Caden Durham receives the baton in the 2022 UIL 6A 4x200 relay
With district championships going down this weekend, this is the beginning of the end of the UIL 2023 track and field season. Individual athletes and relays will begin to qualify for the next rounds with the ultimate goal being to end their season at the state meet with the hopes of winning a state title.
We want to take an early and fast forward look to the state meet. We have populated the UIL 6A boys state rankings to see which teams have chances to win the team title. Based on our rankings from results submitted we assigned a more traditional meet point system that is different than the UIL point system, but it shows which teams you'll want to keep an eye on and see how they maneuver through the qualifying rounds.
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With the back-to-back champions Summer Creek having graduated many of their point contributors, they'll have individual who can challenge for state titles, but the team title is a bit of a stretch this year.
There is no shortage of teams who have legitimate opportunities to win it all when May rolls around. Some of them are the usual suspects, but some are teams who haven't been within reach.
Atascocita has things going on in the distance events with seniors Michael Archie and Oliver Maldonado looking good in boys the 1600m and the 3200m events. Jordan Parker and and Landon Fontenot have been highly ranked in the 400m all season long with Parker also checking in with a top 10 performance in the 800m. Parker would have a tough go at trying to score points in the 400m/800m double, but he saw his district meet compadre Darius Rainey (Summer Creek) win the state gold in both events last year becoming the first to do so in UIL 6A history. Parker is the top ranked half-miler in Region 3-6A and the second ranked 400m runner.
Atascocita has shown they can bring the short sprinter speed; they have Michael Frazier who has a chance of qualifying to state in both hurdle events. He ranks 10th overall in the state in the 110 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles. Darrell Gill has a 21.43 time in the 200m and is ranked No. 4 in the region. Add the 4x200 relay and the 4x400 relay; The Eagles are ranked seventh in the 4x200 and second in the region as well as No.1 in Texas in the 4x400 relay.
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Fort Bend Ridge Point is just 9.5 points behind Atascocita in our points system. They could potentially have some say-so in how many qualifiers each other take beyond Regional 3-6A as they'll go head-to-head against one another as well as some of Houston's best.
The Panthers are sprint heavy and that's their shot to score big and possibly win a state title. They have sprint stud Cayden Broadnax who ranks No. 1 in the state in the 100m (FAT/Wind Legal) and No. 3 in the 200m. Their extraordinary hurdler Mason Dossett is the fourth ranked wind legal hurder in the state. He sits third in Region 3-6A, so his racing over the next month will be key to the team's success.
Ridge Point will be counting heavily on points from UIL 6A No. 1 pole vaulter Parker Brannon who could bring in 10 points in each championship meet. Pair him with the potential of their 4x100 and 4x200 relays scoring double points and they could podium and possibly win. They're No. 3 in 6A in the 4x100 and No. 2 in the 4x200 as well as top in Region 3-6A in both.
The next best challengers for the UIL 6A boys state title are coming from Region 2-6A.
Klein Forest is one of the few teams who can plug all three sprint relays into the state meet with legitimate opportunities to score double points. They rank No. 1 in the state in the 4x100 relay and the 4x200 relay and check in at No. 2 in 6A in the 4x400 relay. They are the reigning defending state champs in the 4x200 relay where they ran US No. 3 all-time 1:23.37 and they return 3/4 of the team. That's a possibility of 60 points and a running start to placing them at the top of the podium even without individual participants.
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They'll add to their point total with star sprinter Jelani Watkins who ranks as No. 6 in the 100m for 6A (all conditions) and is the No. 2 ranked 200m running (all-conditions). Add the fact that he's the reigning defending state champ in the 200m bodes well for the Golden Eagles.
Klein Forest won the 2019 UIL 6A team title and was in a good position win win the 2020 team title before COVID-19 sidetracked that goal. This could be a retribution trophy for their awards case.
The two teams to watch for coming out of Region 2-6A are Mansfield Lake Ridge and Duncanville.
Duncanville gave Summer Creek a serious push last year in their runner-up team finish. This year, they have another shot at making a push for the state title and what they do in Waco will give us a good idea how strong they'll be in Austin this year.
The Panthers' strength is in the sprints and relays. They have a multitude of sprinters who could qualify for state in the 100m and 200m. If that's the route they take, they'll all have to make it out of the district and area rounds first, but Caden Durham, Jaylon Washington, Brayden Williams, and Dakoriean Moore have all run under 10.63. Four star running back Durham has the seventh fastest (wind-legal) time in the state. In the 200m, Durham in ranked No. 2 in the region and Washington is No. 5.
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Moore is also ranked No. 2 in the long jump in the state of Texas with his 24-7 jump at the Jesuit-Sheaner Inv. He beat last year's LJ runner-up in that meet.
In the relays, they've got a chunk of points waiting for the taking. Last year's state champions in the 4x100 relay are the No. 3 ranked team in the state and only behind Klein Forest in the region. They're ranked No. 10 in the 4x200 and regionally only behind Klein Forest, again.
Perhaps the most underrated team of the season so far is Mansfield Lake Ridge. They are making the turn at the right time of the season and with time left, this could be the perfect storm for the Eagles.
Lake Ridge has senior Miles Jones in the sprints who could come through in a major way and affect region competitors Klein Forest and Duncanville. Jones was No. 2 in Texas in the indoor 60m with a 6.71 SB, he also finished runner-up at the Nike Indoor Nationals (NIN). Jones didn't just finish runner-up in the 60m at NIN. He finished with a national level second place in the long jump with a 24-8.5 jump and he'll challenge for both the regional and state title in both.
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Also in the jumps and who could contribute big points and challenge for a state title is Abisayloouwa Gbakinro. Gbakinro is UIL's top ranked triple jumper; the 50-4 jumper could add to their point total in a big way.
Lake Ridge could also be players and searching for scoring opportunities in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. They're ranked No. 4 in the region in the 4x100, but with the top four teams under 41.0 anything can happen in their attempts to make it to Austin. They're 4x400 relay was runners-up last year and they're ranked No. 2 in the region and are fresh off their Texas Relays win.
Finally, keep senior Dominic Byles in mind. He is making his way to the form and fitness that saw him finish fourth at last year's state meet in the 400m.
