Arlington Bowie relay tops DeSoto to earn regional track title

Sick or not, Darien Porter wasn’t about to let Saturday be the last time he ran with his good friend Ardran Carr.

Carr is a senior and Porter a junior at Arlington Bowie. They run two of the four legs of the 4x400 relay, with Porter running the anchor.

Despite Porter getting over a stomach bug, they joined with juniors Kobe Daniels and Brayden Johnson to run a winning time of 3 minutes, 13.21 seconds. It gave them the Class 6A Region I championship at UT Arlington’s Maverick Stadium and qualified them for state in two weeks.

“I’m feeling a little bit better. This helps,” Porter said, smiling as he held his gold medal. “It’s Ardran’s senior year and we wanted to keep running with him a little longer. There was no way we were going to let anything stop us today.”

The quartet has posted the fastest time in the nation this season, 3:12.31, at the Texas Relays earlier this season, the same site for the state track meet. Recently, however, they had finished second to rival Arlington Martin at district and area, losing each time by three seconds.

Saturday, it was DeSoto that gave them their closest competition, finishing second with a 3:13.42.

“We wanted to put on a show, because this could have been our last time to run together if we didn’t,” Carr said. “But because we did, we get to run together one more time.”

Record inspiration

The way Michael Christopher sees it, the faster DeSoto runs, the faster he and his Mansfield teammates will run.

Christopher, a senior, runs the second leg of the Tigers’ 4x200-meter relay. Junior Kennedy Brooks starts, junior Saiid Abedo runs the third leg, and sophomore Jackson Gleeson anchors.

The quartet set a school record in winning the event Saturday at the 6A Region I Meet, clocking a 1:24.85. It was just fast enough to edge DeSoto’s 1:24.95.

“We definitely don’t want them to catch us, but it’s good for us if they get faster,” said Christopher. “It just makes us have to go faster.”

With both teams qualifying for state and having the third- and fourth-fastest times in Class 6A, Christopher said he expects another close race in Austin.

“They’re going to work to get better between now and then, and that’s what we’re going to do also,” he said. “It’ll be fun.”

Carroll star dominates

In a setting that more closely resembled legendary race horse Secretariat’s 1973 Belmont Stakes victory, Southlake Carroll junior Reed Brown won the boys 1,600-meter run in record-setting style Saturday.

Brown finished in a time of 4:07.17, winning by more than eight seconds. It easily eclipsed the previous Region I record of 4:11.23 set in 2013 by Robert Domanic of Lewisville Hebron.

Brown’s time is the second fastest in the nation this season. Only Michael Slagowski of Rocky Mountain in Meridian, Indi., has run faster, 4:03.97.

Brown had earlier qualified in the 3,200 Friday. He was second in the state in both events last season.

Area sweeps

Trophy Club Nelson sophomore Sanaa Barnes and Mansfield freshman Jillian Johnson finished 1-2 in the girls high jump. Barnes cleared 5-7 and Johnson topped 5-6.

Barnes bested her height of 5-6 last season at state, which placed her second.

Also, seniors Elise Hodges of Keller Timber Creek and Richon Rogers of Arlington Bowie took the top two spots in the discus. Hodges had a throw of 136-4, eclipsing her prevous region-best of 133-2. Rogers threw 130-11, more than four feet farther than the 126-6 she threw to place seventh at state last season.

Close competition

Seniors Brandon Bowen of Trophy Club Nelson and C.J. Gilmore of DeSoto have been as close as twins this season in the high jump, and Saturday’s competition was no different.

Each cleared a height of 6-7, higher than anyone else in the Class 6A Region I Meet. Gilmore claimed the top spot with fewer misses.

Both will advance to state, giving Bowen a chance to defend his 2015 championship. His best height clearance this season is 6-10, which is tied for first in the state in 6A with - you guessed it - Gilmore.

Saturday’s Other State Qualifiers

Boys

• Jamarkus Birks, North Crowley, senior, first in 400, 46.87.
• Jackson Gleeson, Mansfield, sophomore, second in 200, 21.23.
• Sonnie Williams, Keller Timber Creek, senior, second in long jump, 23-6.
• Cade Bethmann, Arlington Martin, junior, second in 800, 1:52.40.
• Caden McDonald, Justin Northwest, junior, second in discus, 181-10.
• Mansfield 4x100-meter relay (junior Kennedy Brooks, senior Michael Christopher, junior Saiid Abedo, sophomore Jackson Gleeson), second, 40.95.

Girls

▪ Madysen Hunter, Southlake Carroll, senior, second in 300 hurdles, 42.68.

WAITING

Area athletes waiting to hear from the University Interscholastic League to see if they are a wild-card state entry as the top third-place finisher in their event from across all four regions:

Girls

*Ryanne Johnson, Keller, junior, discus, 130-0.

*Alexandra Byrnes, Fort Worth Paschal, senior, 800, 2:12.05.

Boys

*Derrick Samuels, North Crowley, senior, 200, 21.34.

*Ardran Carr, Arlington Bowie, senior, 300 hurdles, 37.33.

*Cameron Jones, Euless Trinity, sophomore, 400, 47.16.

*Arlington Martin 4x100 relay (senior Jason Huntley, senior Maurice Pugh, junior Dayton Johnson, senior Keshun Reed), 41.10.

*Arlington Martin 4x200 relay (Huntley, Johnson, Pugh, Reed), 1:25.32.

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Arlington Bowie relay tops DeSoto to earn regional track title."