AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 10-11—All the hype leading into the Texas State Meet surrounded Matthew Boling (he of the 9.98w you’ve probably heard about), but there was only one undisputed national record at the affair, and it came from the DeSoto girls in the 4 x 100. DeSoto’s foursome—juniors JaEra Griffin & Jayla Hollis and seniors Taylor Armstrong & Rosaline Effiong—passed the stick around the oval in 44.25. The quartet thus broke their own 44.44, set 2 weeks prior at Regionals (that mark broke Long Beach Poly’s 44.50, set in ’04).
With a championship on the line (both for the 4×1 itself and also the team title) the Eagles might have played it safe and just comfortably taken a win, as they were clearly a level above their competition. But lowering their record was the plan all long, Armstrong explained: “We came here to break it.” (Continued below)
DeSoto was loaded with talent: It also produced a 1:36.18 in the 4×2 (only 0.09 off its national leader) and 3:39.79 in the 4×4 (extending its national lead by 0.02). In individual events, Hollis and teammate Jalaysi’ya Smith went 1-2 in the 100H, their 13.40 and 13.42 good for Nos. 4 & 5 on the yearly national list. “Hard work and dedication and a good relationship with our coach,” are responsible for DeSoto’s dominance, said Effiong.
A quick chat with Taylor Armstrong and Rosaline Effiong, half of DeSoto’s national record-setting 4×100 (44.24) at Texas state meet. #UILState pic.twitter.com/UKhrpyLnIU
— Track and Field News (@tandfn) May 11, 2019
At the same moment DeSoto was making history in the 4×1, Jasmine Moore (Lake Ridge, Mansfield) was nearby on the runway, confirming her status as national leader in both horizontal jumps. Moore (like Matthew Boling a Georgia signee) shone brightest in the triple, with 5 of her 8 jumps falling in the 44-foot range, topped by a list-leading 44-10 that moved her to No. 3 on the all-time list, with the No. 4 performance (it also made her the national federation recordholder). Her worst jump would have won the competition, a fact all the more impressive considering 4 of her competitors exceeded 40-feet and substantially rewrote the national yearly list. “I was really looking forward to today,” Moore told the Dallas Morning News. “It was my last time, and I just really wanted to go out there and make myself proud. I was happy with it.”
Moore wasn’t too shabby in the long jump, either. She and Houston Memorial’s Claire Bryant entered the meet 1-2 on the yearly list, and that’s how they finished: Moore leaped to 20-7 on her first attempt, just 3 inches ahead of Bryant’s second-round effort.
TEXAS STATE MEET GIRLS RESULTS
Austin, May 10-11 (6A Division unless otherwise noted)—
100(1.3): 1. Tianna Randle (Summer Creek, Houston) 11.51; 2. Kenondra Davis (Trimble, Ft Worth) 11.60. 200 (1.0): 1. *Laila Owens (Bush, Richmond) 23.38; 2. Rosaline Effiong (DeSoto) 23.52; 3. Jayla Hollis (DeSoto) 23.52. 400: 1. **Dynasty McClennon (Summer Creek) 53.25.
800: 1. Jennelle Jaegerf-Darfakjy (Coronado, El Paso) 2:07.40. 5A 800: 1. **Bailey Goggans (Marble Falls) 2:07.10. 1600: 1. **Brynn Brown (Guyer, Denton) 4:48.37. 3200: 1. Brown 10:09.91. 100H(1.4): 1. *Jayla Hollis (DeSoto) 13.40; 2. **Jalaysi’ya (DeSoto) 13.42. 300H: 1. Tayler Armstrong (DeSoto) 41.19.
4 x100: 1. DeSoto 44.24 HSR (old HSR, 44.44, DeSoto ’19) (**JaEra Griffin, **Jayla Hollis, Taylor Armstrong, Rosaline Effiong);
2. Summer Creek 45.24; 3. Duncanville 45.59; 4, Eisenhower, Houston 45.66. 5A 4 x 100: 1. Lancaster 45.89.
4 x 200: 1. DeSoto 1:36.18; 2. Duncanville 1:37.78. 5A 4 x 200: 1. Lancaster 1:37.74.
4 x 400: 1. DeSoto 3:39.79 (HSL);
2. Clear Falls (League City) 3:42.58; 3. Duncanville 3:43.71.
5A HJ: 1. Nissi Kabongo (Liberty, Frisco) 5-10.
5A PV: 1. Riley Floerke (Gregory-Portland, Gregory) 13-0.
LJ: 1. Jasmine Moore (Lake Ridge, Mansfield) 20-7; 2. *Claire Bryant (Memorial, Houston) 20-4.
TJ: 1. Moore 44-10 (3, 4 HS) (44-1¾ [5, x HS] 44-10; 44-3¼ [x, 10 HS], 42-5½, 44-1½, 44-2¼);
2. Lorielle Daniel (Marcus, Flower Mound) 41-6; 3. *Michelle Graham (Cinco Ranch, Katy) 41-3; 4. Koi Johnson (Dickinson) 41-2¼.
SP: 1. *Paige Low (Lee, Midland) 45-11. DT: 1. Low 168-3.
