Top 22 Texas Moments Of 2022

Humble Summer Creek star Darius Rainey at the start of the 2022 UIL 6A 400m state finals

The 2022 cross country and track and field seasons were absolutely phenomenal. There were so many memorable moments as well as performances worthy of being highlighted.

We decided to pick 22 to match the calendar year that was 2022.

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Photo Credit: Flower Mound Running Twitter

Flower Mound Girls Win The UIL 6A State Track Championships In Unprecedented dented Fashion

There is no secret that the Texas UIL state track and field meet is a sprint fest. Speed on the track rules; power and speed in the field events help make the distance events a mere complimentary proponent to a state title.

No team has ever won a UIL 6A state championship without winning relay events or sprint/hurdle events. That was until the Flower Mound girls did it in the 2022 season with their cross country team.

The 2022 season showed as easy as it is to win a state title with sprint relays the day of the state meet, that it is very difficult to maneuver relay teams through the district, area, and regional championships. Teams with sprinters and sprint relays were in position throughout the championship season to add 2022 to the never ending list of sprint dominance. However, the rounds were too much.

It is equally difficult for a distance runner to advance through the championship season. For four distance runners on the same team to do it was unheard of.

Flower Mound showed they had the best four distance runners in the state and they perfectly ran through the qualifying rounds getting all four runners through the toughest distance region in the state of Texas. They then executed two unheard of sweeps when they arrive in Austin. The Lady Jaguars won the 800m 1,600m, and 3,200m events. They also won the top three scoring/medal positions in the 1,600 and 3,200m and accumulating 58 total points.

Natalie Cook, Nicole Humphries, Samantha Humphries, and Alexandra Fox accumulated the 58 points with Riley Ward adding 10 points with a win in the high jump to bring the winning total to 68 and capturing the win over Shadow Creek who scored 40 points. 

The Flower Mound 4x400 relay finished seventh overall in 3:50.96 and Eva Vreeland was eighth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.25.

Another Flower Mound accomplishment is that they became the only girls program in Texas' largest classification to win the cross country and track and field state championships in the same season.

Summer Creek Boys Were Best Statistical Track And Field Team Ever

Photo Credit: Chance Kirby - MileSplit TX

This is more than an editor's opinion; the proof is in the numbers.

Humble Summer Creek won their second consecutive UIL 6A track and field team title after graduating all of it's five individual state champions from 2021. The result of great coaching along with athlete determination and execution were on full display in 2022.

Stats aren't the only thing proving how good Summer Creek was. Their heads up win at the state meet over Duncanville, who in our opinion was the second best team in the nation (won NSAF Outdoor Nationals) is proof they earned the mantle.

When it comes to numbers though, Summer Creek stacks up with the best teams ever assembled at the high school level. 

In the Relays, the team had a 40.63 4x100 relay, a 1:25.94 in the 4x200 relay, and a 3:09.92 performance in the 4x400 relay. They became only the sixth school in the country since 2000 to run under 3:10 and the first since 2010.

When it comes to relays, Summer Creek's Sprint Medley Relay became only the second high school boys team to ever run under 3:20 when they ran 3:19.87, good for US No. 2 all-time behind New Bern, NC.

Individually, they had Donovan Bradley run 13.55 in the 110H and he won the state title. He added a 36.82 in the 300H and third place at state. His teammate Aaron Davis was just as impressive in the hurdles; he ran 13.84 and 38.79. Then Davis won the UIL 6A state title and had a 25-5.25 PR.

Senior Myles Thomas ran track for the first time in high school in 2022. He finished fifth at the state meet in the 100m and had a 10.49 PR. Darius Rainey won two UIL 6A state titles (400m/800m) and had PRs of 45.92 and 1:50.63. Justin Craft was fourth at the state meet in the shot put and PRed with 60-6.75; Summer Creek also had three other throwers over 55 feet.

Summer Creek tallied 70 points to win the UIL 6A team championship.

Natalie Cook Evolved Into The Best Ever

This is just the opinion of the editor, but Natalie Cook morphed into the best girls distance runner Texas has ever seen. Things began in the 2021 cross country season, but definitely continued into the 2022 outdoors season.

Indoors, Cook ran the second fastest indoor two-mile time in the country's history. She ran 9:44.44 at the New Balance Nationals Indoor championships. Cook then teamed up with Flower Mound teammates to crush the national record in the indoor 4 X Mile with a time of 19:40.67, making her a two-time indoor national champion.

Outdoors, Cook was untouchable. She ran a 5,000m national record of 15:25.93 at the Stanford Invitational. Next, was a Texas state record and US top 5 all-time performance of 4:36.96 in the 1,600m at the UIL 6A Region 1 Championships. Cook then ran UIL state meet records of 4:40.29 and 9:48.25 in the 1,600m and 3,200m to win two UIL state titles.

Cook added 20 points to Flower Mound's unprecedented UIL 6A track and field team championship.

Darius Rainey First Texas 6A Boy To Win 400m and 800m state titles

The Houston St. John's distance star had an exceptional senior season in 2022. His last big race was perhaps his best as a prep runner. Sgouros ran 8:47.19 at the Arcadia Invitational to net him the fastest all-time performance by a Texas runner at the 3200m distance.

Sgouros won the Gatorade POY for Texas boys in the 2021 cross country season. He won the SPC Championships and was a top finisher at the Eastbay National Championships.

Duncanville Perfected The Relays

Photo Credit: Chance Kirby - MileSplit TX

Duncanville became just the sixth boys school in history to run under 40.00 seconds in the 4x100 relay. They ran 39.98 to win the UIL 6A state championship. They added the 12th fastest 4x200 relay of all-time when they ran 1:23.90 for runner-up at the state meet.

However, Duncanville had more in their arsenal than just the short sprint relays. The Panthers had a formidable 4x400 relay that saw them finish fourth at the state meet with a 3:13.49 SB.

Just when you think the reach of this team was done, that's where Duncanville continued to turn things up. They had the luxury of having two sub 1:55 800m runners on the team. A third runners who was sub 1:58 helped turning a 7:52.80 SB performance in the 4 x 800 relay.

They are the only team in the country ever to run under 41, 1:25, 3:15, and 8:00 in the same season.

Autumn Wilson Dominated Sprints In Texas

It happened again. It was the second consecutive season Autumn Wilson won the TAPPS  6A 100m and 200m state titles. 

The season started out hot with Wilson during the indoor season when she ran seven 60m races under 7.40 and four under 24.0 in the 200m. She ended the indoor season with a 60m national title and runner-up in the 200m.

Outdoors, Wilson would dominate the sprint events at the Texas Relays as well as The Arcadia Invitational prior to the TAPPS state meet. Afterwards, she was runner-up in the 100m at Brooks PR and then was third at the USATF U20 Championships to make the team in the 4x100 relay.

Emma Sralla Throws No. 2 Texas A-T Discus and Wins U20 World Title

Marcus thrower Emma Sralla had a fantastic 2022 track and field season. After her international competition in 2021, she used the experience to develop extremely well. 

Sralla threw a 185-0 in the discus to win the UIL 6A - District 5-6 Area Championships. That throw earned her a US. No. 1 ranking and was a TX No. 2 all-time throw to rank only behind eventual US Olympian Shelby Vaughan.

Sralla would go on to win the UIL 6A state title with a 174-3 toss. Representing Sweden, she would also win a gold medal at the World U20 Championships in Cali, Columbia with a 56.15 (184-1) throw.

It's not every year that we get a 25 foot long jumper in one long jump competition. In 2022, we had two go that far in the UIL 6A long jump competition.

Aaron Davis (Summer Creek) was enjoying a solid season by going over 25 feet two meets prior to the state meet and getting the win at Texas Relays. Needless to say, entered the state meet with a lot of confidence. Ashton Torns also entered with confidence as the defending state champion.

The two had tousled previously in the season at Texas Relays with Davis getting the win over Torns who was runner-up. 

The state meet competition was just what we thought we'd get. Davis established himself early with some solid 24 footers, but he was in the driver's seat with a 25-03.75. Torns was chasing him the entire competition; he was sitting in third and even fourth place at times during the competition. 

Late in the competition, Torns would eventually hit big when he jumped 25-3.75 of his own, the exact same distance as Davis. Neither jumper would log a farther jump, thus ending the competition in a tie. The tie breaker would go to who had the best second best jump and Davis had another 25 footer that broke the tie.

The atmosphere was what jumpers dream of and the show they put on was as good as any.

Flower Mound Wins Third Straight UIL 6A Cross Country Championship

Photo Credit: Christine Langford - MileSplit TX

The Flower Mound girls continued their dominance in distance running in the state of Texas. At the UIL 6A state cross country meet, they added their third consecutive state title and fresh off the heels of their state track and field championships.

Twin sisters Nicole Humphries and Samantha Humphries tied for first place with times of 17:36.40 and teammate Alexandra Fox finished behind them in third for the team sweep on the individual awards podium.

Flower Mound is the only girls program in Texas to win a track and field state championship and cross country state championship in the largest division in Texas.

Girls 800m Was Out Of Control

Photo Credit: Chance Kirby - MileSplit TX

To crack Texas' top-10 in the girls 800m, you had to run 2:11.58; eight girls ran 2:10 or better. That is absolutely absurd!

That's fast, but it doesn't just stop there. Running 2:15 has become an average time in these days; 32 girls ran 2:15.00 in 2022. The event is deep with quality runners in Texas and it doesn't look like that is changing anytime soon. Girls from all over the state and in every classification and in every league were responsible for the take off of the 800m event.

Isabel Conde De Frankenberg (2:05.61)has the fastest time in the state and she didn't even win her state meet race. That honor went to Kailey Littlefield (2:06.21). Aubrey O'Connell, the 2021 UIL 6A state champ, was second at the state meet in 2022 and had the fifth fastest time of the year.

The girls 800m was the most treacherous event in 2022.

The Fort Bend Marshall girls tied for the 2021 team title with perennial powerhouse Lancaster, but the 2022 team title was theirs and their 14 point margin over Mansfield Timberview left little doubt who the best team was on the year.

The Marshall boys scored 64 points to take the boys team win. The title had eluded them for a couple of years, but they weren't to be denied as hey padded their total by 22 points over the Lancaster boys.

Senior hurdlers Tairah Johnson and Desirae Roberts scored big in the 100-meter hurdles (Johnson won and Roberts fourth) and in the 300-meter hurdles Roberts was second. The long jump also paid point dividends for Marshall when Genesis Griffin placed third with Johnson fifth.

The Lady Buffs were relay rich getting double points with runner-up finishes in the 4x100 relay and the 4x200 relay then a third place finish in the 4x400 relay.

The boys win was highlighted by big time hurdle points from Arveyon Davis and Chris Brinkley in both hurdle events and two relay wins in the 4x200 (their winning time of 1:23.60 was .08 short of the 5A state record) and the 4x400 relay.

Damilare Olukosi Showed He Could Fly

Walker St. John Went Berserk In The Distances