Track is Back!!

I love the month of March! Daylight savings gives us more outdoor time in the evening, flowers and trees are blooming, the weather is usually really nice, and track season kicks off. Yesterday, the boys at Krum had their first track meet at Iowa Park. I love coaching track because I get to see so many different types of kids compete--the throwers, jumpers, sprinters, hurdlers and distance runners.


Here are my top 10 favorite track and field memories:

10. Seeing Forth Worth O.D. Wyatt set the national high school record in the 400 Relay (39.76) at the 1998 State Track Meet.
9. Watching Logan Bowman (a Krum runner I coached) win the 1600 and 3200 at the Region II-2A meet in Stephenville (2005).
8. Attending the Penn Relays as a Freshman at Rice in 1999 and running on the 4x800 relay.
7. Setting the Rice school record and NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the Distance Medley Relay at the Notre Dame Last Chance Meet. I ran the lead off leg (1200 meters).
6. As a Senior at Childress High School, beating Vernon High School to win the 4x400 District Championship in 3:21. My teammates were Jerome Jackson, Eric Green, and Norman Drew (Grasshopper).
5. Seeing Luke Inman puke up his mexican food after splitting a 50 on the 4x400 at the Amarillo Relays. Luke was added to the relay after another runner was injured. He had gone to eat lunch at a mexican place with his mother only an hour before. We finished 3rd in 3:24--this was the first time I realized we could have a really good relay.
4. Running a 3:46 PR in the 1500 at the Texas Invitational 2001. Clyde Colenso of SMU rabbitted the race with perfect pacing. He completed the entire race (and made it look easy) to win in 3:43. Another SMU Mustang, Dalibor Balgac, finished 2nd with me close behind.
3. Attending the World Track & Field Championships in Edmonton, Canada in 2001. It was truly amazing to see the world's finest track athletes compete at their highest.
2. Seeing Krum Sophomore Coleby Borchardt win the Region II-2A 800 title in dramatic fashion and a personal best time of 1:57.17 (not bad for a Sophomore, right?).
1. Winning the 1998 Class 3A 800 for Childress. I can still remember every detail of that race.

I can't wait to add to the memories this track season!!