Texas UIL State Meet Review: Top Performers


Wasn't this one of the best all around track meets ever? You are definitely a hater if you if you say no! This meet had everything. From top field performances, distance performances, to the sprint performances. Relay battles were amazing as were the team battles.

Up and down the board from 1A all of the way to 6A, there were top notch performances! This was also the first year that UIL athletes could compete in the each of the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m, which we saw a couple of attempts.

In this article, you will see some of the top performers that we wanted to higlight.

We will start things off with the man himself, Sam Worley. The New Braunfels Canyon senior ran some of the fastest times ever in the 800m and 1600m. He set a new PR in both with his 1:48.25, just .04 hudredths off the state record. No record in the 800m does not equal no record in the 1600. Worley busts a 4:02.30 for the Texas UIL state record.

Right behind Worley in the 1600m and also under the former state record was Reed Brown. Brown ran an impressive race just coming up short for the win and the record with his 4:02.49. In the 3200m, an event that Brown does own the state record, he was able to win and defend his title as well as his own record set at last year's meet.

Staying in the distance events, we have to mention the first male athlete in Texas to complete the distance trifecta, and that is Turkey Valley's Jake Merrell. Merrell's first win of the meet came in the 3200m. He had never competed in the 3200m at the state level. That didn't matter as he took the victory and soon followed with more. The two events that he has won in previous years were up the next day. Merrell was able to win his third consecutive 800m title and second straight 1600m title to complete the triple crown. I can't fail to mention he set 1A state records in the races with 1:54.10 and 9:28.23. Merrell already owned the 1600m record, so he now has all three 1A records.

Another 1A runner going for the triple crown was Medina's Austin Zirkel. Zirkel gave Merrell a run for his money making the trifecta that much more difficult. Zirkel goes 1:59.80, 4:31.01, and 9:45.75 placing in second in all three. Zirkel's 3200m time was fast enough to also get him under the previous record.