The Eagles haven’t had a state champion since pole vaulter Rocky Danners in 1999 and their last state champion in a running event came back in 1991, when Danny McCray won the 400-meter dash and Bob Rachal matched him in the 300 hurdles.
The harsh truth is that the tome telling of Ellison’s track and field heroics had collected dust. From 2001 to ’08, the Eagles accumulated a total of 40 points at regional meets and advanced only three athletes to state.
Enter veteran coach Larry Moore, who in his first year helped the Eagles dust off the program’s history book - along with most of the field at the regional meet - and has the squad poised to finally write a new chapter in the annals of Ellison lore.
“I’m not a miracle worker,” the ever-modest Moore said. “What we have is a bunch of kids who have done everything we’ve asked in practice and at meets, and a great coaching staff who has tutored and nurtured these kids along the way.”
Whatever it was Moore and his staff did, it worked.
After finishing only five points behind defending regional and state champion Garland Rowlett at the Class 5A Region II meet two weeks ago, Ellison is staring down the barrel at four gold medals and a possible team crown at this weekend’s University Interscholastic League State Track and Field Meet.
Ellison will have six athletes competing and the Eagles will be the favorites when the gun fires for all four of their events - the 400 relay, 800 relay, 100 and 300 hurdles - Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
No matter what Moore says, going from one point at last year’s regional meet to 66 this season sounds a lot like a miracle.
“I don’t know that I really looked to see if there was a flaw in what existed before I got here,” Moore said. “I just sat down with the staff and said, ‘I’d like to see the team look like this, with guys finishing strong and having fun, and with the coaching staff around them and showing them how important their performance is to us.’
“It also helps if your kids have a God-given ability to run.”
And for the Eagles, there is no shortage in the ability department.
It starts with junior Prezel Hardy, who will try to become Ellison’s first 100-meter champion since Prince Fields in 1982 and will anchor both relay teams.
Hardy edged reigning state silver medalist Marquis Goodwin of Rowlett to win the regional 100 title with a time of 10.41 seconds to Goodwin’s 10.45. The third-fastest qualifier in the eight-runner field is Justin Northwest’s Chris Bain at 10.60.
“Prezel certainly has the talent to run,” Moore said. “His greatest attribute is that he wants to be successful. He wants to be the anchor leg and have it put on him at the end. It makes you proud when he has the stick coming down the final stretch.”
Hardy’s leg of the 400 relay will be preceded by those of junior Larry Brooks, senior Gerald Wallis and junior Michael Bryan. The 800 relay will be Brooks to junior Brian Dawkins to Bryan to Hardy.
If there is a reason to be concerned about Hardy, it isn’t about his times but rather the timing of his events. He will anchor the sprint relay at 6:05 p.m., run the 100 at 6:40, then turn around and anchor the 800 relay at 6:50 in what are typically broiling conditions inside Myers Stadium.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned. It would be stupid to say there is no concern,” Moore said. “But when Michael Bryan comes down that straightaway, Prezel knows what he’ll have to do.”
The Eagles’ regional-winning time of 40.97 in the 400 relay is the fastest in a field that includes defending champion Rowlett and Converse Judson, last year’s bronze medalist.
Ellison also ranks first in the 800 relay, in which its stiffest competition could come from Humble Atascocita and Galena Park North Shore.
If form holds and the Eagles post wins in the 100 and both relays, then the performance of senior Steven White in the 300 hurdles could be the clincher in Ellison’s quest for its first state team title in track and field.
Barring catastrophe, it should be a two-horse race to the wire between White and Cedar Park Vista Ridge’s Andre Sanders, who went 1-2 at the Region II meet with times of 36.50 and 36.61, respectively.
The next-closest qualifiers are Coppell’s Jake Wohlford and Cedar Hill’s Chris Cole, way back at 37.75 and 37.92. None of the other four competitors has even broken the 38-second barrier this season.
“I worked with Steven personally and he already did some things naturally that were really good, then there were some things I wanted him to try,” Moore said. “And he’s another one of those guys who is a huge competitor. It seems like every time he has needed to come from behind he’s done it.”
With wins in all four of its events, Ellison would tally 60 points. Exactly where that would place the Eagles won’t be known until Saturday night, but remember this: in the last five years, the average total needed to win the 5A boys team title was 60.
“Our guys weren’t overly excited or overly disappointed at regionals,” Moore said. “They took it that, ‘Hey, Rowlett got it this time. What do we need to do to grab it at the next meet?’ All we can do is run our races, score as many points as we can and see what happens.”
Moore won’t take credit for restoring Ellison’s track and field legacy, and he offered no insight as to the impact a state championship would have on the program.
“I haven’t been here long enough to know if the program is thought of any differently or if it’s the same,” Moore said.
But he did add this: “Some kids drove by our workout today and hollered something like, ‘Go with that relay.’
“Now if members of the general student body take the time to hang out of a truck and cheer for you at a practice, then that means there is some excitement about what’s going on. And that has to pump you up.”
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
