Houston Area Dominates UIL 6A & 5A State Track and Field Championships

Greater Houston flexed its depth at the UIL State Track and Field Championships, producing team titles, near-record performances, and a sweep of relay gold across the two highest classifications in Texas.

In Class 6A, Katy Tompkins claimed the boys team title with 47 points, finishing 20 clear of runner-up Byron Nelson. Shadow Creek was third with 24 points and Cy Springs fourth with 22. Tompkins opened the meet with a 40.12 gold in the 4x100 relay — the foursome of Omo-tade Bello, Blake Hamilton, Joseph Oje-Yinka, and Silas Scutt edging Cy Springs and Grand Oaks. Houston Lamar won the 4x400 relay for the second consecutive year, with Ryan Johnson, Jordan Godfrey, Devin Carpenter, and Blake Love crossing in 3:11.47 ahead of Klein Oak and Shadow Creek.

The individual sprints belonged to Houston-area athletes. CE King's Dillon Mitchell ran a wind-aided 9.92 in the 100 meters — a time that would have set a state record without the wind — edging Humble's Charvis Tubbs and Cy Springs' Chinwoke Onwuchekwa. Tompkins' Blake Hamilton posted a 19.86 in the 200 meters, a mark that would have stood as a national record under legal conditions, finishing ahead of Mitchell and Shadow Creek's Kaleb Samuels. Pearland's Joshua Shelton controlled the 400 meters from the start, winning in 45.86, while Nicholas Ferguson of Houston Heights took the 800 in 1:52.91.

Klein Collins hurdler Andrew Jones had arguably the meet's most complete performance, winning both the 110-meter hurdles in a wind-aided 13.01 — the closest margin he'd faced all season — and the 300-meter hurdles in 36.00 flat. Jones is committed to Texas A&M and has his sights set on the 2028 Olympics. Camden Gibson of The Woodlands College Park won the 1600 in 4:11.38, Bridgeland's Eguonome Akpo-bassa took the triple jump at 41 feet 11.25 inches just ahead of Atascocita's Jordyn Barron, and Ben Haywood of Tomball Memorial cleared 17 feet 6 inches to win the pole vault.

On the Class 6A girls side, Lancaster won the team title just ahead of Duncanville, with Bridgeland finishing third. Hope Smith of Bridgeland earned silver in the 1600. Other Houston-area standouts included Jersey Village's Carrie Cresser (52.85 in the 400), Alief Taylor's McKale Lee (2:08.69 to win the 800), Tomball's Naomi Booker (13.32 in the 100 hurdles), and Magnolia's Amariah Molden (41.10 in the 300 hurdles). Katy Seven Lakes' Carla Angueira-Colombani cleared 13 feet 3 inches to win the pole vault, Houston Memorial's Cate Bryant won the high jump in a three-way tie at 5 feet 6 inches, and Klein Cain's Naila Ugoh threw 163 feet 8 inches to win the discus ahead of Summer Creek's De'andriah Sanders.

In Class 5A, Fort Bend Marshall's girls program set the tone early and never let up, winning gold in the 4x100, 4x200 — with Alayah Mouton stepping in for Megan Thomas and the team finishing in 1:36.04 — and the 4x400, where Corie Wilmington, Megan Thomas, Amira Mopkins, and Alaya Stewart closed in 3:42.65. Iowa Colony's Ashtyn Lewis won the girls 400 in 52.81, while Marshall's Phoenix Glover took silver in the 200. On the boys side, Angleton's Traevonne Latimer was the lone Houston-area gold medalist, winning the 110-meter hurdles in 13.50.