STATE TRACK MEET 2018
Milano sent nine athletes to Austin in 2017, the most in school history.
The Eagles won’t feature the large contingent they sent to last year’s state meet (short by two), but the group that will be performing at the 107th UIL state track meet Saturday at Myer’s Stadium is formidable nonetheless, having just earned them their second consecutive regional title in Kingsville.
There will be no Camille Messer at this year’s meet.
The Milano group will be led by speedster Devonte Jones who claimed two gold medals at regional in the 300-meter hurdles and the long jump.
Jones grabbed a silver medal at last year’s state meet in the 300s in a photo finish and has the second-best timing out of qualifiers this year at 39.45 next to Cale Kassen’s of Valley View’s 38.25.
Jones has the second-best leap in the long jump at 22-feet, behind Conner Bragg of Joquain’s 22-4.
Tim Demeritt is the favorite in the 400-meter dash, with a qualifying time of 49.63, the only sub-50 second clocking in the fi eld.
Demeritt will not have to deal with Bremond star Joe Williams this year, who nabbed three gold medals at last year’s meet, including the 400, 200 and 100. Williams runs for the University of Houston this year.
In his first appearance in the state meet, junior long distance specialist Parker Jones is the favorite in the 1,600 with his regional winning time of 4:33.81, over two seconds faster than Duncan Naylor of Great Hearts.
The junior has the third fastest time in the 3,200 at 9:58.02.
The Eagles have some work to do in the 1,600-relay (Demeritt, Devonte Jones, Ronnie Messer and Kaleb Dodd) with seventh best time going in.
They will have to contend with San Augustine, who was a bronze medal winner in 2017 and has the second best clocking entering the meet.
The Milano sprint relay squad (Demeritt, Ronnie Messer, Kyle King and Devonte Jone) has the fourth best timing at 43.04.
Anchored by graduated Corey Carroll, the Eagles picked up a silver medal in the event in 2017.
The feel-good story for Milano comes with LuLu Mitchell, who earned a trip to the state meet as the wild card entrant after her third place finish in the 100-meter dash where she was timed at 12.82 in a photo finish behind Refugio’s Alexa Valenzuela’s 12.63 and Aubrey Rose’s 12.79.
To explain how competitive that one race was, those three girls have the top three times in the event.
The UIL adds a ninth contestant in events for the athlete with the best time or measurement that did not originally qualify for state.
Mitchell ran on the Lady Eagles’ 400 and 800-meter relays at last year’s state meet.
“This year’s boys team has been a special group to coach,” said David Westbrook, in his 33rd season as Milano track coach. “They are a unique blend of diversified talents and dedication not only to their individual events, but to the team as a whole.
“Early in the season they not only talked about getting to the state meet individually, but the main focus was winning a team state championship. With their accomplishments at regionals, they have positioned themselves to make a run at it.”
Thorndale
Corey Preusse returns to the state track meet and last weekend in Lockhart, he shattered his own school record in the discus with a toss of 161-feet, a year after he busted the school’s 37-year old mark in the discus with a heave of 153-3.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Preusse, who just missed out on a medal in 2017, has the fourth best qualifying throw heading into this year’s meet at 152-0.
Bryce Spencer of Sundown won a bronze last year and sports the best toss coming in at 169-2.
Preusse will pull double duty and also compete in the shot put, where he uncorked a 49-9 effort and is the middle of the pack.
“Corey has dedicated himself to become better,” said Thorndale throwing coach Scott Hawkins. “He is constantly seeking feedback and working drills to improve his skill.”
The surprise of local entrants, Bulldog freshman Michael Herzog, has the fifth best effort of 43-5 in the triple jump that features Iraan’s Axcel Santana who bagged a silver medal at last year’s meet and has the top effort coming in at 45-2.
At regional, Herzog needed five more inches to make it to state—he went eight.
“Michael is a great athlete,” said Thorndale jump coach John Kovar. “Michael is also very competitive. We taught him how to triple jump two days before his first meet (March 22).
“He has worked very hard this season on this event. He studies video and wants to be coached. He is also able to make little adjustments on his own, which is not very common in young athletes.”
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