AUSTIN – There was a ton of excitement during the opening day of the UIL state track and field meet with Class 4A and 3A taking center stage at Mike A Myers Stadium.
The Texas Panhandle had plenty of highlight performers in multiple events.
Perryton’s Jacob Erickson relished the big moment by coming away with a pair of silver medals. The Ranger sophomore made his debut at the state track meet in the mornings opening race by clocking a new personal-best time of 9:07.35. Erickson had a strong finish down the back stretch, passing Canyon’s Noah Cooper to grab the silver medal.
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In the night session, Erickson was stellar once more running another personal-best this time in the 1600-meter race. Erickson won his second silver medal of the day, clocking a 4:16.55.
“I was hoping to come in and wanting to break new marks and I was able to do that in both races,” said Erickson, who scored 16 points for the meet. “I was very content with the end of my season and I can’t wait to get back into cross country next season. It was a lot of fun to run here for the first time. It’s a unique experience.”
Randall’s Brooke French was back at the state meet and made her presence known. The Lady Raider junior long distance runner left the track Thursday with a silver in the 3200-meter race and a bronze in the 1600-meter run. French registered a time of 10:53.81 for the silver in the 3200, and then ran a very good 1600 for a time of 5:02.19.
“It was a great day for me,” French said. “I thought the times were good. I shoot for the gold every single time, but at the end of the day that’s not what happens. I went out and competed and gave it all I had.”
Pampa discus thrower Parker Webb was superb in the discus event Thursday afternoon with a personal best throw of 183-4. Webb took over first place on his fifth throw only to have the next thrower, Canyon’s Kelton Burgoon, take first place back with the winning throw.
“I mean coming from two years ago when I got dead last, I’m happy with this,” said Webb, who has signed to play football at Cisco College. “That was my motivation. On that fifth throw I was able to get just right in my head and try to catch the wind a little bit. I knew I had to make a great throw.”
Hereford’s Izak Dominguez ended a fantastic track season by finding the medal stand. The senior was able to gut out a bronze medal in the 110-meter hurdle tallying a time of 13.89 to edge Sealy’s Elijah Sanders (14.05).
“I knew coming in I was going to be able to compete for a medal,” Dominguez said. “I was able to do that and it feels great. This is what I’ve been working for all year and it felt great. It was great to be healthy this year and I’m ready to head off to UT Tyler and keep running.”
In Class 3A, Canadian’s Joseph Dominguez had to run behind the twin brother duo of Holliday’s Noah and Ryder Strohman, who totaled six medals Thursday. Dominguez still put on quite a race taking over sole possession of third place during the fifth lap while breaking his own school record with a 9:26.07 during a bronze medal performance.
“It’s a great feeling,” Dominguez said. “I’ve put a lot of work into this and it’s great to watch the hard work pay off. I was able to break my own school record from regionals and that’s an honor. It was a quick race and I trusted my pace and I was able to take my chance and get into third.”
Dalhart’s Eli Garcia also made a trip to the medal stand after falling short last year in the pole vault. Garcia cleared 15-3 to earn his first bronze at the state meet.
Check out the results
For a look at the full results from Thursday’s UIL Class 4A-3A state track and field meet, please visit https://www.milesplit.live/meets/746342/schedule