AUSTIN — As expected, two of the biggest heroes of the Class 6A UIL State Track and Field Championships were sprinters Dillon Mitchell of Sheldon King and Blake Hamilton of Katy Tompkins, who cemented their legacies with being among the fastest 100 and 200 meters respectively in high school history.
The villain, as will happen, was the wind, which relegated both races to asterisk status as they were massively wind-aided.
But the good news was mind-blowing. A year after being an intriguing footnote with a fourth-place finish as a freshman in the fastest high school 100 ever run, Mitchell turned in a time of 9.92 seconds to win by a good margin in a loaded field where Charvis Tubbs of Humble was a distant second in a still-flying 10.03.
The wind was +4.0 meters per second, twice the legal allowable, but here is the perspective. The 9.92 matched the fourth-fastest all-conditions 100 ever run, tying Tate Taylor’s wind-legal national record that topped Mitchell at last year’s state meet, though behind the 9.88 Mitchell ran last year.
Mitchell then ran a strong runner-up to Hamilton in the 200, but Hamilton, a former UTEP football signee, took that headline with a 19.86 that was the fastest 200 ever run under any conditions (the wind was +4.6, fairly massive).
Mitchell was second in 20.50, the 10th fastest all-conditions 200 in high school history, and Alvin Shadow Creek’s Kaleb Samuels was third in 20.51 (No. 11 all-time, all-conditions).
That left everyone a little stunned at a meet that often produces stunning results.
“Whoooo, I thought I was dreaming for a second,” said Mitchell, who de-commited from UTEP earlier this spring as he was becoming a huge name and will announce his new school where he will play football and track on May 20. “I couldn’t believe it.
“It’s so fun to be able to run against these types of guys, Dillon, Caleb Samuels, they’re both dogs. They both push me to be a better person and a better athlete. It’s awesome.”
As to the wind, “It’s OK, regardless of the wind, regardless of time, I just wanted to come out and have fun.”
The depth of the field was amazing, as seventh place was a sub-21 (20.91).
Mitchell had similar thoughts.
“I came in here with a strained hamstring, so this was good,” he said after his 100 win. “You can’t ever control the wind. It is what it is.”
So what was it?
“It felt great even though my competitor Tate wasn’t here,” Mitchell said. Taylor skipped his senior year of track to focus on higher-level meets and his impending enrollment at Texas Tech. “It still felt good to come out and win.
“I’ve been thinking about this ever since I got fourth place (last year). I’ve never been a good loser so I came to win it.”
He did in the 100, didn’t in the 200, but it all created an amazing day of sprinting in a pair of sensational races that lived up to billing.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Mind (and wind) blown. Sprinters turn in eye-popping times at UIL state meet
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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