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Submitted names for the track at Lincoln Middle School pay homage to educators, coaches, sports figures and more.

Adrienne Lott, media/communications specialist for Port Arthur Independent School District, said the district received 324 submissions for the renaming of the middle school track as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Submissions will be taken through midnight Friday, Superintendent Mark Porterie said.

The names include, in no particular order:

• • ALMS — named after the campus
  • Barbara Jacket — Lincoln High School and Olympic track coach
  • Bees Complex/Bumblebees — former Lincoln High School mascot
  • (Coach) Darrell Granger — current head track coach
  • Granger Memorial Field — current head track coach
  • (Coach) Gamble Track/Gamble Athletic Track & Field (former husband and wife coaches/wife Margaret  coached track)
  • (Coach) Leroy Leopold Track — former LHS boys track coach
  • (Coach) Ora Smith Track — former LHS girls track coach
  • Leopold & Smith Track – veteran male and female track coaches at former LHS campus for decades
  • Danny Gorer – alumni and former NFL player
  • Donald John Trump
  • Dick Williams – former coach
  • Elandon Roberts – Memorial High School alumni, current NFL player, local business owner and district supporter
  • I Have A Dream Track
  • Inika McPhearson (various versions, complex, athletics, track & field, etc) – Olympian and MHS alumni
  • Jamaal Charles – MHS graduate, former NFL player
  • Jocelyn “Prissy” Gardiner – LHS track star killed by a drunk driver months before her college graduation
  • Kary Vincent – deceased former MHS coach and Thomas Jefferson track and football star, former NFL player
  • Mary Lathan – former veteran English teacher at Lincoln, current educator

• Mitchell Queen – former track coach at Wilson Middle School
• The Red Colony – a place where bees go to work together for good
• the Swarm – combination of Lincoln Bumblebees and TJ Yellow Jackets
• Titan Track

COLUMN: Port Arthur ISD should look to city’s track record for proper name

The district began taking submissions for renaming the track on Nov. 30. The names were submitted via an electronic form provided by the district.

Board president Brandon Bartie said the submitted names were good and explained the track had never been named, even when it served Lincoln High School. And since the track was renovated, he felt is was a good idea to rename it.

“There are so many good ones to choose from,” Bartie said after Tuesday’s meeting ended. “The hardest part for the board will be choosing a name.”

The district goes on Christmas break at the end of the week with early dismissal on Friday so the name will be chosen in 2022.

Porterie said board members would be given the information collected and, if they choose, will vote on a name at the January board meeting.

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