The UIL Region Championships ran from May 1-3 across Texas, and when the dust settled, the state leaderboards looked quite a bit different heading into the state meet on May 14.
The biggest individual performance of the weekend came from Joshua Shelton (Pearland, 2026). His 45.21 PR at the 400m at UIL 6A Region III meet in Webster now leads the state and the country. Shelton had been building to this performance for a while - 46.52 at districts, 46.08 at area - then delivered when it mattered. Last year he ran 45.93 at this same regional and placed fifth at state.
Caden Leonard (Carroll, 2026) won both distance events at the UIL 6A Region I meet in Arlington. His new 3200m PR of 8:45.14 bettered the 8:47.32 he ran at the Brooks PR Invitational last June, and puts him 13th nationally. He also won the 1600m in 4:05.04, staying conservative ahead of state. His official 3:59.94 1600m split from the mile at the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays in April is the state lead and ranks second nationally. Anthony Abeyta (Keller, 2027), who has run 4:11.47 this season, qualified out of the same region with a 4:08.72 for second.
In the hurdles, Andrew Jones (Klein Collins, 2026) went through regionals undefeated in both events, as expected. He won the 110H at UIL 6A Region II in 13.43 and took the 300H in 35.55. His season bests of 12.97w in the 110H and 34.72 in the 300H lead the state and country in both events. Tyler Key (Richardson Berkner, 2027) won the 110H at Region I in 13.64. His wind-aided season best of 13.38 ranks eighth nationally. Both Jones and Key qualified for state.
CJ Williams (Frisco Heritage, 2026) won both throws at UIL 5A Region II - 63-10.25 in the shot and 186-3 in the discus, each well below the season bests of 72-0.25 and 221-3 he posted at districts. Those marks still lead the nation in shot and rank second nationally in discus. The Ole Miss signee is undefeated in both events this season. Daniel Hancock (Waco Connally, 2026) leads the 4A shot board at 54-3 out of UIL 4A Region III.
Shadow Creek's 4x400 ran 3:08.98 at UIL 6A Region III to lead the state. Mikah Blow (Mansfield Lake Ridge, 2027) holds the state lead in the long jump at 25-7.25 and ranks third nationally - that mark came at districts, and he jumped 21-2.5 at UIL 6A Region I. Caleb Adom (Euless Trinity, 2026) won the triple jump at UIL6A Region I with 50-2.25 - second in Texas, 10th nationally - and placed second in the high jump at 6-11, qualifying in both events. Ryan Janak (Allen, 2027) holds the state's second-best high jump mark at 7-1, sixth in the country, set at the Jesuit-Sheaner Relays in March. He jumped 6-10 at UIL 6A Region I for fourth place.
