Youth will be served at the UIL State Track Meet, which opens Friday in Austin.
You just hope it's not served up on a platter.
For the freshmen who are good enough to qualify for the state meet, the initial experience can be overwhelming. Just walking onto the European-style oval at Mike A. Myers Stadium can be eye-popping, even if it's not quite the fear-inducing moment that Memorial Stadium often produced when it was the meet's home.
Experience is no small factor, so many athletes use their first trip to the nation's best-attended high school meet as their takeoff board. Experience it first, then come back and win it later.
A rare few win as freshmen and return for three more seasons as champions. Although the odds are against pulling it off, two Brazos Valley freshmen have a chance to do that. Hearne's Re'Jana Ellison is in the Class 2A 100 and 200 meters, and Snook's Shakera Barnes is entered in Class A in the 400 and 200.
Only four have done what high school sports historian Dr. Billy Wilbanks calls the "double 4-peat," including Bay City's Chandi Jones, who swept the long jump and triple jump four years straight.
The others who accomplished the feat were Utopia's Stephanie Duke in the 1,600 and 3,200; Luling's Ychlindria Spears in the triple and long jump and Fairfield's Nanceen Perry in the 100 and 200.
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Underclassmen all around: They haven't fired the first gun at state in 2010, but the future is filled with potential. In 29 individual opportunities for Brazos Valley athletes, there will be 16 underclassmen in competition.
Rockdale sophomore Daniel Brooks is making his first appearance in the 110 hurdles, and he will have some familiar company in the meet program. His sister, Krysten Brooks, is listed among last year's competitors in the 100 hurdles, and Tony Brooks, their father, is the 3A record-holder in the 300 hurdles (36.44 seconds, 1985).
As a freshman last season, Centerville's Callie Padgett showed a tendency to drop to the back of the pack in the 800 and then roar from behind at the finish. The strategy worked against her at the state meet last year when she was a freshman.
For her sophomore season, coaches have found a way to maximize her ability to rally -- hand her a baton. Padgett runs on the Lady Tigers' 800 and 1,600 relays.
Centerville's Hannah Word and Kelsey Lagrone qualified for state in doubles tennis and track but don't run on the same relays. Word runs the 800 relay and Lagrone, one of Centerville's most versatile athletes, is a triple jump finalist and a 1,600 relay runner.
If you're looking for the opposite approach from Padgett's strategy, Johnathan White is a good bet in the 800. The Bremond junior is often happy to race to the lead and see who can catch him. Last year no one did, and he won the gold.
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Yeguas ready to run: Somerville is qualified in the 400 and 800 relays in Class A boys. The quartet of Dameon Brooks, Jeff Foster, Patrick Pleasant and Cody Holliday is an all-senior group.
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Cubs look to end drought: Two Brenham juniors were medalists a year ago and have a shot a gold medals this time. Will Antkowiak is in the 3,200 and 1,600 Friday, and Derek Edwards is in the high jump and triple jump. Edwards was the state silver medalist in the latter event as a sophomore.
According to Dr. Wilbanks' voluminous research, Brenham's last individual track champion was Raymond Carter in the 400 meters in 2004.
Wilbanks, a Belton native, has a complete list of track champions at www.drbillywilbanks.com/track. You'll need Microsoft Excel and Word -- and most of the summer -- to read them all.
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No 5A representation: There will be no Brazos Valley 5A participants this year, a reminder of how difficult it is to qualify for the state meet.
It's even more difficult to win it.
The last A&M Consolidated boys champions were Duncan Phillips in the 1,600 and Chris Cralle in the discus in 2006. That same year, Victoria Walker won the girls 800.
Bryan's last girls state champion was Jodi Peterson, who won the 5A discus title in 1987. The last Viking boys athlete to win state was Curtis Dickey, who took home gold medals in the 100-yard dash and the 220 in 1976.