{mp3}080609-Top10Hightower{/mp3} From Saturday, April 26, 2008 Story by Chad Washington   Hightower track coach David Pollack had a feeling that his team was going to have a good day. But in the eyes of many, the Hurricanes had more than just a good day. Hightower’s relay teams won two relay events and finished second in another as they rolled to a second straight Region III-5A championship Saturday at Humble’s Turner Stadium.

  {mosimage} Erica Alexander has done it again. {mosimage} The senior from Clear Brook capped off an amazing high school track career with three gold medals from the 5A state track meet this past weekend at the University of Texas at Austin.

  AUSTIN - Hightower’s reign as the dominant team in Texas track and field came to a resounding halt Saturday night. Thanks to a sixth-place finish in one relay event and a disqualification in another, the Hurricanes could not defend its state championship at the 5A state track meet at the University of Texas at Austin.

  Both Blake Shaw and Erica Alexander have something to prove at the 5A state track and field championships in Austin this weekend. Both are returning to state from last year’s meet.

It’s hard to pick only one star athlete from the Hightower track team. All of them are strong and gifted, and each has a share in making the Hurricanes a strong force in Texas high school track and field.   Seniors Isaiah Sweeney, Cleon Davis, Clyde Lee and Robert Simmons, with juniors Darius Johnson, Trayvion Clark and Kokulo Kallen, went through the competition last weekend at Turner Stadium like a hot knife through butter.

    All Pearland's girls track and field team had to do was believe. Thanks to strong performances in the hurdles, the Oilers pulled away from the pack to win the team title at the Region III-5A track meet Saturday at Turner Stadium in Humble.

      Hightower track coach David Pollack had a feeling that his team was going to have a good day.   But in the eyes of many, the Hurricanes had more than just a good day. Hightower’s relay teams won two relay events and finished second in another as they rolled to a second straight Region III-5A championship Saturday at Humble’s Turner Stadium.

    The Alief Taylor girls got off to a good start in the field events at the Region III-5A track and field meet Friday night at Turner Stadium in Humble.   A couple of second-place finishes have the Lions atop of the team standings after the first day of competition.   Senior Jennifer Newke was second in the girls high jump behind Tanika Birch of Mayde Creek, who jumped a distance of 5 feet and 4 inches.

          The first day of the Region III-5A track and field meet saw a good start for the Hightower relay teams and strong performances in the field events.   Held at Turner Stadium in Humble, the Hightower 400-meter relay team put up a strong time of 41.12 seconds in their preliminary heat to qualify for Saturday afternoon’s final.

      Midway through the third leg of the 4-by-400 relay Tuesday night, Mayde Creek’s Kaise White had enough confidence to save his kick against Alief Taylor’s Gannon Mack. “I didn’t want to risk anything,” White said, meaning he didn’t want to use too much energy too soon. As it turned out, his gamble made history. White passed Mack with a few strides remaining in his leg, then Dijon Johnson ran a splendid fourth leg to win the relay in 3:21.17 and deliver the Rams their first District 18-5A boys track and field championship on a blustery evening at Cinco Ranch. Mayde Creek, which entered the final race trailing Taylor by 3.5 points and needed to beat them to win the title, finished with 117 points to Taylor’s 112.5. “We got it,” said Johnson, who won both hurdles races.

  Alief Taylor’s Morgan Pressley won two field events Monday to stand out after the first day of the District 18-5A track and field championships at Cinco Ranch. Pressley won the long jump (18-10.5) and triple jump (38-10) to pace a solid effort for Taylor.

    District 17-5A's track and field teams didn’t let a little wind slow them down Wednesday night at Cypress Falls.

Even with a surprise turn of weather, the boys and girls of District 19-5A raced on as the district finals never ceased Friday night at Aldine High School's Smith Stadium.

  In a year where Austin Bussing is attempting feats he once couldn't envision, the Katy Taylor senior adopted a different approach on one of the season's biggest stages. At the 57th Annual Texas Southern University Relays two weeks ago, Bussing and coach Chad Collier discussed Bussing running a "tactical mile," one in which he would concentrate on positioning in hopes of a high finish. The result was what Bussing considered arguably his best race of the season.

  Tuesday marked the beginning of track and field’s second season – the postseason. Many area teams are sending representatives to the Texas Relays this week, but because that and many district meets collide most teams used the Texas Southern University Relays two weeks ago as their district primer. The following is a glance at the area’s district meets and possible championship contenders. The 5A regional meet is scheduled for April 25 and 26 in Humble. DISTRICT MEETS AT A GLANCE 17-5A WHEN: Next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. WHERE: Cypress Falls. WHO TO LOOK FOR: Among the championship favorites on the boys side will be Cypress Falls’ Blake Shaw, a USC commit who placed second in the University 800 at the recent TSU Relays and is running about 4:10 in the 1,600.

         As the day went on at the Cy-Fair Invitational Friday, more than 20 boys and girls track teams were in heated competition on a quest to bringing home the hardware.

{mosimage} Decked out in black sunglasses with a palpable air of confidence about him, Travis Nollsch was in his element Saturday. The Langham Creek senior proceeded to set one of the nation’s best times in the 400-meter dash, running 48.51 seconds and placing second at the 57th Annual Texas Southern University Relays.

      With all due respects to its area foes, Elsik’s girls track and field team expected to be at or near the top of the field at this weekend’s Texas Southern University Relays. It’s the Rams’ respect of their tradition that has them among the area’s best – again. Elsik finished fourth overall, its 54 points far behind Lancaster (105) and Dallas Skyline (98) but only 11 points shy of third-place Lamar. The Rams’ weekend was highlighted by its 4-by-200 relay team, which ran 1:37.98 – second-best nationally.

      Competition was high this year in all events at the 57th Annual Texas Southern University Relays, especially Saturday for the final rounds of all events.

          Russell Shepard didn't compete in the long jump at the 57th Annual Texas Southern University Relays until after 5 p.m.

        More than 25 private schools were on hand in large numbers for the 41st Annual St.

              While some of the public schools canceled their events due to the weather, the private schools were on hand in large numbers for the 41st Annual St.

              The sun was shining Friday but it was really cold on the Memorial High School track for the annual Will Taylor Relays.

  The track programs from Houston-area schools Fort Bend Hightower, Clear Brook, and Cypress Falls were all represented in the IAAF World Youth Championships held in Ostrava, Czech Republic on July 11-15. 

      The 2007 AAU Gulf District Track and Field Championships had its second qualifying meets June 29 and 30 at Klein High School.

      The AAU Track Gulf Association held its 13th Annual Sonic Relays at Klein High School Saturday morning.

    The Texas Heat Track Club in Austin, TX hosted their 2007 Annual Invitational Track & Field Meet on Saturday.

The 2007 UIL State Track and Field Championships took place this past weekend in Austin, Texas.

      The sun blazed over Humble’s Turner Stadium Saturday afternoon for the Region III track and field finals.

    Houston Christian High School was the host of the 2007 TAPPS Regional track meet Friday afternoon.

    The St.

Preliminaries Finals Friday evening at the Lutheran South Academy track, the TAPPS 4 5A track finals took place with the competition as hot as the weather.

      Field events and running prelims action for TAPPS District 4 5A started with a bang Thursday evening at the Lutheran South Academy track.

          *All photos by AC Photographer Hassan A. District 19-5A completed its track meet Friday at Spring Branch Memorial’s night with a bang.

After a huge turn out at the Texas relays in Austin, teams are back at it again this week competing for district titles.

    The preliminary District 19-5A running events at the Spring Branch Memorial track Wednesday afternoon has already set the tone for some hot racing action to take place Friday night.

      As the District 19-5A track meet finished its first day at the Spring Branch ISD track at Memorial on Tuesday, the Eisenhower girls and the Nimitz boys are the top teams heading into the preliminary running events. The field events for the district started with a bang and all medal winners will advance to the Region III competition next weekend.

  Easter weekend marked the 80th running of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, an event held each spring on the University of Texas campus in Austin.  The meet began as a small, men-only competition in 1925 but has grown to include not only college and university men but also collegiate women, as well as male and female high school athletes, and an invitational division for Olympic-caliber athletes.  Today, the event is recognized worldwide as one of the largest and most prestigious track and field meets of its kind. The Texas Relays were established by Clyde Littlefield, who was the head track and field coach for UT at the time of the meet’s inception, and Theo Bellmont, who served as UT’s athletic director from 1913 to 1952.  The contributions of both men to collegiate athletics were legendary long before the founding of the Relays.  Littlefield had been the most successful track and field coach in the country since the beginning of his tenure at Texas.  Bellmont served a major role in the founding of the Southwest Conference in 1915 and was the driving force behind the establishment of the rivalry between the University of Texas and Texas A&M.  Together, the two men built a track and field phenomenon that would transcend the sport.  In the third running of the Relays, Littlefield and Bellmont invited the Tarahumara Indian tribe of Mexico to participate in a special race.  Known for their endurance and ability to run long distances, three tribe members raced each other barefoot on gravel roads all the way from San Antonio to Memorial Stadium in Austin, the home of the Texas Relays for over 70 years.  The 89-mile race lasted almost 15 hours and resulted in a tie. The myth and prestige of the Texas Relays grew so much that legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne traveled to Austin two years later to serve as referee for the meet. Now, eight decades after the initial running, the Relays continue to attract the best high school, college, and Olympic athletes in the country.  The event’s history and mystique is not lost on the participants, nor the spectators. A group of John Tyler High School supporters noted that winning at the Texas Relays is the ultimate accomplishment for a high school track and field athlete.  “It’s bigger than winning state,” said one parent, whose daughter ran in the 4 x 200 meter relay.  “The history and tradition of the Texas Relays make this a dream come true for our kids,” she said.  “They’d rather win this meet than any other meet that they participate in all year.” That sentiment would please the Relays’ founders, whose greatest visions were not to create one of the world’s most renowned track and field meets but to forever change the lives of those who dared to compete in it.

  Day 1 Day 2     The Texas Relays brings out the best of the best.

    Day 1 Day 2   SATURDAY   Saturday’s action at the Texas Relays was cold and wet, but yet brave.

Even though the weather may have been bad for the Victor Lopez Bayou Classic Track Meet at Rice University, it did not stop many of Texas’ most talented high school and college track athletes. One of the runners present was Angleton’s DJ Monroe.

    Friday and Saturday at the Rice Track Stadium the 25th Annual Victor Lopez Bayou Classic took place where high schools and colleges from all over Texas competed.

Dylan Roberts achieved a personal best at the Klein Relays last Friday night.  He ran the 1600 meters with a time of 4:22.8, a new Stratford High School record.  This time breaks the previous record of 4:24.1, set by Nick Roberts (no relation) in 2001.

      Thirty-six girls and boys track programs were present at the Houston Christian Relays Saturday, and the meet featured several of Greater Houston’s class 5A, 4A, and private school teams. The track meet was broken into two divisions, 5A and 4A.

The co-ed Klein Relays took place Friday and Saturday at Klein High School.

  Sunny skies and a cool breeze was the setting in Pearland for the Oilers Relays Friday.

      The John Cooper School hosted the Dragon Invitational Friday and Saturday, which is the weekend prior to many schools’ Spring Break.

With more than 35 boys and girls track programs present, the Clear Creek Relays took place all day Friday and it featured several of Greater Houston’s premier talent. Dulles, Cy Falls, Texas City, Cy Springs, and Hightower were only a few of the many powerhouse programs that were present. Results for this track meet were not available at press time, but log on to The Athlete’s Connection for of the top finishers on Saturday.

  BOYS EVENT CHAMPIONS Shot put: Rodrick Davis, Eisenhower Discus: Michael Bonner, Alief Hastings Long jump: Sam McGuffie, Cy-Fair Triple jump: Curtis Jefferson, Cypress Ridge High jump: Sam McGuffie, Cy-Fair Pole vault: Justin Matsumura, Cy-Fair 3200: Tyler Johnson, Morton Ranch 400 relay: Alief Hastings 800: DeAndre Thompson, Alief Taylor 110 hurdles: Sam McGuffie, Cy-Fair 100: Troy Woolfolk, Dulles 400: J.R.

While Texas’ track season is in full swing, Memorial’s 4x400 team is making their mark in one of the fastest cities in America.