Christopher Brinkley braces to take a hurdle on the way to his Ft. Bend Relays 300H win
The Fort Bend Marshall hurdle program is a place where participating in the two events could bring a lot of expectations and pressure for an athlete.
In recent years, several of Texas' top hurdlers have worn the Buffs' black and gold uniforms, gone on to place well at the state meet, and have gone on to college careers.
It's quite easy for a young athlete to get lost in the shuffle with all of the many supreme athletes at Fort Bend Marshall. There are so many big time track and field athletes on this year's team to be concerned with, making it challenging to get noticed or make the varsity squad.
That could be a good thing for sophomore Christopher Brinkley. The young runner is participating in his first season at the 300 hurdles. So far, this year he is doing a heck of a job and he started the season under the radar. That was until now.
Brinkley has joined an elite group of runners in schools history. The list of Marshall hurdlers is neither short of spectacular nor daunting. Since 2012, Marshall has had several state champions and state meet medalists in the 110H and 300H events.
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Matthias Petterway - (2019)
(2019) - UIL 5A 300H - 1st - (36.95 PR)
(2019) - UIL 5A 300H - 7th - (37.55 PR)
Dominick Houston-Shepard - (2019)
(2019) - UIL 5A 110H - 3rd - (13.60), UIL 5A 300H - 2nd (37.81)
(2018) - UIL 5A 110H - 4th - (14.30)
Amere Lattin - (2015)
(2015) - UIL 5A 110H - 3rd - (13.85)
(2014) - UIL 5A 110H - 2nd (14.03) - UIL 5A 300H - 5th - (37.69 PR)
Kendall Sheffield - (2014)
(2012) - UIL 5A 110H - 2nd - (13.85) - UIL 5A 300H - 2nd - (37.50)
(2014) - UIL 5A 300H - 1st - (36.34)
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The impressive Marshall locker room and roster return four legs from a 40 point 4x100 relay. They also have Devon Achane - the UIL 5A 200m state champion (20.46), Bryson Stubblefield - finished third in the UIL 5A 100m (10.38 PR), Garrett Wilkins - second at the USATF Junior Olympic in the 200m in 21.26, and a host of other Division 1 football commits who play big parts in the team's success.
Brinkley has been able to easily slide into the 2020 track and field season. That is until he dropped eye opening times in the 300 Hurdles. In his first meet, at Katy Seven Lakes Relays, Brinkley ran a very fast early season time of 37.63 giving Clayton Keys, the 2019 UIL 6A 300H third place finisher a challenge.
This weekend, he ran even faster at the Fort Bend Relays when he collected his first win in a varsity race as he posted a 37.41. That currently ranks him No. 3 in Texas in the event.
At Fort Bend, he went head to head with fellow superb Fort Bend ISD hurdler Darek Hackett who lined up. Just a week ago, Hackett established himself as a top hurdler this year when he won a 300H race over Kirk Collins, the top returning hurdler in the state from last year, Kirk Collins.
No longer, a state secret, Brinkley has established himself as a name to watch in the 300H and a possible state meet medalist.
He is also taking the torch as the next Fort Bend Marshall sensational hurdle. He could have a bright future ahead of him.
