Five area athletes are competing at the state track meet on May 10 in Austin.
The first athlete who will compete that day is Daniel Mosley from Bowie in the shot put at 9:30 a.m. Mosely won the regional meet with a throw of 49-10, but his farthest throw of the year was 51 feet.
Five athletes threw 50 feet or more at regionals, with the leader throwing a little more than 52 feet. Mosley will need his best day for a chance to come away with a medal in a closely packed field.
Not long after Mosley starts, Bowie’s Logan Lawhorn will compete in the high jump at 10 a.m. Lawhorn comes in as the wildcard as his career best 6-5 jump at regionals got him third place, but was better than any other third place jumper in the state.
Eight of the nine jumpers jumped anywhere between 6-4 and 6-6 at the regional meet. The only one who didn’t jumped 6-9 and is the favorite. If Lawhorn can equal his best jump or even break it, it might be enough to get a medal in another closely packed field.
The next athlete scheduled to compete is Bellevue’s FreeDom Morris in the high jump. Morris jumped 4-10 at the regional meet, but will need to break the five foot mark if she wants a chance to compete for a medal.
Five girls in the field jumped five foot or better at the regional meet, but the state meet is a fickle event in an atmosphere unlike anything these athletes have competed in before.
Zach Bradley from Forestburg is scheduled to compete in the shot put at 3:30 p.m.
The junior is making his second appearance at the state meet, winning regionals with a throw of 47-9¼. Bradley and his Coach Cori Hayes have been shooting for 50 feet or more all year, but have so far only done it in practice.
With four of the top distances in the field throwing 50 feet or more, they have been focusing on trying to achieve that and letting the chips fall where they may.
The final athlete to compete will be Nocona’s Tyler Richards in the 400 meter race at 8:15 p.m. Richards finished only a few hudredths of a second faster than third place at the regional meet to get second with his best time of 49.66.
He will need his best time as the race is about as open as it could.
Going off of regional times, the field of nine finished anywhere from 49.75 to 48.94. It is anyone’s race.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.