Stafford’s silver came as a bit of a shock
Late ruling dropped Spartans from first to second
The last race ended in the best way possible for Stafford on Saturday night at the state track and field championships.
The Spartans made their way to the awards area eager to accept the Class 4A first-place team trophy. Little did they know the end of the race did not mean the standings were set.
Stafford thought its final total of 46 points was enough to finish four points ahead of runnerup Gilmer. Gilmer had finished fourth in the 1,600-meter relay but meet officials disqualified the teams that finished second and third for stepping out of their lanes on the back stretch of the first leg.
That moved Gilmer from fourth to second and gave the Buckeyes an extra eight points. Instead of beating Gilmer by four, Stafford lost by four.
“You don’t mind finishing second when it’s your best and that’s where you ended up,” Stafford coach Sergio Hinojosa said. “When you finish the way we finished second, it’s a hard pill to swallow. You get that feeling of helplessness. There is nothing you can do that will bring anything back.”
Stafford did bring home three gold medals. Lynette Amaram made it three golds when she won the girls title in the 800-meter run. She also placed third in the 1,600.
The boys 400-meter relay team of Kendrell Morgan, Elijah Washington, Jerell Thibodeaux and Hezekiah Jones finished first. Jones won the title in the 200 dash. The boys 800 relay team of Morgan, Thibodeaux, Jones and Ezell Nosa placed second.
The Spartans left some points on the track but still believed they scored enough to win the team title. It is their third close call under Hinojosa. The boys team lost the title by two points in 2006. In 2012 the Spartans scored 54 points, which would be enough to win almost every year, only to run up against a stacked Celina team that scored 80.
Hinojosa said he’ll try to use this year’s controversy as a teachable moment. Several athletes from this year’s team will graduate, but Hinojosa believes there are some talented young kids in the program and that the Spartans can make another run at state next year.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take for us to get over this, but we will,” Hinojosa said.
“One of the things to learn is you can never rely on other people taking care of things for you. You have to earn it yourself. Next year our goal is to be so far ahead that no matter what happens we can win.” Marshall wins state championship The Marshall boys won the Class 5A team championship with the help of two winning relays and another thirdplace relay finish.
The Buffs also got individual victories from Kendall Sheffield in the 110-meter hurdles and Shamon Ehieuma in the 200 dash. Gerald Mills placed second in the 200. More state success
The Fort Bend Bush girls placed second in the Class 5A meet. The Lady Broncos won the title in the 400-meter relay and got an individual title from Jarra Owens in the 400 dash. The George Ranch boys placed third behind Marshall and Lancaster. Xavian Marks ran a school record 10.39 seconds to place second in the 100 dash. He anchored the 400-meter relay that finished second.
Also in 5A, Fort Bend had the top two finishers in the girls 800 with Foster’s Kristyn Williams taking the title and Ridge Point’s Halle McClintock placing second. The Ridge Point boys placed second in the 1,600-meter relay. In 6A, Hightower’s Gabriel Oladipo finished second in the shot put and fifth in the discus.