Over 40 Deep East Texas Track Stars Gear Up for UIL State Competition

Numerous Deep East Texas high school athletes will compete in this week's UIL State Track & Field Championships in Austin, Texas. The competition will once again be held at the Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium on the University of Texas campus.

Athletes representing schools from Conferences A through 6A will participate in the events Thursday, May 1, through Saturday, May 3.

READ MORE: Can You Believe This is a Texas High School Campus?

How Do Track & Field Athletes Qualify For State?

It all starts with the district meet.  The top four finishers in each event advance to the next round--the area meet. It's the same format as the area meet, with the first four of each event advancing to the regional meet.

This is where it gets tough. There are four regional meets for each conference in Texas. The top 2 finishers in each event get an automatic invite to the State Meet. However, one additional qualifier is selected to compete at State:

This qualifier will be the individual and/or relay team with the best overall time, mark, or height from all regional meets per classification that did not finish first or second.

So, a total of 9 individuals or teams will compete in each event at UIL Texas.

Here's The Schedule for Different Classifications at the State Meet

Class 3A and 4A schools will compete on Thursday, 2A and 5A, along with wheelchair competition, will take place on Friday, and athletes from Classes 1A and 6A will take to the track and field on Saturday.

Deep East Texas is Well-Represented at The State Meet

Numerous athletes from the East Texas Pineywoods will be heading to Austin for the UIL State Meet. Area schools, especially from Class 2A, will be sending athletes to Austin.

Several area athletes will be competing in multiple events. Cayt Jackson from Timpson High School will be extremely busy.

UIL rules dictate that an athlete can participate in no more than 3 running events and no more than five events total. Jackson will be pushing those boundaries with state entries in the 200-meter dash, 100-meter dash, 4X100 relay, and long jump...and she's just a sophomore.

We did our best to compile all the athletes from the Lufkin and Nacogdoches area who will be trying to medal at the State Meet in Austin. If we left someone out or gave out some incorrect information in the gallery below, please let us know.