Dogs 6th, Lady Dogs 5th At Marietta Meet; DeArman, Lee, Johnson Win First Place Medals
Sulphur junior, Morgan Brown, broke a 44-year-old school distance record last Friday at the Marietta Invitational, and the Bulldogs continue a strong start in early season track.
Brown broke the school record in the 3200-meter run by almost 13 seconds, running a 9:59.77. The old record was held by Ronnie Akers, who ran a 10:12.51 back in 1982. That was the third oldest Sulphur track record still on the books. The oldest is Eddie Winn’s 4:32.0 in the 1600-meter run, established in 1960. The next oldest was turned in 1962 by the 1600-meter relay team of Carl Melson, Freddie Freeman, Dale Runyan and Charles Black (3:27.10).
“Breaking a record that has been around that long is a tremendous accomplishment,” said head Sulphur boy’s coach, Emile Heitland. “Morgan has worked extremely hard over the offseason to give himself a chance to break the 3200-meter record. It was very exciting to see him accomplish that goal.”
Overall, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs competed well in the meet, according to head Heitland and David Gilliam, girls coach. The boys placed sixth overall, and the girls came in fifth.
“Despite being a little shorthanded early in the year due to basketball players finishing their season and several athletes still competing in powerlifting, the Bulldogs have had a strong start,” said Heitland. “We’ve been a little shorthanded early, but I’ve been very encouraged with where we are at this point in the season.”
In addition to his school record run in the 3200 and a second place win, Brown pulled off a 4:40.40 time in the 1600 to win second in that event, and is now eying Winn’s 1960 record in the 1600 meters.
Another performance that caught Heitland’s attention was Sulphur’s 3200-meter relay team running an 8:28.20 time in a meet at Plainview one week earlier. “The time is especially encouraging considering last year’s state-placing relay team did not run that fast until late April,” the coach said.
Other performances of note at the Marietta meet included a second place effort from Landy DeArman in the pole vault (12-6), and third place from Dax Lowrance, in the high jump (6-0).
“Dax Lowrance has also shown big improvement in the high jump after putting in significant offseason work,” said Heitland. “He set a personal record of 6-0 at Plainview, matched that mark at Marietta, and narrowly missed clearing 6-2. Dax has worked extremely hard in the offseason on his high jump and it’s starting to show.”
These four Sulphur track athletes turned in first top performances at last Friday’s Marietta Invitational. The four are Morgan Brown (top left), 2nd in 1600 setting new school record, Jayden Lee (top right) 1st in the 800, Kenleigh Johnson (bottom left), 1st in the shot, and Landy DeArman (bottom right) 1st in the pole vault. PHOTOS BY DON COFFEY
Sulphur’s Dax Lowrance had a personal record in the high jump at Marietta last Friday, clearing 6-0 to win third. PHOTO BY DON COFFEY
Track Record
Other good performances included Triston Barnes, fourth in the pole vault, and Brody Wallace fifth in the shot.
