Rankin (L) took the 1A boys 4x100 relay and Gordon captured the 4x200 and 4x400 relay wins
UIL Track and Field State Championships
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Rankin made their move to the front and they didn't look back. Though they were being chased by several other teams, the squad of Roman Joyce, Baret Jackson, Jairo Cruz and Blake Bunger crossed the line with a winning time of 43.77.
Joyce had them in a slight lead with a strong first leg that was slightly extended by Jackson, the reigning 400-meter state champion. Rounding the curve, Cruz handed the baton off to Bunger with a comfortable gap.
Milford was out of medal contention coming into the final leg. The speed from their anchor, Amir Newman, moved them from fourth all the way to the runner-up spot.
Lamesa Klondike was also out of medal contention until Creed Warren brought them from sixth up to third with a strong anchor leg. They won the bronze by just .03 seconds over Whitharral.
Gordon's fifth place finish in state last year with a squad of four freshman was a glimpse of what the future would hold. That quartet, now with a litte more experience under their belts, bested last year's finish by not only winning the Class A Boys 4x200-meter relay, but also shaving nearly four seconds off their time.
The group of Riley Reed, Caden Krowe, Asher Salinas and Brayden Walters cruised for the win with a time of 1:29.78 and are bound to break the conference record down the road.
Entering the meet, Imperial Buena Vista was in no position to finish on the podium with the eighth fastest qualifying time. Behind a strong start in the outside lane, they finished second and took nearly four seconds off that time.
Lamesa Klondike and Benjamin were neck-and-neck coming into the final exchange. On the outside lane, Klondike's anchor Creed Warren put together a strong final leg to steal the final podium spot.
Momentum went with Gordon from the 4x200-meter relay into the mile relay. The same quartet that won the 4x200 put together another masterclass the close out the meet on a high note. They opened up a lead from a strong first leg that only extended as the baton was passed around.
They were flying around the track and never let their foot off the gas with a winning time and new Class A record 3:21.87.
The top six times in this race would've won a medal a year ago and the top three times would've been fast enough to win.
Jayton kept pace with the leader but dropped behind just a few seconds by the final leg. They finished second with a time of 3:25.02.
Rankin was just a second ahead of Dodd City heading into the bell lap, but thanks to the 400-meter state champion in Barot Jackson as the anchor, they escaped with the bronze medal over Dodd City.
