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Duncanville Relays Blast Fast Out Of The Gates
Last weekend, Duncanville opened up their 2024 track and field season with a 40.71 in the 4x100 relay.
That is fast and when considering the date, that makes it extremely fast!
Out of all of the Texas speed over the last ten years, the Panther sprinter corps became just the seventh quartet in the last decade to run under 41 seconds in the month of February (only the fourth school).
Their fourth fastest time in the month of February shows they're ready to compete and at a high level no doubt. Duncanville's time is the earliest a team has run this fast. The date of Feb eighth is significant.
The reason being is that the 2024 track and field season is pushed up a week ahead of its usual seasonal timing. Instead of the UIL state meet being the second weekend of May as it usually falls, it will be the first weekend of the month this year.
That means if weather permits in the last two weekends in February, expect to see more 40 point sprint relays in the coming weekends.
| School | Month/Year | Time | season ending time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/18/2023 | 40.64 | 39.80 | |
| Fort Bend Marshall | 2/24/2023 | 40.46 | 39.80 |
| 2/25/2023 | 40.63 | 40.01 | |
| 2/8/2024 | 40.71 | ? | |
| 2/24/2023 | 40.71 | 40.58 | |
| Fort Bend Marshall | 2/22/2019 | 40.76 | 39.99 |
| Fort Bend Marshall | 2/28/2020 | 40.98 | 40.40 |
The most important factor of the timing scenario is how fast will teams run at the end of the year. With UIL district, area, regional, and state meets having one less week to compete, prepare, will that affect how fast the 4x100 relay gets?
The challenge isn't just to run fast, but it will also be a factor on teams finding chemistry and fine tuning handoff and running the exchange zones. The ability to handle those technical situations could affect their advancements to the next round.
National Record Push
On social media, fans believe Duncanville will make a push at the 39.76 national record set by Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt in 1998.
Duncanville has momentum in the sprint events and the 4x100 relay. Last year, they ran 40.26, they went 39.98 in 2022, 40.96 in 2021, 40.94 in 2020, and 40.57 in 2019.
They also have UIL state meet medalist in the 100m over the last two years with Caden Durham's third place finish last year and Pierre Goree's championship in 2022.
Another team with eyes on the national record is Fort Bend Thurgood Marshall. Last season, they ran 39.80 to tie the No. 2 all-time performance and they only graduated one leg from that relay.
Marshall is possibly the most dominant school in the event in high school track and field history.
The program has run under 41 seconds more than any school in history. Unprecedented, the last time they didn't eclipse that mark at least once in a season was in 2013. They are also the only school to run sub 40.0 in two different seasons.
Another squad looking to make the most in the shortened 2024 track and field season in the 4x100 relay, is Humble Atascocita.
They ran 40.94 last year and return a full corps of talented sprinters. They also add depth, versatility, and perhaps the fastest person in the state with the transfer-in of Jelani Watkins.
The 2024 track and field season will be good and everyone will have the challenge of a shortened season. In perhaps the hardest event to succeed at is the event Texas does better than any other state, but will the season be affected by the scheduling change?
Keep an eye on the MileSplit rankings this season in the 4x100 relay.