Records are meant to be broken, and for the first time in UIL track history, four schools completed the 4×100 boys relay with a time under 40 seconds. Atascocita finished first with a time of 39.14 seconds, followed by Duncanville who ran 39.47, Galena Park North Shore who ran 39.79 and Katy Tompkins who ran 39.85.
“High school track continues to evolve and that’s what we’re seeing now in all events when discussing times and distances,” said Galena Park North Shore head track coach Reggie Wallace. “Texas has great programs that continue to push and raise the bar every year. It was an honor to be a part of it, competing against some of the best teams. I can’t wait to see what 2025 brings to Texas high school track and field.”
Coming into the UIL 6A State track meet, the Atascocita Eagles 4×100-meter relay team were the favorite to win after running 38.92 at the Victor Lopez Classic held at Rice University. That time broke the previously held national record of 39.76 set by Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt in 1998.
“This team is made of a lot of experience, most of these guys have been on varsity for three or four years,” said Atascocita head track Coach Elton Ervin.
Three seniors and one junior, Tory Blaylock, Landon Fontenot, Jordan Parker and Jelani Watkins made up the Atascocita 4×100-meter relay team.
Blaylock, a four-star running back, is currently committed to the University of Oklahoma. He is the only one on the relay team who has never run summer track while in high school. Most of his summers are spent preparing for football. However, his ability to bench press 225 pounds 19 times shows his strength. It’s this strength and power that helps Atascocita start the race and the reason he is a great first leg.
“I just want to push out of the blocks and break the stagger. The first leg is a lot of pressure but a key thing for me is to block everything out,” said Blaylock.
Fontenot runs the second leg and is currently committed to the University of Iowa. He has been running track for eight years. He got his start running with US Express in Lake Charles, Louisiana before moving to Houston in his ninth-grade year and joining the Greater Houston Track Club. Naturally, Fontenot is a 400-meter runner with impeccable endurance, this allows him to cover the backstretch as Atascocita moves into the third leg of the race.
“On the backstretch, I’m focused on my turnover and pushing through the zone so I can extend it to Jordan,” said Fontenot.
Fontenot has been handing the stick to Parker since sophomore year. Currently committed to TCU, Parkers’ reliability and quick twitch on the third leg are the unseen edge Atascocita has on their competition. While some teams are beginning to slow at this point, Atascocita is continuing to get faster around the curve.
“He’s a very quick twitch person, probably the quickest twitch person I’ve ever seen in a while,” said Coach Ervin.
“When I run it’s always tunnel vision,” said Parker. The best way I know how to do my best and get the stick around in the fastest time possible is to worry about myself, trust my work and trust in God. My goal has always been to outrun everyone on my leg and show that I’m the best third leg in the country,” said Parker.
Parker began running track for Atascocita Middle School in the 7th grade. He eventually made his way to the Atascocita Titans and after training with Coach McCray. He later joined the Greater Houston Track Club.
“Running came to me naturally and I fell in love with the mix of hard work and winning. Track can be a difficult sport to continuously execute. However, when the work is done you can rest assured it was all worth it,” said Parker.
Parker hands the stick to Louisiana State University commit Watkins, who runs the anchor leg down the stretch for the Atascocita Eagles. Watkins, a three-time gold medalist in the 200-meter dash is another reason why teams have difficulty beating the times Atascocita has consistently run this season.
“He brings it home for the team. He’s legit one of the best in the country at finishing the race,” said Ervin.
Running at these qualifying speeds is more than just having fast kids, a program must have buy-in and a coach who knows what it takes to get his athletes prepared to perform at their highest levels.
Ervin graduated from Westbury High School where he ran the 400-meter and 800-meter dash under coach Andrew Blanks.
“While running for Coach Blanks I learned the importance of getting to know your athletes and showing them you care. Once you do that, they will go all out for you,” said Ervin.
Ervin later attended the University of Texas on a track scholarship where he ran the 400-meter and 800-meter dash. The skills and training he learned on his journey he brought with him into his coaching career. Last season he was at Humble Summer Creek over sprints and hurdles. This season he was promoted to head track coach at Humble Atascocita.
“Becoming head track coach at Atascocita was a blessing because it gave me more responsibility, bring a program together and give them the success they deserved,” said Coach Ervin. “I have a college workout that I follow. I’m big on ply metric workouts, Olympic lifts and recovery day.”
The Atascocita Eagles boys 4×100-meter relay team bought into the program, trained hard, had great coaching, support and four athletes who had great chemistry. The result of these things was zero losses on the season, a broken national record and a new state meet record.
