AUSTIN – Coahoma’s Kohen Grantom came to the UIL state track and field meet at Mike A. Meyers Stadium with two goals — win gold medals and break records.
He can put a checkmark on both of those objectives.
Grantom swept the boys wheelchair events Friday, starting with a gold medal in the shot put with a winning throw of 27-feet and 8-inches — improving on his silver medal from last season. He continued checking boxes with gold medals in the 100 and 400. His 100 and 400 wins set new state record times of 15.13 seconds and 53.50, respectively.
For Grantom, though, there’s always room to improve.
“My time isn’t usually what I run, but it was enough to get the record, but it wasn’t what I was shooting for,” Grantom said.
Grantom, understandably, has high expectations for himself. During the Region I-3A meet in Abilene, Grantom broke the meet, state and national record in the 400 with a time of 50.3. For the sophomore, he said his biggest improvement came from not being too hard on himself when he doesn’t achieve his goals.
“I’m proud of my performance,” Grantom said. “But I feel like the wind definitely played a role in the first 200 meters (of the 400) and bumped my time somewhere I didn’t want it to be. But at the end of the day, it’s part of the sport — it happens, so I’m just glad I came out with the gold and got the record still.”
“It’s a lot of training and getting into the right mindset,” Grantom said. “I try not to beat myself up for (not winning) a competition.”
Now that Grantom holds state and national records, the sophomore said his new goal is to bring his competition internationally. On Monday, he departs for Switzerland to compete in the World Para Athletics Grand Prix where he will compete in everything from the 100 to a 5k.
Part of Grantom’s international journey will include obtaining an international classification, so his times will be recognized outside of the United States. Once his times rank high enough internationally, he said he hopes to qualify for the 2027 World Championships in Uzbekistan.
While the 16-year-old has big international goals, Grantom said the support from his small Texas town of less than 1,000 people are the best in the world.
“I feel like I have the best support out of anybody,” Grantom said. “Everyone’s looking out for me, everyone is helping me get to my goals and everyone believes in me — they’re never going to tell me I can’t do this.”
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Coahoma’s Kohen Grantom sets state records, eyes world stage
Reporting by Paul Witwer, San Angelo Standard-Times / San Angelo Standard-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
