Five local track stars punch tickets to state

At the beginning of the season the goal for any team or individual athlete is to make it to state.

No matter the sport, making it to state is tops no matter if it’s your first trip or third.

In my 10 years at the newspaper I’ve seen athletes or teams grace the state stage and even come home with medals and state titles.

This will be the first year, however, that all five of my coverage schools will be represented at the state meet in any sport.

Atlanta, Bloomburg, Linden-Kildare, McLeod and Queen City will send lone representatives to the UIL State Track & Field Meet this week in Austin.

Jacee Glasgow

Bloomburg freshman Jacee Glasgow added another accolade to her already stellar first year in high school sports career after qualifying for the state meet in the 100m hurdles. Not only did she

Not only did she qualify, she finished in first place.

In recent memory no one is sure if Bloomburg has ever had a Lady Wildcat state track qualifier. At least since the turn of the century.

“I was very excited to win the 100m hurdles at regionals and I’m looking forward to competing at state,” Glasgow said. Why wouldn’t she be?

There are hundreds of 1A schools and thousands of athletes across the state of Texas she beat out. Fifty-two schools alone were at regionals.

“She’s one of our best athletes. She takes the workouts and routines I give them and puts extra emphasis on it,” AD Dylan Jones said. “Obviously it has worked out for her because she’s the only one we have going to state. Her times have improved over the season and her work ethic is phenomenal. Even on her worst day nobody can outwork her.”

Only being a freshman the ceiling is high for the young Bloomburg track star.

Tawin Patterson

Linden-Kildare senior Tawin Patterson placed second in the 100m dash at regionals last week and will represent the blue and white at the state meet this week.

Patterson has been running track since freshman year and considers track his favorite sport out of the many he plays.

”I play football, basketball, baseball and run track but my favorite sport is track,” Patterson remarked. “I ran one track meet on JV team as a freshman then I was moved to varsity to run with the 4x100m relay team as the first leg. A few track meets later I was moved to running the 100m dash and started placing well so I stayed with it.”

Patterson left the district for a time in 10th grade which robbed him of running track in his sophomore season and COVID-19 robbed him, and everyone else, of a season last year so he hasn’t really ran since freshman year.

“I’m still in shock a little over making it to state but I’m very excited and glad to be able to go because I’ve never had a chance to go since COVID knocked out track season last year,” Patterson said. “It’s a blessing to go.”

The 2-year stumbling block didn’t seem to phase the young Tiger.

“The coaches have pushed me to get better which helped me when it got tough,” Patterson added. “ My best run was a 10.96 and I’ve never hit under 11 before so it was motivation for me to try and run faster and get better and beat that time. It’s a lot of hard work to get to state.”

Patterson won the 100m dash in prelims but lost to the guy he beat in prelims in the finals.

“He beat me by his ponytail but I’m not mad about it because I was able to lock down an opportunity to run at state,” Patterson said. “A lot of people count out the smaller schools sometimes and although we may have small schools around here we pack a lot of power.”

Patterson is sure to pack plenty of power when he competes this week.

Coach Andrew Grider walked along those lines when he said, “Tawin is fast and has always been fast but he has really turned it on this year. I believe that comes from his hard work. He shaved three tenths off his time this season which isn’t easy to do on a sprint time. He has focused on getting a good jump this year and that has helped tremendously.”

“It is a huge accomplishment to get to state in anything but especially in an individual sport where you can’t lean on anybody else to carry your weight,” Coach Grider added. “We are proud of the way Tawin has represented our program and how he has worked throughout his career.”

Daimion Collins

Atlanta senior Daimion Collins has already been on a whirlwind ride this year and that was before track season got started.

Collins punctuated his sports career back in the fall when he signed to play basketball for the University of Kentucky.

The 5-star standout didn’t let his high school athletic career end with the basketball playoffs.

The talented Rabbit decided to go out for the track team where he took part in the high jump event.

That decision would not go down as just another fill in sport after Collins qualified for state last week by placing first at regionals.

All-in-all the year wasn’t bad. Collins placed first at Runnin’ Rabbs Relays with a mark

Collins placed first at Runnin’ Rabbs Relays with a mark of 6-5, placed first at Redwater with a mark of 6-6, finished first at Tatum with a mark of 6-0, placed second at the Rabbit Pride Relays with a mark of 6-4, placed second at district with a mark of 6-0, placed second at area with a leap of 6-4 and of course placed first at regionals with a nice mark of 6-5.

The big man looks to take one more accolade to college with him plus many memories after competing in the state meet this week.

Cassidy Johnson

Queen City sophomore Cassidy Johnson put her mark on the triple jump scene last week after placing second overall at regionals and qualifying for state.

“I’m very excited to get to state but it’s a little nerve wracking as well,” Johnson said. “That is normal for me because my nerves take over before each meet but when my adrenaline kicks in it’s not so bad,” Johnson said.

Watching underclassmen make state is always a treat.

Last year track season was cut short due to COVID-19 and yet here is a sophomore jumper who has excelled with limited time.

“Before COVID ended the season last year I was jumping 30 feet or so and now I’m jumping 37 so I think I’ve progressed a little bit,” Johnson said.

Coach Doug Parr had this to say about Johnson and how far she has come on limited time.

“Since COVID knocked out the season last year we only got a couple of weeks of practice and one meet in and then it was shut down,” Parr said. “She didn’t begin practice jumping until a few weeks before that first track meet back in March of this year.”

“She’s progressed the past few weeks to tell you the truth. She was around the 33 foot mark earlier in the season. She worked through a foot injury and came around at district and jumped 33 feet, 11 inches and got fourth,” Parr added. “She made it to area where she jumped 35 feet, 4 inches, which shocked her and everybody else, and placed second. Down at regionals she jumps 36 feet, 4 3/4 inches and placed second which qualified her for state. In a threeweek span she’s gone from 33-11 to 36-4 3/4.”

That’s quite an accomplishment in itself plus being one of the top nine triple jumpers in all of 3A.

Parr doesn’t take any credit for the young jumper’s gain.

“She knows what she’s doing and her personal coach Kendrick Smith has been instrumental in her growth,” Parr said. “I can’t take any credit on this but for me it’s cool to be a Queen City Bulldog since I graduated from here and even cooler to see a representative from QC at the state meet. We’re very proud of her and excited.”

“I give a lot of credit to my personal coach. Coach Smith has been a big influence on my growth and has experience in it. He jumped at Texas A&M so he’s very knowledgeable,” Johnson said.

Coach Parr said Johnson knows what it’s going to take to win a medal.

“The best number coming out of regionals was 38-5 and middle of the pack numbers for the other jumpers has been 37 range,” Parr remarked. “She’s at least going to have to hit 37 or better to get on the medal stand. To think about winning state she’ll have to jump in that 38 range.”

Johnson has just one goal in mind and said it best when quoted, “My goal is to jump a 38 and win state!”

Keldyn Schubert

McLeod senior Keldyn Schubert is the only state qualifier from our area who has been there before.

He made it to state in both his freshman and sophomore years while attending Avinger High School. He won a silver medal in the 300m hurdles as a sophomore.

The gifted athlete placed third in the triple jump at regionals last week and posted the best “wild card” time across the regions to notch his third state trip.

“It is still amazing to get to the state meet although I have been there before. I’m 3-for-3 having gone my freshman and sophomore years and this year in the 300m hurdles,” Schubert remarked. “Of course winning a silver medal my sophomore year was a really big deal.”

Schubert was blessed with many advantages.

First his parents, David and Casey, are both coaches.

Secondly, Schubert was blessed to be under the tutelage of McLeod track guru and Coach Steven Parker when the family moved into the district last year.

With that kind of direction it’s no wonder he qualified for regionals in five events - long jump, triple jump (third place finish), 100m dash, 300m hurdles and 4x400 relay.

Schubert won district and area championships.

“I started running for schools in middle school but with both of my parents being coaches I’ve been around track meets since I was little,” Schubert said. “Competition was different this year because COVID took a year away from those who participated in hurdles and it made the competition weaker in a sense. There may have been a couple of races where the competition pushed me to do better so when I got to regionals it was definitely a change.”

“I felt lucky at first getting in as the “wild card” but I’m hoping that my past experience as well as my training hard for this meet helps me in a big way,” Schubert added.

Coach Parker had this to say about Keldyn and his accomplishments.

“He’s a versatile athlete. One of the most versatile you’ll find. Throughout the season he’s been a five event kid. He’s carried as much as one can in some of the toughest events you can be in,” Parker said. “Early in the season he ran the 800m and ran that a few times to get his conditioning in for other events later on in the season. He ran the quarter, he ran the 200, the 100 and of course the hurdles. He as well as his parents both understood that was to help him down the road.”

“He trains so hard I have to tell him ‘brakes, brakes, put on the brakes’ but he knew what he could handle and his parents knew what he could handle,” Parker continued. “They’ve kept the pedal down and he’s trained in that fashion. His experience, drive to accomplish and competitiveness; all of those factors, as well as talent, has put him in this position.”

With having been there before Schubert still listens to the advice of his coach and parents.

“My parents and Coach Parker have taught me to live in the moment of state to a certain degree but don’t let the pressure get to me. Be calm, cool and collective as much as I can,” Schubert said. “Just take what you’ve learned training-wise and let that take over. ‘Just go run’ is what Coach Parker tells me because he says I’ve prepared as much as I could for moments like these. Don’t worry about anything, go compete and have fun.”

When you have a gifted athlete for a child it’s not hard for the parents to relish in the moment.

“After not having a junior season due to COVID, Keldyn qualified for the state track meet for the third time in his high school career in the 300m hurdles. In one of those years he won a silver medal,” Coach Casey Schubert said. “His story begins before that though.When he was a fourth grader, he was at track practice one day with us and he told us he’d go to state in hurdles one day. Little did we know then that he’d qualify for the event every year in high school.”

Coach David Schubert had this to say, “a buddy of mine texted me the other day and told me that Keldyn has had an exceptional career and I would say that it’s probably one of the best that the state has ever seen. Although it’s a smaller classification what he’s been able to accomplish is pretty impressive.”

“With both my wife and I being coaches we have probably over pushed him. Sometimes I just put the hammer down because I’m both a coach and dad,” David said. “It’s been a really fun ride for both my wife and myself. Seeing it from a coaches point of view and a parent’s point of view has been a really big blessing.”

“I give his mom all the credit for his hurdle training. I push him and help with his drive but 100 percent of his hurdle form is from his mom. She’s been there since the beginning. She was the one there in fourth grade working with him on hurdling,” David said. “She’s been his hurdle coach since he was in the seventh grade. She trained him. When you watch him run hurdles his form is as good as anybody’s out there.”