What to Watch: Texas (UIL) 5A/2A Track and Field State Championship preview
The top sprinters, jumpers, distance runners and throwers from around the Lone Star State will flock to Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin this weekend for the Texas (UIL) high school track and field state championships.
The University Interscholastic League’s three-day state championship weekend will kick off with the Class 5A and 2A state track and field meet on Friday (May 13) with field events slated to start at 9 a.m. and track events scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Stay with SBLive Texas throughout the weekend for complete coverage of the Texas high school track and field state championships including previews, photo galleries, video highlights, results and more.
Here’s a closer look at what to watch on Day 2 of the Texas (UIL) high school track and field state championships when the top 5A-2A athletes hit the track:
CEDAR PARK SOPHOMORE EYES MULTIPLE RECORDS IN RETURN TO STATE MEET
Isabel Conde De Frankenberg has been virtually unstoppable since she first stepped onto a high school track.
Cedar Park’s standout distance runner enjoyed a breakout freshman campaign last year that culminated in a second-place finish in the 5A girls 800-meter run (2 minutes, 9.21 seconds) and a first-place finish in the 3,200-meter run (10:26.49) at the 2021 UIL Track and Field State Championships.
Remarkably, she has become an even more dominant presence and a sophomore star this season.
Conde De Frankenberg returns to the state meet to run in three distance races — the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs — and owns the top qualifying time in all three events among Class 5A girls state finalists. In fact, the sophomore has won every individual distance race that she has participated in this year.
Furthermore, Conde De Frankenberg appears to just be hitting her stride recently after posting her top times of the season in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the Region IV-5A meet.
She set a personal best for her sophomore season in the 3,200-meters by crossing the finish line in 10:31.22, clocking in about 5 seconds behind her PR set during her state title win in the event last year.
Conde De Frankenberg was one of only five girls distance runners to qualify for the 5A state meet with a sub 11-minute time in the 3,200-meter run at regional meets.
Her qualifying time was more than 15 seconds faster than her next fastest competitor, making her an early favorite to repeat as the 5A state champion in the event. She also set personal records in both the 800 and 1,600 to lock up a pair of regional titles.
Conde De Frankenberg ran the 800m in 2:06.53 and finished the 1,600m in 4:49.31, which should help give her an inside track at returning to the podium and suggest she could be on the verge of breaking multiple state records.
The Cedar Park sophomore will inherit a new 5A state-meet record if she can shave a little more than a second off her qualifying time in the 1,600-meter run to top the 4:48.16 mark set by Leander Rouse’s Madie Boreman in 2013.
Her biggest opportunity to rewrite record books, though, will be during the 800-meter run despite a deep field that includes another three 5A girls distance runners who clocked qualifying times faster than 2:10.
If she can replicate her performance in the 800 at regionals, Conde De Frankenberg can lock down the Class 5A state record (2:07.39) and beat the top mark (2:06.71) among all classifications in UIL state meet history.
MESQUITE POTEET’S SMALLWOOD, FB MARSHALL’S BRINKLEY TO CHALLENGE STATE RECORDS IN 110-METER, 300-METER HURDLES
Mesquite Poteet’s Kendrick Smallwood and Fort Bend Marshall’s Chris Brinkley will square off for the title of fastest hurdler in 5A and a place in the UIL record book when they compete in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.
Brinkley and Smallwood enter the state meet with the top two times in both events among all the 5A boys who qualified. The senior duo also boasts two of the nation’s three fastest finishes in the 300-meter hurdles this season, trailing only Langham Creek’s Alex Ornelas (36.20 seconds) in Class 6A.
Smallwood, who won individual state titles in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles last year, has upped his game this season in pursuit of two of the most elusive records in Texas high school track and field.
Mesquite Poteet’s senior hurdler has secured first or second place in both events at every meet he has competed in so far this season. He logged a 13.49-second finish to win the 110-meter hurdles and ran the 300-meter hurdles in 36.54 seconds, which netted him second place, at the Region II-5A meet in late April.
Brinkley, meanwhile, set a new PR by running the 300-meter hurdles in 36.25 seconds to capture first place at the Region III-5A meet and took second place in the 110-meter hurdles by clocking in at 13.96 seconds.
But if both senior hurdlers can post their quickest times of the season at the 5A state meet, then they may claim a state or national record in addition to an individual state title.
Smallwood set PRs in each event during the Clyde Littlefield Relays in late March, recording times of 36.32 seconds in the 300 and 13.36 seconds in the 110. For more than a month and until relatively recently, Brinkley owned the speediest 300-meter hurdles time in the country when he finished in 36.27 seconds at Rice’s Victor Lopez Classic.
Despite the competition in the 110-meter hurdles final that includes five boys entering the 5A state meet with sub 14-second qualifying times, Smallwood should have the best chance to legitimately challenge the 5A state meet record (13.40 seconds) and national record (13.34) set by Beaumont Ozen’s Tony Brown and Houston Worthing’s Dennis Brantley in 2013 and 1980, respectively.
Brinkley and Smallwood are also each within reach of eclipsing the 300-meter hurdles state record (35.33) set by Robert Griffin III at Copperas Cove in 2007. Each of them could claim a new state meet record for all classification levels by trimming a second off their PRs in the event earlier this year.
FORT BEND MARSHALL, LANCASTER GIRLS HOPE FOR RECORD 13TH TEAM STATE TITLE IN 5A
Lancaster and Fort Bend Marshall shared the 5A girls team state title in 2021 after ending the state meet tied with 46 points.
The Lady Buffs and Tigers will likely be the top contenders for another state championship this year with each squad boasting several state qualifiers in many events.
Although junior Kialia Claiborne will be the only member of her team competing individually at the state meet this year when she runs the 300-meter hurdles, Lancaster will be considered an early favorite in the 5A relays after claiming regional titles with its 4x100-, 4x200- and 4x400-meter relay teams.
The Tigers took first place in the 4x200 and third in the 4x400 at the UIL state championships last year.
Fort Bend Marshall, meanwhile, has qualified each of its three girls relay teams for the 5A state meet in addition to top-flight state championship contenders in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, 400-meter dash and long jump.
With a number of boys state qualifiers too, Marshall also has a shot to become the first school to win boys and girls team state championships in the same year since Dallas Carter in 2018.
Lancaster, on the other hand, has won boys and girls team state titles in the same year four times (2003-04, 2008 and 2012) before the school moved up to Class 5A.
NOTABLE CLASS 5A ATHLETES TO WATCH:
Grapevine senior Walker St. John — The North Carolina signee, who qualified for state in every distance running event, owns one of the top three qualifying times in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs and won a state championship in the 1,600 last year.
Manor senior Che Nwabuko — A decorated sprinter and Pitt football signee, Nwabuko holds the top time (10.44 seconds) among all 5A state qualifiers in the 100-meter dash.
Fort Bend Marshall senior Tairah Johnson — On top of earning first-place finishes in the 100-meter hurdles (13.73) and long jump (19’11.5”), Johnson also helped Fort Bend Marshall’s girls 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams advance to state.
McAllen Memorial junior Ayden Granados — Granados makes his first state championships appearance and highlights a collection of the RGV’s top distance runners with the quickest qualifying times in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.
Lucas Lovejoy sophomore Kailey Littlefield — The Leopards’ standout distance runner punched her ticket back to the 5A state meet and should contend for multiple medals as one of fastest state qualifiers in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs.
Frisco Wakeland junior Hannah Pfiffner — Pfiffner won the 5A girls high jump state championship as a sophomore last year and has taken first place in the event at every meet she has competed in this season.
McKinney North junior Alex Harber — Harber will look to win a pole vault gold medal for the second straight season in her return trip to state and potentially add another medal in the 100-meter hurdles.
Laredo Martin senior Melanie Duron — Duron took home an individual state title in shot put last year as the Gateway City’s lone representative at the UIL state championships, and she holds the top mark among all 5A state qualifiers in the event this year.
Midlothian sophomore Madeline Fey — After transferring and collecting a 5A discus state title at San Antonio Southwest as a freshman last season, Fey will aim for first-place finishes in both throwing events and try to cement a new state meet record in discus by replicating her PR (170’2”) at regionals.
NOTABLE CLASS 2A ATHLETES TO WATCH:
Post senior Zach Courtney — Courtney, a powerful thrower who has also signed to play tight end at Colorado, boasts by far the top mark (168’5”) of all 2A shot put state qualifiers.
Bruceville-Eddy senior Billy Eaton — Eaton was one of only two sub-6A pole vaulters to earn their place at state with a 16-foot vault, which is at least 12 inches higher than all the other state qualifiers in Class 2A.
Shiner senior Doug Brooks — A standout on the gridiron that helped Shiner seal back-to-back football state championships, Brooks could help the Comanches repeat as track and field state champs as one of the top contenders for first place in discus and shot put.
Lindsay freshman Campbell Corcoran — After landing the top qualifying mark with a 127’1” throw at regionals, Corcoran can cap off a sensational season with a discus state title at her first state meet appearance.
Refugio sophomore Ernest Campbell — The Bobcats’ sprinter owns the fastest qualifying time for the 100-meter dash in Class 2A as well as serving as the anchor for Refugio’s 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams that are also headed to state.
Brackettville senior Abraham Morales — After winning individual state championships in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the 2A state meet last season, Moales is back looking to defend his titles and improve upon last year’s performance with a third medal in the 800.
Normangee senior Izaha Jones — Jones will be making his third career appearance at the UIL state championships and searching for a second straight long jump state title after setting a new PR (23’6.75”) at the Region IV-5A meet.
Wellington senior Kyla Kane — Kane, who finished first in the 1,600-meter run and second in the 800 at state last year, earned a repeat trip to the 2A state meet with top mark (2:20.46) in the 800-meter run and second-fastest 1,600 time among all qualifying girls distance runners.
Panhandle senior Macklynn Land — Land was a driving force behind the Panhandle girls’ team state championship in 2021, and should help again in that regard this year as the anchor on the Panthers’ 4x100-meter relay team and as the fastest sprinter to reach the 2A girls 200-meter dash state finals.
San Augustine junior JaToryia Barnes — After reaching state in both the long jump and triple jump, Barnes will hope to defend her 2021 state title in the triple jump as one of the top qualifiers in a deep heat of competitors.
Joaquin senior Victoria Byrd — The Rams’ standout, who has reached the state championships in three events for the second straight season, will look to duplicate her performance from last year at the 2A state meet when she won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and finished third in the long jump.
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