Sprinting fans like to point out that track speed is different from football speed. On Saturday, highly-recruited footballer Davian Groce of Frisco Lone Star showed he has both.
First Groce helped his teammates Zachary Forbish, Bryson Jones and Dekhari Dean to a fourth-place finish in the 4x200 relay in a time of 1 minute, 25.90 seconds.
Then the junior took gold on his own, covering 200 meters in a wind-aided 20.52 seconds in his first trip to state. He easily held off Fort Worth Arlington Heights’ Justin Stewart, who clocked 20.84.
“It was everything that I wanted,” Groce said. “I was kind of taking it easy, my legs were kind of dead.”
Groce has a wind-legal best of 21.16, but he knew he could go faster, and the illegal 3.4 meters per second wind helped. (The max allowable for record purposes is 2.0.)
“My coach, he was just telling me I could get the 20.5. I wanted to get the 19, but I could get the 20.5. I just had to finish. I was expecting it for sure.”
Asked if the track training helps with football, Groce said “For sure. It helps you get faster. I don’t really have the best running form, but training with track, it helps. I’ve gotten a lot faster.”
But is he coming back to track next year? “I don’t know, we’ll see,” he said.
Two is better than one
Perhaps the only way to improve upon a state championship is to win two state championships — and that’s what Denton Ryan senior Kailyn Head did.
This was Head’s fourth straight trip to state in the 100 hurdles and third straight in the 300 hurdles. In both 2023 and 2024 she was runner-up in the former and champion in the latter.
This year she swept both. After warming up by helping Ryan’s 4x100 relay to an eighth-place finish, she won a dramatic victory in the 100 hurdles. Houston Carnegie Vanguard’s Laila Payne had the better start and led for most of the race, but as Head caught her over the final hurdle, Payne stumbled and fell across the line. Head’s wind-legal 13.60, a personal best, barely held off the 13.61 of Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill’s Zoe Williams and Payne’s 13.63.
Her 300 hurdles crown also came with drama. She came down the home stretch with a solid lead, but had difficulty with her steps over the final hurdle and was almost overtaken by Fort Bend Marshall’s Corie Wilmington. She kept her balance well enough to hang on, timing 42.53 to Wilmington’s 42.61.
“It’s really special,” the USC signee said about finally reaching the top in the shorter race after two silvers. “I was really focused on the 100 hurdles. Well, I’m focusing on both, but just getting that gold in the 100 hurdles, it’s been a huge goal.”
And yet, Head said she was also sad.
“This was my last time as a high schooler. I honestly had so much fun. My teammates and I grew tremendously.
“My dad is the head boys track coach. So it’s sad that he won’t be able to train me anymore because he trains me a little bit too. But I’m really thankful and proud I had this experience in high school.”
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