Newman Smith Athletes Named State Champions in Track and Field

Congratulations to the Lady Trojan Track Team for an outstanding performance at the State UIL Track Championships Friday in Austin. The Trojans finished 5th overall as a team at the state meet. This is the first time in school history that the Newman Smith Women's Track program has finished 5th at the state UIL meet.

For the second consecutive year Courtney Okolo won the 400 Meters Dash at state with a time of 53.79! This is the first time in school history that a student athlete has won two back to back individual state UIL Track championships!The team won the 1600 Meters Relay, 400 Meters Dash and placed 3rd in the 800 Meters Dash. The team of Kaila James, Mia James, Adriana De LaRue, and Courney Okolo are State Champions in the 1600 Relay with a time of 3:49:75, a personal best for the team. Also, Okolo placed 3rd in the 800 Meters with a time of 2:15:37. Congratulations Okolo, K. James, M. James, and DeLaRue for a championship level effort at State. The Lady Trojans are coached by James Busby and Lesley Gardner.

Additionally, congratulations to Brett Wyatt for a 4th Place Finish at the UIL State Track and Field Meet in the Shot Put! Wyatt's throw of 56-06 1/2 Friday was slightly under his best throw for the season but it , none-the-less, was an outstanding effort. Wyatt is coached by Patrick Holladay and Phillip Wester.

Also, Melissa Gonzalez of Creekview took second in the 300m hurdles, with a time of 41.79. Breaking 42 seconds in the girls’ 300m hurdles is quite an accomplishment. In fact, the announcers for Flo-Track who carried live coverage of the meet indicated that Melissa’s time and the winner’s times were among the fastest in the nation this year. They, too, would have finished first and second at the 5A level.

In addition, Ranchview had five athletes represent C-FB at the 3A level at the state track and field meet. Their events and places were:

Michaela Williams – 5th place – Triple jump – 37’ ¾”

Kendall Cox – 6th place – 300m hurdles – 46.58

Antonisha Stewart – 7th place – 100m hurdles – 15.10

Shanice Randall – 9th place – 100m hurdles – 15.23

Chris Wimby – 7th place – 400m dash – 49.67