The 100/200-meter double doesn't leave much time for introspection. It goes quickly and any problems that pop up in the 100 have 90 minutes to be solved before the 200.
That ended up being what City View's Jeremiah Durham was best at in the UIL Class 3A state championships. Shortly after a good, but not great, 100 that saw him take second, the senior bounced back with a commanding race in the 200 that struck gold.
Durham's day wasn't perfect, but the way he responded to adversity was.
"I knew I was going to win (the 200), just run hard and stay humble," Durham said. "That 100 wore me out for the 200, but I really wanted to win it. It was a good ride. This means a lot, I'm the second person at City View to win a state championship. That feels great."
Plyler rallies to win gold
Vernon's Kameron Plyler spent his day at the UIL Class 3A track and field championships chasing the high jump field after two early misses.
That long pursuit ended up with a golden ending, as Plyler's first-attempt clearance at what turned into a winning height of 6-foot-6 moved him from third to first and landed him a state championship.
More: 2024 UIL State Track And Field Championships: Live Results
More: UIL State Track Meet 2024: Live Updates From Thursday's Action
After finishing fourth in the high jump as a sophomore, then winning the 4x400 relay last year , Plyler closed his career the way he wanted to.
"Just running, that's my key: Running fast," Plyler said. "This sounds crazy, I don't do high jump practice at all, I just run. I have natural ups. ...
"I've been here three times, this is my third time. I was hungry for high jump, we didn't make it in anything else. This is what I was here for."
He opened the competition with a miss at 6-0 before a clearance moved him into eighth, then later missed his first jump at 6-5 and was third going into 6-6. Plyler nailed that and left Austin with a gold medal.
Holliday's Kenzi Atwood 2nd in 800, 1,600
Kenzi Atwood had the best view in the house for two Class 3A state records: the silver-medal seat.
University City Randolph's Sophia Bendet shattered the 28-year-old 800 record of 2:13.06 by more than three seconds with a time of 2:09.99, and later broke the 1,600 record by 10 seconds (4:53.73), and Holiday's sophomore Atwood chased her home each time.
Atwood ended up with two second places in 4:59.13 and 2:14.91, and that 1,600 time was well under the old record of 5:03.23 set by Holliday's Hannah Spears two years ago.
"I knew the competition would be fast," Atwood said. "Last year our times were fast but not anything compared to this year, so I knew I had to come in with a positive mindset to make sure I had a strong finish to get to where I needed to be in this race."
Atwood swung right back around after the 1,600 and ran a leg on a third-place 4x400 relay, as Holliday finished third as a team in the Class 3A girls with 38 points. Universal City Randolph edged Goliad 78-72 for the team title.
Henrietta's Essler nabs silver
Henrietta's Klein Essler fell short of his dream of a Class 3A state discus championship, but the silver medal around his neck proved he left his first trip to state with plenty of consolation. Seeded second coming in behind Goliad's Caden Reagan, he was second throughout with a best throw of 173-1.
That was 22 inches behind Reagan, who had the four best throws of the competition.
"It was all right, it could have been worse," Reagan said. "I felt like I could have won it, but I'm good with second."
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: City View's Durham takes gold in 200 at UIL State Meet
Most Popular
Comments / 0