AUSTIN – Emily Gross didn’t peek her head in the door and announce herself to the Texas High School State Track and Field meet world Thursday morning.
The diminutive Dumas freshman kicked the door down with a noise you could hear all the way back to the Texas Panhandle.
Gross, all 5-foot-2 and 97 pounds of her, stunned the 3200-meter field winning the gold medal as the wild card entry – meaning she finished third at regionals – using an impressive 250-meter final sprint to blow by the competition at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
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Gross was unfazed by the pressures of running on the biggest stage Texas high school track offers finishing in 11:02.16 beating her previous best time by a whopping 14 seconds and winning over second place sophomore Brooke French of Randall by seven seconds.
Gross had lost to French at district, at area and at the Region I-5A meet.
“Being the wildcard gave me my chance to prove that I knew I had put in the work and gave me my chance to say ‘Hey, I’m here,’ ” Gross said. “This was a very much a very big dream of mine. One day wake up and that could be me. Standing at the top and everyone seeing you. I think it was great to strive for. And now I hope to continue on this path.”
Dumas girls track coach Justin Phiilips praised Gross for her fierceness and maturity and tipped his cap to Dumas long distance coach Huge Aguinaga for the work he put in with Gross and the strategy of bring home the historic gold to Dumas.
“To me, that’s one of the craziest and most impressive things is Emily was the wildcard and won,” Phillips said. “But she’s that type of person. She’s mature for a freshman and is able to relax and run her race. This stage was not too big for her. I’m so impressed.”
Gross bided her time running behind leaders French and Canyon senior Avery Brown and along with Hamshire-Fannett senior Adison Richard as the four formed a pack the over the final 1600 meters.
As the group found itself 250 meters from the finish line it was anybody’s race. And then it suddenly wasn’t.
Gross put the pedal to the metal finding energy the other three runners couldn’t answer bursting out in a sprint and owned the final 125 meters setting a new personal record time at 11:02.16.
“We practice kicking at the end because that’s where you can catch a person,” Gross said. “You can stay with them the whole race but it’s always that last 100 where the people who don’t have the energy and don’t want it as bad will die out. You just have to let yourself go and ignore all the pain, tell your mind to be quiet and let your body take control.”
Phillips was smiling from the stands as he saw Gross finish in impressive style.
“She has always had a great kick and do a really nice job of staying the leaders heels,” Phillips said. “That last 250 meters played it perfect.”
Randall’s French gutted out second placed over Richard by .12 one hundredths of a second (11:09. 38 to 11:09.50) and Canyon’s Brown just missed out on the medal stand at 11:10.44.
Region 1-4A champ French set the pace for much of the race leading at the end of six of the eight laps. That’s where she wanted to be out front and was classy praising Gross praise for the impressive finish.
“From the start I wanted to lead, if not you just get stuck behind the pack and are running somebody else’s race,” French said. “So I wanted to go out there and lead the race … and the give it all you have at the end. I’m really not disappointed in my race. I knew in this race there would be a lot of tough athletes in this race … (Gross) did shock me that last 200 on the last lap. That was shocking. You know, I was trying to keep up. But she had a good kick and I knew that. That’s really good for her.”
Gross said she didn’t get frustrated losing out on first at recent meets, only motivated her more and it was during the area meet the lights came on.
“I think I kind of realized it around area it hit and gave me a little more confidence I could compete at this level and possibly win it,” Gross said. “That’s when it opened my eyes that this is where I am and this is a possibility.”
Gross said running all year against French and Brown has made her better even though she didn’t beat them both in the same race until the state meet.
“Brooke and Avery are amazing runners,” Gross said of her district competitors from Randall and Canyon. “I love running with them and I love getting the chance to talk with them before and after races. It’s great to talk with them and hear what they experienced in their running careers.”
Gross continued her busy day in the evening running events finishing third in the 1600 helping District 4-4A to a clean sweep on the medal stand with Canyon’s Addyson Bristow earning gold and French securing her second silver of the day.
In the 800-meter run she finished eighth.