ROWLETT – Marquise Goodwin will be a busy young man Saturday, perhaps the busiest of all the athletes at the UIL state track and field meet.
Goodwin, a junior at Rowlett, has qualified in five events – the UIL maximum. If he wins every event, he could personally account for 40 points. That might be enough to boost Rowlett to its first-ever team title.
Rowlett's Marquise Goodwin describes the triple jump
05/08/08
"This is my once in a lifetime [athlete]," Rowlett coach David Nanez said. "I'll never get another kid like that again."
Goodwin (5-10, 155) would have more energy and focus for individual titles if he pulled out of an event or two. He says hasn't given it a thought.
"I've been doing five events since my freshman year, every meet," Goodwin said. "We can't risk points at this point. It might be a little more challenging at first, but I'll just pull through it."
At the 5A Region II meet two weeks ago, Goodwin won the triple jump and long jump and was part of two winning relays – the 400 and 800. He took second in the 100-meter dash.
But that was spread out over two days, including prelims. At the 5A state meet, there are no preliminary heats. All events are finals, run on the same day.
"I imagine by the time he's done, he'll be pretty tired," Nanez said. "But he knows what he has to do.
"When you have an athlete like that, and you have a chance of winning a state championship, he's going to be in all five."
Goodwin's regional qualifying marks indicate he has a chance to win all five events. Among state qualifiers, he has the best mark in the triple jump (49-feet, 8¾ inches) and second-best mark in the long jump (24-4¾).
This will be Goodwin's third trip to the state meet. He won the long jump last year and finished second in the triple. He finished seventh in the long jump as a freshman.
Goodwin has the second-best qualifying time in the 100 (10.62) and his 800-meter relay team has the third-best time (1:26.03). Rowlett also has the third-best time in the 400 relay (41.07) – after establishing the nation's fastest time, 40.72, in the regional prelims.
MIKE STONE / Special to DMN
Marquise Goodwin practices his triple jump at Rowlett High School Tuesday.
However, Goodwin will have endurance concerns that most of his competitors won't have to deal with.
Goodwin's schedule Saturday begins with the long jump at 11:30 a.m. and ends with the 800 relay at 6:50 p.m.
His final three events – the 400 relay, the 100 and the 800 relay – take place within a 45-minute window. The last two events are just 10 minutes apart.
"I ran all those events at regionals, and I did prelims and finals, so I know I can do it at state," said Goodwin, who also plays wide receiver on Rowlett's football team.
Goodwin accounted for 38 of Rowlett's 80 points to win the Region II team title. Nanez said for Rowlett to have a shot at the state title, Goodwin needs to score 35 or 36 points.
"He knows what's at stake, and the plan is for him to compete in all five," Nanez said. "When it's all done, hopefully we'll be sitting in first."
At regionals, Goodwin wound up sitting in an ambulance as a precaution against dehydration and exhaustion.
"They made me drink two bottles of water, back to back," Goodwin said. "They iced me down. I was just laying in the air conditioning saying, 'I'm all right.'"
Goodwin said a phone call from teammate Mica-El Mumba, who left the meet early to attend the prom, got him through his final event, the 4x200 relay.
"He thought he had nothing left," Mumba said. "And he came out and dominated. I told him it's all in his mind."
Besides Goodwin and the relays, Rowlett has just one other competitor, Kyle Clemons in the 400-meter run. So Rowlett's hopes essentially rest on Goodwin.
"He knows that he pretty much carries our team because he's in so many events," Nanez said. "He's experienced enough to know how much pressure he needs to put on himself. He knows what he needs to get done."
Goodwin says his focus is on winning a team title.
"That would mean more than any of my own titles, to just win as a whole team," Goodwin said. "I don't feel pressure at all. I've been preparing myself. I'm not going to let the team down."
Marquise Goodwin's schedule of events on Saturday at the UIL state track and field meet:
11:30 am.: Long jump
4 p.m.: Triple jump
6:05 p.m.: 400-meter relay
6:40 pm.: 100-meter dash
6:50 p.m.: 800-meter relay
Most gold medals in one meet (boys)
5: (tie) Toya Jones of Refugio in 1993 and Willis Edward Maxson of Beaumont in 1912.
Most individual points all-time (boys)
61: Willis Edward Maxson, Beaumont, 1912.
Most individual points since current point system in 1946 (boys)
45: Toya Jones, Refugio, 1993
Source: Dr. Billy Wilbanks, state track historian
When: Friday and Saturday (9 a.m. start both days)
Where: Mike A. Myers Stadium, Austin
Tickets: Adults – $10 per session; Students – $5 per session; Sessions 1-4 – $25; Sessions 3-4 – $15.