Congratulations to the cross country program for qualifying 37 athletes for the 2018 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country which will be held in Tallahassee, FL on December 9th. 

Team Awards at Gulf Association:
9-10 Boys - Second Place
11-12 Girls - Second Place
13-14 Girls - First place 

Individual Awards:
Audrey DeBraine - 8U Girls Silver Medal (2000m)
Carter Maloy - 8U Boys Gold Medal (2000m)
Anna Parker - 9-10 Girls Gold Medal (3000m)
Henry Gibbs - 9-10 Boys Silver Medal (3000m)
Lane Nicholas - 9-10 Boys Bronze Medal (3000m)
Xavier Klatt - 11-12 Boys Bronze Medal (3000m)
Yasmine Mejia - 13-14 Girls Bronze Medal (4000m)
Abigail Lynn - 15-16 Girls Gold Medal (5000m)

Track Houston continued its annual collection of medals by bringing home 158 of them from the 2017 USATF National Junior Olympic held in Lawrence Kansas. In addition, Track Houston won 14 first place awards highlighted with the 8U boys and 13-14 girls each winning the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

Track Houston championships:

• 200m – 17-18 Women - Kynnedy Flannel
• 800m – 13-14 Boys - Malik Campbell
• 1500m – 13-14 Girls - Sophie Atkinson
• 3000m – 13-14 Girls - Sophie Atkinson
• Long Jump – 17-18 Women - Kynnedy Flannel
• 4x100m – 8U Boys - Rahsan Hawkins, Joshua Vilmael, Jordan Simmons, Derrick McCullar II
• 4x100m – 11-12 Girls - Danielle Johnson, Brooke Coleman, Alexia James, Angel Haynes
• 4x100m – 13-14 Girls - A'Niya Galloway, Taejha Badal, Jada Campos, Anivea Gilbert
• 4x400m – 8U Boys - Joshua Vilmael, Jalen Kouaho, Dominick Washington, Derrick McCullar II
• 4x400m – 13-14 Girls - Kayla Meyers, Jada Campos, Taejha Badal, Jalen Elrod
• 4x400m – 13-14 Boys - Colin Taylor, Ian Johnson, Elijah Bean, Malik Campbell
• 4x400m – 15-16 Boys - Sebastian Cooper, Moyo Oyebamiji, Ian Gilmore, Genson Hooper-Price
• 4x800m – 15-16 Girls - Rebeca Beaird, Kiarra Wafer-Randle, Lindsey Phillips, Wonders Oguejiofor
• 4x800m – 17-18 Women - Madison Savoy, Dinah Murphy, Alexa Granderson, Sydney Allen

Camila Vicens continued her national medal collection by winning the 14 year old girls 3000m race walk at the 2016 AAU National Junior Olympic. In that race she also set the new national record to 15:21.48. Camila currently holds 6 national records.
National Records:

• 2016 - AAU Junior Olympic - 14 year old girls 3000m Race Walk
• 2015 - AAU Junior Olympic - 13 year old girls 3000m Race Walk
• 2015 - AAU Club National - 13 year old girls 3000m Race Walk
• 2014 - AAU Junior Olympic - 12 year old girls 1500m Race Walk
• 2014 - AAU Club National - 12 year old girls 1500m Race Walk
• 2013 - AAU Junior Olympic - 11 year old girls 1500m Race Walk

​By Bill Waters
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When we talk about track and field we think about blazing 100 meter dash times and electrifying 4X100 relay teams. We think about record breaking long jumpers and other events that would be considered popular amongst the track community.
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There is one event that is constantly overlooked even though it is an Olympic event. The Race Walk has been around for many years. Although people may think of it as an easy event there are very few people that can compete at a high level. This event takes skills that many don’t understand. When you watch the Race competitors appear to be walking strange and some people like to joke about the way they look.

One young athlete has made a point to change the way that spectators view the Race Walk. 3rd grade Cynthia Ann Parker Elementary Student Madison Morgan wants to show the world that the Race Walk event should be respected as a true track event. Morgan is a resident of Houston Texas and she has become a popular Race Walk competitor in her community. She is a 3 time USATF Race Walk Champion and she is currently one of the top 3 1500 meter Walkers in her division.

When asked about why she was so passionate about the Race Walk Morgan Stated, “People think that it is and easy event.” “So many kids get made fun of and they quit.” I would like to bring more exposure to the sport so that people will stop making fun of us.”

Morgan plans on continuing competing in the Race Walk event and her ultimate goal is to walk a blazing 7:30 in the 1500 which will break the USATF record. This record has not been broken in 20 years and it would be a huge accomplishment for such a talented athlete. Courtesy of 4.0 Sports.org

Courtesy of www.texanlive.com

​A fighter, a competitor, an inspiration and a miracle – words commonly used to describe the 12-year-old runner, Camille Napier. At such a young age, Camille has made a name for herself, currently holding the 3000M indoor world record time for 12-year-old girls and the national indoor record time for 13-year-old girls. But Camille has a condition her parents feared would never allow her lead a competitive lifestyle like she has.

Camille was born with a liver disease called Biliary Atresia, a condition effecting only one in every 18,000 children. The disease is not preventable, the cause is unknown and there is no medical cure, but Camille has developed her own cure in her passion for running.

After Camille had the Kasai procedure at six weeks old, there was a 70% chance she would need a liver transplant and a 50% chance she would need one before the age of two. Now, a humble fighter at age 12, Camille doesn’t know if or when that day will come, but she runs every race like it’s her last.

Usually the runt of the group, you can find her at occasional college meets, local events in Houston & some of the biggest open track meets all over the country. And she has quite a collection to show for it.

She hopes to continue her collection through college and maybe even through the Olympics…

Out of all the races in the world, it seems Camille has already defeated her biggest competition in her battle against Biliary Atresia.

Texan Live will continue to bring you updates on Camille this season and you can follow her journey on Instagram at texastrackgirl.
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Reporting for Texan Live…. Courtney Madden.

Congratulations to the cross country program for qualifying 60 athletes for the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country which will be held in Albuquerque, NM on December 12th. This event was last held in Albuquerque in 2012. That year Track Houston cross country program was in its infancy traveling five athletes to Albuquerque (Camila Vicens, Aye Devany, Cole Lindhorst, Riley Lindhorst and Rachel Whipple). 

At the USATF Gulf Association qualifying meet, Track Houston won 7 individual first place awards and 6 team championships. 

Team Winners at Gulf Association:
8&Under Girls, 9-10 Girls, 9-10 Boys, 11-12 Girls, 11-12 Boys, 13-14 Girls
13-14 Boys were 2nd overall

Individual Winners:
Gold - 3K Run - Mary Katherine Gibson 9-10 Girls
Gold - 3K Run - Sophie Atkinson 11-12 Girls
Gold - 3K Run - Aye Devany 11-12 Boys
Gold - 4K Run - Camila Vicens 13-14 Girls
Gold - 4K Run - Cole Lindhorst 13-14 Boys
Gold - 5K Run - Andrew Gandy 15-16 Boys
Gold - 5K Run - Ababu Mohamed 17-18 Boys

Athletes who advanced to Junior Olympic:
Rowan Saacke, Zahra Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Mia Ensley, Cora Nielson, Reese Kennedy, Dara Carter, Hank Gibbs, Peter Gibson, Slade Ledford, Mary Katherine Gibson, Riley Lindhorst, Iliana Ensley, Madison Morgan, Goldyn Hall, Abigail West, Raegan Mitchell, Emma Peters, Owen Gibbs, Aidan Allen, Emory Vazquez, Jared Nielson, Brody Smith, Jalyn Fonteno, Jadyn Fonteno, Shaun Garrett, Sophie Atkinson, Heidi Nieslon, Athena Reyna, Alyssa Rodriguez, Emily Cabello, Aye Devany, Travis Gibson, Ferdinand Hoven, Caleb Schaunaman, Evan David, Eddie Paton, Mitchell Harper, Eric Romo, Camila Vicens, Shyla Stone, Elizabeth Hamilton, Kiarra Wafer-Randle, Caroline Huang, Madison Clark, Cole Lindhorst, Austin Wrubel, Logan Smith, Brett Paton, Tanner Klein, Logan Smith, Gavin Saacke, Asher Smith, Kaislyn Lyons, Justin Couty, Billy Devany, Andrew Gandy, Ababu Mohamed, Anton Young