LUBBOCK -- Mansfield Timberview sprinter Aldrich Bailey cemented his legacy as one of the top track athletes in North Texas history with a performance in the 400 meters that will not soon be forgotten by those in attendance Saturday at the Class 5A Region I meet at Texas Tech.
The Texas A&M signee's time of 45.19 not only broke former Arlington Lamar and Baylor star Jeremy Wariner's regional record (45.57 seconds) from 2002, he broke the national record of 45.25 set by Calvin Harrison (North Salinas, Calif.) in 1993."I have to thank God; I'm overwhelmed," Bailey said. "I want to go sub-45 [seconds], that's my goal. I thought I just did it."The senior and defending Class 5A state champ in the 400 brought the crowd to its feet again on his way to collecting two more gold medals Saturday as anchor of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, in which he was handed the baton with a sizable deficit.Timberview was in third place in the 4x100 and in fourth place in the 4x400 before Bailey took over to win both events with times of 40.67 and 3:12.71, respectively. But he was quick to heap praise on his teammates."I just asked them to keep it close, and that's what they did," Bailey said. "Everybody did their job, and I'm proud of them."Joining Bailey on the 4x100 was Talo Pascal, Jovahn Long and Jacques Lewis. Tamar Hicks and Rondell Coleman joined Bailey and Lewis on the 4x400."He put it all on his shoulders," Timberview coach Rayford Ross said. "That's what he wanted to do, and that's what he did."Not to be outdoneAldrich Bailey was not the only Timberview athlete to set a record Saturday.The Wolves' 4x400 team of Kristyn Williams, her twin sister Kaitlyn, Briana Adams and Jasmine Gordon also set a regional standard with a time of 3:43.68.The Lady Wolves won the girls' team title by a score of 93-83.5 over Plano East. Timberview also won a gold medal in the 800 meters, the 4x200 and the 400, led by Stanford-bound Kristyn Williams, who garnered three by herself.How fast?South Grand Prairie's Abraham Hall is so fast that judges keep questioning their stopwatches. For at least the second time this season, the judges had to scramble to figure out his time, causing a delay of more than 10 minutes before reporting his time in the 100 meters at 10.45.Earlier this season he ran a disputed 9.74 in the 100 that later was ruled inaccurate due to a faulty starter pistol."This is getting to be crazy, but I'm going to state and that's the positive thing," Hall said. "I feel like I ran way faster than 10.45."He did. He also won a second gold medal in the 200 (20.81).Mission accomplishedIt wasn't her best showing, but North Crowley's Alexis Lewis got the job done. The junior high jumper cleared a height of 5 feet, 6 inches to win the gold and a trip to Austin.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
