Stuart Kantor
Special to Rivals High

University of Texas track and field coach Bubba Thornton knows how big of an event the Texas Relays is to high school athletes.

"Texas Relays is an incredible athletic setting," Thornton said. "For high school kids who've competed in their hometowns all year long, they now get to compete in front of 22,000 people."

After two days of waiting, the high school portion of the 82nd running of the Texas Relays commenced Friday in Austin with the boys pole vault (Section A).

And it didn't take long for the first of five meet records on this day to fall.

Many of the country's top vaulters ? including Jack Whitt (17 feet, 10.75 inches; seventh all-time) of Norman, Okla., the Frawley brothers, Vince and Eric (both over 16 feet), from Midlothian (Texas), and Logan Cunningham (consistent at 15-6) of Smithson Valley (Texas) ? participated in the event.

After 90 minutes, Whitt was alone in first at 17-0 (Cunningham had just bowed out spectacularly at 16-6). Whitt then vaulted to a Texas Relays record of 17-3.

But he wasn't done. Could Whitt become the next U.S. high school vaulter to reach the storied 18-0 plateau?

"The wind pushed the pole a little left, but this actually helped me," Whitt said.

On his third attempt Whitt cleared 18-0.25 ? literally jumping his age.

"This is the most competition I'll have the rest of the year," Whitt said. "There's no one over 16 feet in Oklahoma; there's good vaulters who should be, but like they say, everything's bigger in Texas, so they really pushed me, and the crowd certainly helped."

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Long Beach (Calif.) Poly perennially sends powerful sprint squads to the Texas Relays, and this year was no exception.

The girls 4x800 team ? composed of juniors Tia Leake, Erica Winston and Ne'Ausha Logan and sophomore Dynasty Gammage ? shattered the Texas Relays record of 9:13.29 set in 2002 by more than 5 seconds, finishing in 9:07.95 and winning by more than 150 meters on Friday.

"Three of us were friends and then two moved into Poly, which has always been known as a sprint school," Winston said. "Now we will be known as a middle distance school, too."

Considering the Texas Relays provided the undergraduate squad from Poly its toughest competition of the year, the girls should cruise to California gold. But there are still challenges ahead.

"We'll go to Penn Relays in a couple of weeks," Winston said, "and that'll be tougher because we'll run against older competition and international competition, too."

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The nation's best long jumper has already realized his goal ? signing with the University of Texas. Friday, Marquise Goodwin (Rowlett High) broke the 1992 record of 24-10 with a leap of 25-2.75.

"Obviously to set the record at the Texas Relays is special," Goodwin said Friday. "It's the biggest stage."

Saturday, Terrell Guidry and the Spring Westfield 4x100 relay team blazed the track in a meet-record 1:40.86, the top time in the nation.

"We had to keep up with Marquise Goodwin and defending champion Rowlett," Guidry said Saturday. "The prelims [Friday] were windy; today's weather was just right."

Also Saturday, Cameron Lacour (Dayton High; University of Houston) dropped the previous 110-meter hurdles record set in 1999 (13.52) by .04 seconds. In the process, he claimed the nation's No. 1 time at 13.48.

"I'm real excited," Lacour said. "I work on hurdles during practice, and then after practice, I go back to the track and work some more."

For Lacour, a member of all three relay teams, there was little time to revel in his glory.

"When Monday comes, I'm back on the track," he said Saturday. "My goal this summer is to challenge Wayne Davis [the country's top high school hurdler out of North Carolina]."

Dallas Christian's Skye Dawson, a Harding (Ark.) signee, perhaps pulled Saturday's biggest upset by defeating Goodwin in the 100-meter dash, 10.43 to 10.48.

"It's not my PR [10.29, Lancaster Invitational], but I'll take it considering the competition."

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Thornton said a major aspect of competing at the Texas Relays is "how kids handle all the distractions."

For Plano East's Toddrick Allen, the only distractions he faces are the nuances of perfecting the high jump. Although he claimed victory at 7-1 on Friday ? the only 7-foot high jump in the state of Texas thus far ? his miss at 6-11 concerned him.

"I didn't have the right speed and didn't have my head in the right position." said Allen, a University of Houston commitment.

Allen's confidence level to attain 7-3 this season is remarkably high, saying: "I'm the best in the state."

~ ~ ~

Rachel Fisher (unattached) won the girls pole vault (Section A) Friday with a vault of 13-0. She barely missed at 13-6.

"I tend to overstride; that's my gymnastics background," Fisher said. "I still need to work at the top of the pole."

Fisher, who made her college commitment to BYU public at the Texas Relays, cleared 13-6 at the Argyle Invitational a few weeks ago, but "my goal is to clear 14 feet this year and hopefully reach the national record of 14-2."

- Steve McBride contributed to this report

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