AUSTIN – Sunset junior Lauren Blackburn started fresh this season with a new school but said she couldn't be happier with how she finished.
ERICH SCHLEGEL / Special to DMN
Lauren Blackburn of Sunset (right) clears another hurdle on her way to winning the 100-meter hurdles in a personal-best 13.70.
Blackburn won a Class 5A state title Saturday night in the 100 hurdles at the UIL state track and field meet. She was second in the 300 hurdles.
Blackburn, who finished third last year at state in the 4A 100 hurdles while running for Kimball, finished strong in the 100 hurdles Saturday to win in a personal-best time of 13.70 seconds.
Another strong push near the end helped her finish the 300 hurdles in 42.90.
"I'm really proud of my season," Blackburn said. "This is a great way to end it."
Skyline's Young second: Skyline senior Timothy Young used a great start in the Class 5A 110 hurdles to finish second in 14.00 seconds.
Young held the lead until he clipped two hurdles in the middle of the race, allowing Odessa Permian senior Ryan McDowell to edge him at the finish line in 13.98.
"The middle of my race was horrible, so I had to try to make a comeback," Young said. "I had to recover. I'm very excited."
Pumped up: Southlake Carroll's C.J. Brown led from start to finish in the 5A 1,600, and his time of 4:10.98 was more than three seconds better than second-place Reed Connor of The Woodlands. Brown was so far ahead that he began pumping his fists before the end of the race.
"When I got to 10 meters left, I couldn't help it," he said.
Repeat for Barrett: Duncanville senior Brigetta Barrett won the 5A girls high jump for the second straight year, clearing 5-9 to edge Arlington's Orlene Parris (5-8).
Barrett said she wanted to jump higher, "but the main goal was a state title."
The top five finishers in the 5A boys high jump cleared 6-10, but none could clear 7-0, so placing was based on amount of misses in previous rounds. Defending champ Toddrick Allen of Plano East tied for second.
Dallas Gateway is fourth: Dallas Gateway Charter Academy's Jazmine Robinson won the Class A 200 meters (25.47), helping her school finish tied for fourth in the team-title race with 32 points. Dallas Gateway's girls won the Class A 4x100 relay state title in 49.50.
Madison's Brickley sets record: Madison senior Simone Brickley shattered a 22-year-old Class 3A state meet record when she won the 800 meters in 2:09.81. Later in the day, she won a second gold medal, capturing the 400 in 56.44.
Brickley broke the 3A state meet 800 time of 2:11.74, set in 1987 by Bellville's Amy Goodwin. Plano West-ex Erin Bedell holds the state meet record for all classifications of 2:08.16 (2005).
Brickley's 800 time is the second-fastest in the state this year behind Greenhill sophomore Chelsey Sveinsson (2:08.46).
Farmersville, Kennedale girls double up: Farmersville's Charla Craddock and Kennedale's Stacia Newton each won two Class 3A gold medals.
Craddock won the triple jump Friday with a leap of 39 feet, 5 ¾ inches and won the 100 meters Saturday in 12.07 seconds, finishing just ahead of Crockett sophomore Jameisha Edwards (12.08) and Giddings' Deserae Davis (12.09).
Newton won the discus throw Friday with a toss of 150-5 on her last attempt. She won the shot put Saturday with a heave of 44-9 ¾ on her last attempt.
Briefly: Whitesboro's Hayden Baillio, one of the nation's best throwers this year, broke a 31-year-old Class 3A state meet record Saturday in winning the shot put with a throw of 68 feet, 7 ¼ inches. Baillio broke the record of 67-0 ¼, set in 1978 by Waller's Carlos Scott. Baillio also won the 3A discus with a throw of 186-1. ... Seventeen athletes went through a Class of 2009 graduation ceremony on the track Saturday before the 5A running finals.
