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Top sports stories of the year: No. 2:

Published: Friday, December 28, 2012 7:17 PM CST

Track and field: Okolo smashes record at State Meet

By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com

With low wind, mild temperatures and humidity Saturday in Austin, the conditions were ripe for strong performances at the UIL State Track and Field Championships.

Newman Smith's Courtney Okolo took advantage.

The senior picked up three gold medals, including setting a state record in the 400-meter dash (52.40).

Additionally, Okolo picked up gold in the 200 (23.87) and was part of Smith's 1,600 relay team that won gold (3:47.11).

Okolo's performances helped the Lady Trojans to a third-place team finish (40 points) behind Lancaster (73) and Beaumont Ozen (58). Creekview (32) placed fourth on the girls side.

"We planned the workouts over the last two weeks to raise the energy level so they would ready for maximum effort," said James Busby, Newman Smith girls track head coach.

Okolo's time in the 400 would have also set the state mark at the 5A level and meets the provisional standard for competing at the Olympic trials, meaning that if not enough qualifiers hit the automatic standard, the next fastest times are taken to reach a field size of 28. The first round of competition takes place June 22.

In the 1,600 relay, Okolo was joined by Adriana De La Rue, Mia James and Timeka Sandifer, which represented Smith atop the podium for the second consecutive year.

"Each of our runners ran their fastest splits of the year," Busby said. "They were flat-out ready to go. We were not expecting to beat Lancaster, but for the second year in a row, we did it."

The Lady Trojans defeated Lancaster (3:47.83) by less than a second with Crowley (3:49.81) in third.

Success at state wasn't limited to the Lady Trojans, however, as Creekview had multiple athletes earn medals.

Leading the way was Melissa Gonzalez, who grabbed gold in both the 100 hurdles (13.92) and 300 hurdles (41.65).

Gonzalez was also part of Creekview's 1,600 relay with Olivia Smith, Kasie Trigg and Samantha Gonzalez placing fourth (3:47.11) behind Smith, Lancaster and Crowley.

Trigg picked up a medal individually, tying for third in the high jump (5-04) with Friendswood's Shannon Ellis and Bay City's Shaniya Miller, while Ngozi Nweke took ninth in girls discus (104-04).

The Colony's Gerald Thomas also performed well, winning bronze in the boys 400 (47.81) behind Chris Platt of Willis (47.06) and Beaumont Ozen's Joseph Richards (47.68).

"Gerald has worked hard all year," said Nick Benton, The Colony coach. "Despite earning a scholarship for football, he saw the importance of track in his athletic development and knew how close he was last year to getting to the state meet."

Last year, Thomas was edged out by Canyon Randall's Tristen Woods of Canyon Randall, settling for third with the top two qualifying for state. But at state this year, Thomas outpaced Woods.

"Gerald is a very talented athlete, and when he is presented with a challenge, he will rise to the occasion," Benton said. "I am very proud of him and he represented The Colony proudly in his success."

At the Class 5A Meet, Southlake Carroll's Courtney Krieghauser continued her solid year by claiming gold in the 1,600 (4:53.43) ahead of The Woodlands' Madi McLellan (4:53.50). Krieghauser had previously taken silver in the fall at the state cross country meet. Hebron's Rachel Jones also competed in the 1,600, placing sixth (5:06.33).

Flower Mound's Dephanie Adeyemi earned her way on the medal stand twice, picking up silver in the 200 (24.12) behind Plano East's Jennifer Madu (24.03)-- who won four gold medals on the day -- and bronze in the 100 (11.74) behind Madu (11.53) and Keller Fossil Ridge's Mia Pollard (11.66).

Carroll's Felice Johnson finished seventh in the 3,200 (11:04.47), while Coppell's Cassidy Pickrell finished eighth in the high jump (5-02).

Hebron was well-represented on the boys side with four competitors in action.

Kevyn Hoyos picked up bronze in the 3,200 (9:08.70), off the pace of Cypress Woods' Craig Nowak (8:59.72) and Northwest's Troy Taylor (9:05.07). Kai Asberry finished ninth in the 110 hurdles (14.51) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (37.90) for the Hawks with Deatrich Wise taking sixth in the shot put (54-03.50) and Robert Domanic placing eighth in the 1,600 (4:17.96) -- where Carroll Trevor Gilley crossed the line in sixth (4:12.30). Flower Mound's Anthony Parisi, meanwhile, finished fifth in the 300 hurdles (38.30).

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