From the Coaches Desk: Duncanville Boys Track Performance at the Nike Invitational
February 25, 2020
This past weekend, the Duncanville boys track team competed in the Desoto Nike Invitational. It is one of the top track meets in the area. We caught up with Coach Paul to get the details.
Can you tell us a little about the past track meet this weekend at Desoto?
The Track meet this weekend was a battle between the best in the DFW in classes 6A and 5A. I love coming to the Desoto Nike Invitational because it helps get our kids ready for the level of competition we will see at our Regional meet in April.
What was the magnitude of this track meet and from a competition stand point would this be considered a difficult meet?
The level of Competition at this meet is amongst the nation’s best. After this meet we have several athletes ranked in the top 10 in the USA which is incredible for it being so early.
Our 4×100 relay is now ranked #8 in the USA
Ryan Star in Long Jump is ranked #7 in the USA in Long Jump
Pierre Goree is ranked #8 in the USA in the 100m.
We saw a lot of good things from this meet, we had several freshmen and sophomores compete on varsity at this meet to see if they are ready for that level of competition and the did not disappoint. Cyrus Moore a freshman jumped varsity as finished 9th out of 33 jumpers with a jump of 21’7 ¾ inch. Sophomore Donte Hamilton finished 5th with a jump of 22’2 in long jump. Sophomore Calen Jones has a high jump of 6’5 inches that has him 2nd in our region right now. Sophomore Pierre Goree won the 100m and he is ranked 1st in our region right now. Sophomore Chris Hicks was the anchor on our 4x100m relay that finished 3rd at this meet and ran the nation’s 8th fastest time of the year. Kedric Williams also threw a PR in shot Put of 46’7 that leads our district right now.
Who where your standout performers and why?
The Standout performer that the team and coaches voted on this week was scholar athlete Ryan Star. He finished 3rd in the long jump competition with a jump of 23’ on only one attempt that puts him top 10 in the USA. He was 3rd leg on the 4×100 relay that finished 3rd at this meet. Last he finished 2nd in the 200 posting a time 22.31 which right now is really fast while the weather is cold.
What did you learn about your team this weekend?
This meet showed me that we have really good overall team, probably the best team that I’ve had since taking over the job in 2016. Going at the rate we are going right now we are on our way to qualifying a lot of athletes to the state championship held in Austin and have the chance to compete for the title.
What is up next for the team?
We will compete again this Thursday February 27th at the Kennedale invitational track meet, we still have a lot to fix and work on and we will see if we can get even faster this meet. We will also have back with us Roderick Daniels that hasn’t been running due to a foot injury. The future is very bright for Duncanville Track and Field.