This Friday, Thorndale’s Michael Herzog and Branson McCoy are scheduled to compete at the UIL state track meet held at Austin’s Mike A. Meyers Stadium for a chance at a Class 2A state championship.
For Herzog, the 2019 Class 2A triple jump state champion, he is arriving to state under very different circumstances than his first two trips in 2018 and 2019.
Since his first title, he has committed to Duke University and has held the record for the longest jump in the U.S. for athletes 18-and-under twice this school year.
“There’s not a ton of difference regarding the competition,” Herzog said. “I think the difference will really be people’s expectations of my performance.”
“My freshman and sophomore years, I was a surprise to a lot of people,” he said. “It was an even bigger surprise that I won (state) my sophomore year. This year, people kind of know what I’m capable of jumping.”
The future Blue Devil also said the meet is unique to him because he feels like he’s competing against all divisions and not just 2A.
Herzog also hopes to break the 2A state meet record of 49’7” Friday.
MCCOY—THS junior Branson McCoy’s route to state was a lot more uncertain.
Although McCoy is going into Friday with the fourth fastest 100-meter dash time in Class 2A, he placed third at regionals last month, which didn’t guarantee a trip to Austin.
The top two finishers in every event at regionals automatically qualify for state and due to Myers Stadium being a nine lane track, the best third place finisher out of all four regionals makes it to state as the “wildcard.”
“Waiting for the wildcard was suspenseful, hearing the results come in from each region one at a time,” McCoy said. “It felt great hearing that I qualified, especially after track was canceled last season due to COVID-19.”
McCoy says he is hopeful going into the meet with a goal of getting fourth or higher.
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