AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 14–16 — The first thought after senior Andrew Jones (Collins, Klein) flew across the finish line in the Class 6A 110 hurdles at the Texas state meet was that something didn’t quite look right.
He was clearly moving, there didn’t need to be a clock to know that, but there did need to be a clock to explain why Tyler Key (Richardson, Berkner) was just a lean behind someone having the greatest outdoor high school hurdles season in history.
Yes, the clock explained it. Key, also a senior, had just run a 13.05 (alas, windy at 2.6), the fastest all-conditions time ever by someone other than Jones. And the clock showed Jones at 13.01 (a-c: x, =2), slower in prep history only than his 12.97 earlier this year. The 3rd-place finisher, Katy’s Cadyn Key, ran a 13.23 to grab the final medal spot in a race where 13.67 was 6th.
So Tyler Key didn’t leave with a gold, but there was some consolation in being a player in what has to rank as the greatest (windy) HS 110 hurdles race ever.
“It is surreal,” Key said. “The same thing happened to me at Nike as well [his 7.68 over the indoor 60 hurdles placed him 4th]. You run No. 4 all-time, all-conditions and get second, it’s crazy. That just means it was a great race. I love Andrew, I can’t wait to race him again in the SEC.”
Key will do that for Kentucky while Jones is headed to Texas A&M.
But sadly, there was the wind, which became the big story of Saturday’s final day when three potential High School Records were blown away.
“That’s always disappointment because there’s a little asterisk next to the time,” said Jones, who pointed out he tempered his celebration when he crossed the finish line because he wasn’t positive he won. “It would have been a national record if there was 0.6 less wind. It’s kind of a bummer to see,” Jones said.
The what-if was a little smaller in the 100 and 200 because the wind was so much heavier.
The focus coming in was also on who was missing in those races, as San Antonio’s Tate Taylor, who set the High School Record of 9.92 in last year’s state 100 as a junior, skipped his senior year of competition, as did Jake Odey-Jordan (Clemens, Schertz). He had run a 10.16 earlier this year. In faraway Japan, in the Tokyo CT meet on Sunday of the state meet weekend Odey-Jordan dashed 10.07 with legal wind in a 100 heat and Taylor sped 10.04 in the final.
National girls sprint leaders Mariah and Mia Maxwell of Atascocita also opted not to compete for their school this year.
Texas, though, is always going to have fast high schoolers and the biggest names left were spectacular. In the 100, Dillon Mitchell (King, Houston), the 4th-place finisher a year ago as a frosh in that epic 100, blistered a 9.92 with a tailwind of 4.0.
In the 200, the most anticipated race of the meet, senior Blake Hamilton (Tompkins, Katy) ran a 19.86 with a 4.6 aiding wind. The fastest ever all-conditions half lap, it topped Mitchell’s 20.50 and a 20.51 from junior Kaleb Samuels (Shadow Creek, Pearland).
“Whoooo, I thought I was dreaming for a second,” said Hamilton. “I couldn’t believe it.”
All of that meant a 3A runner, Camden Capehart of Winnsboro (with an enrollment of about 450) ended up being the sprinter who took the national lead. Running on Thursday, the meet’s first day, Capehart — who is headed to Mississippi State as a wide receiver in the fall — blistered a 10.02 with a legal wind (1.9) after coming to the meet with a 10.32 best.
Texas does have a bench, and by the end of the final-day fireworks, the runners who were there ended up owning the headlines over those who weren’t.
TEXAS STATE BOYS RESULTS
6A Division
100(4.0): 1. **Dillon Mitchell (King, Houston) 9.92w (a-c: x, =4 HS);
2. Charvis Tubbs (Humble) 10.03w; 3. **Chinweoke Onwuchekwa (Cypress Springs, Cypress) 10.12w; 4. *Tomi Tanski (The Woodlands) 10.15w.
200(4.6): 1. Blake Hamilton (Tompkins, Katy) 19.86w (a-c HSL) (a-c: 1, 1 HS);
2. Mitchell 20.50w.
400: 1. Joshua Shelton (Pearland) 45.86.
3200: 1. Caden Leonard (Carroll, Southlake) 8:48.81.
110H(2.6): 1. Andrew Jones (Collins, Klein) 13.01w (a-c: x, =2 HS); 2. Tyler Key (Richardson, Berkner) 13.05w (a-c: 2, 4 HS).
300H: 1. Jones 36.00.
4 x 100: 1. Tompkins 40.12; 2. Cypress Springs 40.17.
4 x 200: 1. Shoemaker, Killeen 1:23.19 (7 HS).
4 x 400: 1. Lamar, Houston 3:11.47.
PV: 1. *Ben Haywood (Memorial, Tomball) 17-6. LJ: 1. Jaylen Frye (Northwest Nelson) 25-0w. TJ: 1. *Jacob Anthony (Bell, Hurst) 51-1w. SP: 1. Micaiah Canady (Bell) 65-11½.
5A Division
100(2.0): 1. Justin Stewart (Arlington Heights, Ft Worth) 10.23; 2. Jayden Kennedy (Fossil Ridge, Keller) 10.24. 200(3.0): 1. Kennedy 20.54w; 2. Stewart 20.63w. 4 x100: 1. Timberview 40.22.
HJ: 1. Micah Lockett (Nacogdoches) 7-0. TJ: 1. D.J. Seaborn (Liberty Hill) 51-¼w. SP: 1. C.J. Williams (Heritage, Frisco) 67-3½. DT: 1. *Justin Bordelon (Liberty Hill) 208-6; 2. Williams 200-7.
3A Division
100(1.9): 1. Camden Capehart (Winnsboro) 10.02 (HSL) (7, 10 HS).
200(2.4): 1. Capehart 20.48. 110H(5.2): 1. Avonte Earl (Worthing, Houston) 13.28. 300H: 1. Earl 36.76.
PV: 1. Max Garvin (New, Diana) 17-2¼. TJ: 1. Kingston Sheffield (Gladewater) 51-10½w (50-4¾).
TEXAS STATE GIRLS RESULTS
6A Division
100(4.0): 1. Lily Pierrot (Lancaster) 11.14w; 2. Sanyah Keeton (Duncanville) 11.20w. 200(2.9): 1. Keaton 22.74w; 2. *McKenzie Roberson (Shadow Creek, Pearland) 22.87w. 400: 1. *Carrie Cresser (Jersey Village, Houston) 52.85. 800: 1. McKale Lee (Taylor, Houston) 2:08.69.
1600: 1. *Adeline Bennett (Flower Mound) 4:49.56. 100H(4.1): 1. Naomi Booker (Tomball) 13.32w; 2. **Morgan Olschewsky (Plano) 13.36.
300H: 1. **Amariah Molden (Magnolia) 41.10; 2. Olschewsky 41.18; 3. Booker 41.28.
4 x 100: 1. Lancaster 43.99 (x, 5 HS). 4 x 200: 1. Lancaster 1:33.95 (HSL) (8 HS).
4 x 400: 1. Duncanville 3:41.52.
LJ: 1. Caitlyn Cavitt (Martin, Arlington) 20-7w; 2. Eguonome Akpobassa (Bridgeland) 20-3½w. TJ: 1. Akpobassa 41-11¼w (40-9). PV: 1. *Carla Angueira-Colombani (Seven Lakes, Katy) 13-3. SP: 1. Ainsley Bramer (Coppell) 45-¾. DT: 1. *Naila Ugoh (Cain, Houston) 163-8.
5A Division
100(2.1): 1. **Zahria Bernard (Red Oak) 11.32w. 200(1.5): 1. Bernard 23.07; 2. Ashtyn Lewis (Iowa Colony, Rosharon) 23.19. 400: 1. Lewis 52.81. 100H(3.0): 1. **Shyla Boydstun (Comal Pieper, San Antonio) 13.63w.
4 x 100: 1. Marshall, Fort Bend 45.54. 4 x 200: 1. Marshall 1:36.04. 4 x 400: 1. Marshall 3:42.65.
TJ: 1. Lauren Carrothers (Walnut Grove, Prosper) 41-1. SP: 1. Briana Davis (Red Oak) 46-3¼. DT: 1. *Brielle Lawson (Lamar, Rosenberg) 157-10; 2. Davis 156-2.
