The Wildcats who will compete at the Class 5A Region II Track and Field Meet today and Saturday at Baylor’s Hart-Patterson Track Complex don’t confine their skills to one arena. In fact, all nine ply their trades on the gridiron, as well.
“If you have kids who do more than one sport, they’re going to be better athletes to begin with,” Temple boys coach Wayne Ransleben said. “There are some kids who just do track, not because they can’t play the others but because they chose not to. And that’s fine, too.
“But every coach would rather have multi-sport athletes.”
Ransleben has a talented slew of them, so many that the Wildcats have a realistic shot at winning the regional team title.
Tevin Reese, Chris Anderson, Harry Sheppard, Lache Seastrunk, Toravion Belcher, Quentin Tuck, Daniel Carr, Patrick Gamble and Darnelle Tubbs all played football in the fall.
Seastrunk and Belcher also played basketball in the winter, and all but seniors Sheppard, Tuck, Carr, Gamble and Tubbs have been going through offseason football workouts in addition to their track work.
“It’s kind of tough (to do offseason and track), but our coaches prepare us for it,” said Reese, a junior who will compete in the maximum allowable five events at regionals. “It crosses your mind to maybe give up one sport or one event, but I like doing them all.”
And the dual-sport athletes are given some slack, according to Ransleben, also an assistant football coach.
“The week of the district meet and the week of regionals, we cut back on what they do during offseason football,” he said. “That way they can get their legs back under them.”
In the case of some athletes, such as freshman Anderson, that can make all the difference in the world.
“At first it was pretty tough with offseason and track,” he said. “I kind of lost my legs for a little bit until I got into shape.”
It appears the Wildcats are rounding into shape at the most opportune of times.
Temple is one of only nine boys teams in 56-school Region II to advance all three relays to the regional meet, and the Wildcats have chances to advance several athletes to the University Interscholastic League state meet in Austin. The top two in each event qualify for the state meet.
Reese, the District 13-5A champion in the long jump, triple jump and 300-meter hurdles, has realistic chances to advance in all three events as well as with Temple’s mile relay.
Reese and Garland Rowlett’s Marquise Goodwin - defending regional champion and state runner-up and nephew of Temple assistant track coach Trampus Goodwin - are the region’s only 48-foot triple jumpers.
Goodwin has the edge in the long jump after claiming state gold last year, but Reese is one of only three other athletes in the region who have surpassed the 23-foot mark this season.
Then there are the 300 hurdles, in which the only guarantees are that the competition will be tight and Reese will be in the mix.
His time of 37.97 seconds at the district meet put him in a group of five regional competitors who have posted sub-38-second runs.
“I think Tevin is looking forward to the competition,” Ransleben said. “Times and distances really don’t matter as long as you’re in the top two at the end.”
That’s a place Reese is accustomed to finishing.
“When I was little, I used to just run around everywhere I went,” Reese said. “My momma told me I was going to be a track star, but I never believed her. I guess I kind of believe her now.”
Temple’s other best chance to medal in an individual event rests with Sheppard, the defending state silver medalist in the high jump.
Sheppard - who also qualified in the 400 but dropped the event to focus on the high jump and his anchor leg on the mile relay - set a school record by clearing 6 feet, 10 1/4 inches at last week’s tune-up meet.
Plano East’s Toddrick Allen and Klein’s Josh Poe are the only other regional competitors in the 6-10 realm.
“Getting the school record has been my goal for a while,” Sheppard said. “But my goal for this year has been to get 7-2, so that’s still what I’m working for.
“And since I’m not running the 400, it feels good to know I’ll have my legs under me for the mile relay. With the way things are looking, it might just come down to the last leg and I want to be able to come through for my teammates.”
While the Wildcats have an outside shot at advancing in the 400 relay and little chance in the 800, their mile relay should be near the front.
The district-winning time of 3:20.39 recorded by Reese, Anderson, Tubbs and Sheppard is the second-fastest qualifying mark in the 24-team field. However, Spring Westfield, Dallas Skyline and Klein Forest dipped below 3:19 earlier in the season, meaning the event could turn into a horse race.
In the mile relay as in all events, Ransleben said his guys know it will take their best efforts to advance.
“I think our guys perform better in those situations,” he said. “They’re very competitive. If somebody edges past them, then they reach down and compete a little more.”
Discus thrower Slaughter lone Tem-Cat at 5A-II meet
WACO - With a third-place showing at the District 13-5A meet, sophomore discus thrower Lacee Slaughter was the lone Temple girls athlete to qualify for the Class 5A Region II Track and Field Meet.
Slaughter will carry the banner for the Tem-Cats when the regional meet gets under way today at Baylor’s Hart-Patterson Track Complex. She will compete at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
After posting a throw of 110 feet, 9 inches at the district meet to finish behind Harker Height’s Kapi Browne and Killeen Shoemaker’s Mirhanica Wilson, Slaughter will be familiar with her competition.
Wilson - last year’s regional bronze medalist - recorded a region-best 133-3 earlier this season and will be favored along with Magnolia’s Flo Carrington (131-4), last year’s regional runner-up.
Slaughter’s qualifying mark from district ranks 17th in the 24-competitor field, although she has a better mark of 112-11 from earlier in the season.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
