top 5?

In a year overflowing with memories, several athletes placed their name into the Texas All-Time Top 5. Here’s who cracked the list:

Girl’s 100 – Kenondra Davis – Fort Worth Trimble Tech – 11.36 - #5

Girl’s 200 – Rosaline Effiong – DeSoto – 23.21 - #5

Girl’s 800 – Sasha Longmire – Cedar Ridge – 2:06.54 - #4

Bailey Goggans – Marble Falls – 2:06.61 - #5

Girl’s 3200 – Brynn Brown – Denton Guyer – 9:54.07 - #1 (converted from 2 Mile}

Girl’s 4x100 – DeSoto – 44.24 - #1 U.S.

Girl’s 4x800 – DeSoto – 9:14.70 - #4

Girl’s Triple – Jasmine Moore – Mansfield Lake Ridge – 44-10

Girl’s 2K Steeple – Emile Cole – Klein – 6:54.63 - #1

Adoette Vaughan – Hockaday – 6:58.34 - #2

Boy’s 100 – Matthew Boling – Houston Strake Jesuit – 10.13 - #1

Boy’s 200 – Matthew Boling – Houston Strake Jesuit – 20.36 - #2

Boy’s 3200 – Graydon Morris – Aledo – 8:47.44 - #2 (converted from 2 Mile)

Carter Cheeseman – Fort Worth Christian – 8:50.36 - #4 (converted from 2 Mile)

Boy’s 4x100 – Fort Bend Marshall – 39.99 - #5

Boy’s 4x200 – Fort Bend Marshall – 1:23.38 - #3

Boy’s Long Jump – Matthew Boling – 26-03.50 - #3

Boy’s Javelin – Izac Canchalo – Refugio – 207-00 - #3

Boy’s 2K Steeple – Will Muirhead – Lucas Lovejoy – 6:03.19 - #4

***Javelin and Steeple are not scored events for UIL, SPC or TAPPS. The 4x800 is a scored event in SPC.

TTFCA

Austin Hosts an Amazing NCAA DI National Championship

Wow!

Yes, the temperatures were hot, but the track was blazin’, and the results proved as such.

10.75 (Sha’Carri)

19 wins, 0 losses (Bryce)

12.98 (Grant)

Distance races down to thousandths of a second!

9.86 / 19.73 (Divine)

With Hayward Field under construction, Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of UT played host to the NCAA DI Outdoor National Championships, and while many feared the heat, the heat proved more effective on the track, as this may have been the most exciting track and field meet in quite some time.

Names we knew grew into legends: Sha’Carri Richardson, Grant Holloway, Bryce Hoppel, Divine Oduduru, Chris Nilsen, Ashtin Zamzow, Duke Kicinski, and Adrian Piperi. Among the amazing individual performances, let’s not forget that the Texas Tech Men’s team won the title over runner-up Florida.

The 2020 NCAA DIs are back in Austin, so a repeat performance may be in store.

All pictures from TTFCA

No Branson Bragg

Entering the 2019 season, Branson Bragg was Texas’ top returning discuss thrower at 190-04. The Stanford football commit was on the verge of joining the exclusive 200-foot club, yet rotator cuff surgery forced him to the sidelines. Three throwers exceeded 190 feet in 2019, led by Jacob Mechler of Andrews – 191-05.

DeSoto Sprints to a National Record

At the 6A Region I meet in Arlington, the DeSoto foursome of JaEra Griffin (sophomore), Jayla Hollis (junior), Taylor Armstrong (senior), and Rosaline Effiong (senior) broke the 15-year old mark set by Long Beach Poly – 44.50 had been reduced to 44.44.

At the UIL State Championships, the same foursome in the same order broke its own national record, lowering the time to 44.24.

Clyde Hart Retires

To read about Coach Hart’s retirement and all his accomplishments, click to read Jerry Hill’s tribute on BaylorBears.com - https://baylorbears.com/news/2019/4/17/track-field-more-than-a-quarter-miler-coach.aspx