Texas High School State Championships

Well, it's time for the UIL State Championships here in the Lone Star state. The athlete I'll be keeping the closest eye on is Robert Griffin of Copperas Cove, TX. Griffin has a qualifying time of 35.86 in the 300m hurdles, which is nearly 2 seconds faster than any other qualifier in any class. That includes 5A in which the fastest qualifying time is 37.54. The state record is 35.42. The way he ran at the Regional meet in Denton 2 weeks ago, he could break it. Griffin, with his qualifying time of 13.59 in the 110m hurdles, could also threaten the state record of 13.40. He will also be anchoring the Bulldawgs' 4x400m relay in his quest for a trifecta.

Another athlete to keep an eye on is Colby Lowe of Southlake Carroll, the defending state champion in the 3200m run. Lowe will be racing Reed Connor of The Woodlands, who has a qualifying time of 9:14.65. Lowe will also run the 1600m run, looking to improve on his 3rd place finish in the 2006 state meet.

On the girls side, look for Samantha Means of McKinney North to win a strong 1600m/3200m double. She already got half of it this morning with a win in the 3200m run in a time of 10:45.3. Tiffany Townsend of Killeen is looking to break the state records in the 100m and 200m dashes. Last month at the Texas Relays, she beat the 100m dash state record time of 11.38 with an 11.26, but it was wind-aided.