Carroll runner wins second 3,200-meter gold at UIL state track meet

Southlake Carroll senior Reed Brown repeated as gold medalist in Friday’s 3,200-meter race at the UIL Class 6A state track and field meet in Austin.

Brown, who has signed with Oregon, won in a time of 8 minutes, 58.02 seconds, well off last year’s 6A state-record time of 8:50.43.

Brown took the lead by the first turn of the Mike A. Myers Stadium track at the University of Texas. He held the lead after four laps, but his halfway time was 6 seconds slower than the state-record pace.

“He had a great performance today. He really showed some veteran-type decision-making,” Carroll coach Justin Leonard said. “After about the third lap he saw it was not happening, and tried conserve a little bit for tomorrow.”

Flower Mound sophomore Alex Maier took the lead with three laps to go, followed closely by the pack of Brown, El Paso Eastwood’s Daniel Bernal and Pflugerville Hendrickson’s Daniel Viegra.

Bernal pulled ahead as the group approached the start/finish line for start final lap, dropping Brown to third place.

Viegra then took the lead out of the first curve and on the back straight, but Brown edged outside the group as they approached the final 100 meters. Brown’s strong kick proved to be enough, and he won by five meters.

Maier was second in 8:58.85 and Bernal was third in 8:59.35. The trio finished in the same order two weeks ago at the 6A Region I meet at UT Arlington.

Brown’s final UIL race is the 1,600 meters at 8:45 p.m. Saturday. A two-time silver medalist in that event, he is the top seed, but 2016 winner Sam Worley of New Braunfels Canyon is a close second.

“The 1,600, that’s the goal,” Leonard said. “With seconds his sophomore and junior years, coming in [and] winning the 1,600 was his ultimate goal.”

Worth the wait

TCU football signee Jalen Reagor chose to remain at Waxahachie High School this spring, instead of graduating early to enroll with the Horned Frogs, in order to pursue gold in state track.

He achieved that Friday, winning the 5A long jump with a 24 feet, 5 inch effort. Reagor also beat 2016 state champion Jalen Seals of Saginaw Boswell in the process.

Seals was second at 23-9 3/4.

Reagor is rated as the sixth-best receiving recruit in the country by ESPN and second-best in Texas by 247Sports.

Reagor and Kenedy Snell, also a TCU signee at receiver, also were to run on the Indians’ 4x100 and 4x200 relays Friday night.

Mansfield ISD, again

Mansfield Lake Ridge sophomore Jasmine Moore won her second consecutive 5A gold in the long jump, clearing 19-6 on Friday.

Mansfield ISD girls have won UIL long jump state championships for four consecutive years: two by Moore along with Summit’s Ivy Walker in 2015 and Timberview’s Kelsey Johnson in 2014.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Carroll runner wins second 3,200-meter gold at UIL state track meet."