By Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News
May 10, 2008 09:39 pm
—
Aaron Clark could call his glass half-full and half-empty early Saturday afternoon, but half-full would seem more fitting with a state medal around his neck.
The Sabine Pass senior completed an outstanding three-sport high school Saturday at the 97th University Interscholastic League state track and field championships by placing third in the 1A boys 100-meter dash.
It was a good-news, bad-news sort of moment for Clark, who entered the state meet with the eighth and slowest qualifying time from Class 1A's Region IV meet in Huntsville.
Clark greatly lowered his regional time of 11.37 and sneaked under 11-flat with a time of 10.91. That's the good news.
"It feels pretty good and I'm happy but I think it could have been lower," Clark said. "Had I been able to run that race the first time (when there was a false start), I think I would have won the race."
A false start by Hale Center's Melvis Hawkins arguably prevented the Sharks' standout from getting out of the blocks much better and winning a gold medal. Oh well, that's the breaks. Hull-Daisetta senior Adrian Anderson successfully defended his 1A state title by running a 10.78 from lane five. Hale Center's Hawkins was allowed to stay in the race. He placed second from lane four in 10.87.
Running in lane two -- and more erect than Anderson or Hawkins at the finish line -- Clark was at 10.91, slightly better than two other contestants both clocked at 10.95. Nevertheless, being the classy sportsman, the Sabine Pass standout tipped his hat to Hull-Daisetta's Anderson for winning the race.
"You still have to give Anderson credit for winning when he needed to win," Clark said. "He's pretty fast. He kinda got me at the end."
If it's not the first UIL state track medal for Sabine Pass in history, it's certainly the first since these large heavy medals with red, white and blue ribbons have been adorning state medalists since the mid 70s.
When Clark descended from Myers Stadium's north end awards stand, college recruiters still greeted him and discussed future possibilities for the Sabine Pass senior's athletic career. That caused his coach Ashley Cloud to be on Cloud Nine.
"It was great to see the recruiters talking to Aaron afterwards," said the Sabine Pass coach, who persistently worked with Clark on his takeoffs. "I highly believe he would have given Anderson a run for his money if Aaron's first start had counted.
"He got out of the blocks much better on his first start but his second start was still better than most of the starts in his other races."
One Orange County runner also secured a bronze medal in Saturday afternoon's heat shortly before Clark snagged his. Deweyville Joe Dooley was a third-place finisher in the boys 2A 800-meter run. Dooley had been timed in 2:00.20 two weeks ago in Palestine. The Pirates' half-miler substantially improved that clocking to 1:57.62 in Austin.
East Chambers hurdler Lindsey McDonald shared Clark's half-full, half-empty feeling at the conclusion of the girls 2A 300-meter hurdles event. McDonald recorded the Golden Triangle Honor Roll season's best time of 45.85 but she finished fourth in her race, just missing a spot on the award's stand with a state medal.
97th annual UIL State Meet track and field championships
AUSTIN – Here are the final results, involving Golden Triangle participants at the 97th annual UIL state track and field championships at the Mike Myers track and soccer stadium on the University of Texas at Austin campus.
SATURDAY'S AREA RESULTS
CLASS 2A GIRLS DIVISION
300-meter hurdles -- 1 Carly Szabo, Merkel, 44.73; 2 Lauren Garrett, San Antonio Cole, 44.82; 3 Doxie Thompson, Hamilton, 45.41; 4 Lindsey McDonald, East Chambers, 45.85.
1,600-meter relay -- 1 Universal City Randolph 3:58.94; 2 Crane 4:01.92; 3 Elkhart 4:02.51; 5 East Chambers 4:06.00.
CLASS 2A BOYS DIVISION
800-meter run -- 1 AJ Lozano, Stanton, 1:56.84; 2 Steven Cantwell, Aubrey, 1:57.58; 3 Joe Dooley, Deweyville, 1:57.62.
1,600-meter run -- 1 Cody Hughes, Anna, 4:26.40; 2 James Hodges, Paradise, 4:29.16; 3 Ethan Wagner, Yorktown, 4:33.78; 8 Joe Dooley, Deweyville, 5:05.25.
CLASS 1A BOYS DIVISION
100-meter dash -- 1 Adrian Anderson, Hull-Daisetta, 10.78; 2 Melvis Hawkins, Hale Center, 10.87; 3 Aaron Clark, Sabine Pass, 10.91.
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