Not bad for a warm-up.
The
Fort Bend Marshall (Missouri City, Texas) 4x100 meter relay team broke 40 seconds in the preliminaries of the Regional III-5A meet last week, going 39.99 seconds and then breezed to the regional championship the following day on Saturday, going 40.08.
According to
dyestat.com, the next fastest time in the nation this year is 40.36. The national record is 39.76 set more than 20 years ago — in 1998 by another Texas school, Wyatt (Fort Worth).
Marshall will go after that record at the state meet, May 10-11 at the University of Texas in Austin.
Thanks to three relay wins, Marshall won the regional title with 102 points, compared to 78 for runner-up Manvel (78).
Video: Marshall's 4x100 track and field relay team breaks 40 seconds. In by far the fastest sprint state in the country, Marshall goes 39.99 en route to a regional title.
The state meet figures to be special. On Saturday, another Houston-area standout,
Strake Jesuit (Houston)
senior Matthew Boling ran the
fastest all conditions 100-meter race in high school history, crossing the line in 9.98 seconds at the 6A-3 meet in Webster,
Texas. There was a 4.2-mile-per-meter wind at his back, but still, breaking 10 seconds is very special.
Marshall coach Lloyd Banks told the
Houston Chronicle that his it's just a pleasure to watch his relay team compete.
"I'm just happy for the kids," Banks said. "I love seeing them happy. Being successful men and working their butts off. I just like to sit back and watch them."
Remarkably, nine of the top 10 4x100 boys relay times this season have been recorded by Texas teams.
