Big Country storylines to watch at 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet

Big Country storylines to watch at 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet

After months of hard work and fierce competition, the Big Country’s top high school track and field athletes have secured their spots at the 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet.

The top athletes in Texas high school track and field are set to compete in the UIL state meet on Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16, at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

Class 3A and 4A schools will kick off the UIL state meet on Thursday, May 14, followed by athletes from Class 2A and 5A schools on Friday, May 15, before wrapping up with Class 1A and 6A schools competing on Saturday, May 16.

With more than 100 Big Country and Abilene-area high school track and field athletes set to compete in Austin this weekend, here is a closer look at the Big Country’s top storylines entering the 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet.

COAHOMA’S GRANTOM, CISCO’S FOUGHT AIM TO SWEEP WHEELCHAIR GOLD MEDALS

The Big Country’s most captivating and intriguing storyline heading into the 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet boils down to one division — the wheelchair division.

Wheelchair high school track and field athletes in Texas compete as part of one combined division with athletes representing Class 1A-6A schools from around the state.

That leaves nine state qualifier spots for wheelchair athletes who qualify for the UIL State Track and Field Meet, making the competition for spots at state even tougher.

However, the Big Country will be strongly represented in every wheelchair division event at this year’s UIL state meet by the Lone Star State’s two most accomplished high school wheelchair track and field stars – Coahoma’s Kohen Grantom and Cisco’s Lillian Fought.

Grantom and Fought both qualified for and medaled in all six wheelchair events at the 2025 UIL state meet to cap off breakout freshman seasons.

Fought collected a bronze medal in the wheelchair girls shot put, a silver in the 400-meter dash and a gold medal in the 100-meter dash at last year’s state meet, breaking the UIL’s state record in the girls wheelchair 100-meter dash (17.44) in the process.

Grantom, meanwhile, earned a pair of gold medals in the boys wheelchair 100 and 400-meter dash as well as a silver in shot put in his first trip to the state meet last year.

Now back to cap off sensational sophomore seasons, Fought and Grantom will be aiming for three gold medals apiece and numerous records this time around.

Fought heads to the 2026 UIL state meet with the fastest qualifying time in both the 100 meters (17.13) and 400 meters (1:01.73) and she ranks fifth among shot put state qualifiers too.

Grantom, on the other hand, enters the state meet with the top qualifying marks in all three of his events.

In his last time on the track, Grantom set records in both the boys wheelchair 100 meters (15.31) and 400 meters (51.96) and the Region I-3A UIL Regional Track and Field Meet in Abilene.

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WILL BROWNWOOD CAPTURE BACK-TO-BACK TEAM STATE TITLES?

The Lady Lions collected a lot of hardware at last year’s UIL state meet, capturing several gold medals as well as the Class 4A UIL girls track and field team state championship.

Brownwood secured its team track and field state title last year by finishing the 2025 UIL State Track and Field Meet with 64 points overall, far outpacing second-place Canyon (45) and third-place Sunnyvale (36).

The Lady Lions combined to win two silver and two gold medals out of the seven total events they competed in during last year’s state meet.

This time around, Brownwood has qualified for state in five events but could likely end up on the podium for all of them.

Junior Kaya Phillips will be looking to win the 4A girls 200-meter dash gold medal for the second consecutive year after she ran away with a first-place finish at last year’s UIL state meet.

Phillips will also play a major role on the Lady Lions’ relay teams, which were the main reason why Brownwood was able to earn an overall team state title a year ago.

At the 2025 UIL state meet, Brownwood’s 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400-meter relay teams all secured first or second-place finishes.

This year, the Lady Lions qualified for state in the 4x100 and 4x200-meter relays, where they rank fourth and fifth in qualifying times, respectively.

However, if you examine Brownwood’s season PRs in both the 4x100-meter relay and 4x200-meter relay for this year, though, the Lady Lions figure to be at the front of the pack.

The Lady Lions’ 4x100 relay ran a season PR of 47.00 seconds, which is the second-fastest time of any of this year’s state qualifiers. Their 4x200 relay team’s fastest time this season was 1:39.89 at the Texas Relays — making Brownwood one of four 4x200 relay teams to qualify for state who have broken the 1:40-mark.

HOW MANY MEDALS CAN THE GORDON LONGHORNS WIN?

The Gordon Longhorns will have an opportunity to accomplish something truly extraordinary this weekend – capturing back-to-back boys and girls team state titles.

Gordon swept both the Class 1A boys and girls team state titles at the 2025 UIL State Track and Field Meet, and there’s good reason to believe that the Longhorns will do it again in 2026.

In total, Gordon’s boys and girls track and field stars qualified for an astounding 15 of the 34 total Class 1A track and field events at the UIL state meet.

The Longhorns, though, didn’t just reach state in several events; they’re positioned to win gold medals in many of them too.

On the boys side, senior Stryker Reed will have a chance to write his name in the record books as he enters the UIL state meet with the fastest qualifying time or top qualifying mark in all six of the events that he is a state qualifier in.

Reed, who has already broken the UIL’s Class 1A hurdling records several times, figures to be a heavy favorite to win gold again in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles. He’ll also have an opportunity to leap for gold in the high jump, serve as an important leg of Gordon’s 4x200 and 4x400-meter relays and make his state meet debut in pole vault after capturing gold at the regional meet.

Senior Ry Reed is in a similar position, set up to have a historic day at the state meet if he can collect gold medals in all five of his events. He holds the fastest qualifying time in the 100-meter dash, should factor into the podium picture in the long jump and will play a prominent role on Gordon’s relay teams as well.

On the girls side, junior Gracie Lain will be fighting for a spot on the podium in the 200-meter dash and junior Abigail Kirkpatrick enters the state meet as the second-fastest hurdler in the girls 100 meters.

Additionally, the Gordon girls 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400-meter relay teams all enter the state meet with the fastest qualifying times in each of those races.

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WILL HICO’S GUTIERREZ EARN THREE GOLD MEDALS?

The Hico Tigers will be sending a large contingent of talented high school track and field athletes to the 2026 UIL state meet, but all eyes will be on senior Jordan Gutierrez.

Gutierrez — who qualified for this year’s state meet in the 100-meter dash, the long jump and the 200-meter dash — will head to Austin as a favorite to medal in all three of his events with a realistic shot at a gold medal sweep too.

He’ll be making his highly-anticipated return to the UIL State Track and Field Meet after competing for Class 1A Iredell as a junior last year.

Gutierrez capped off a tremendous junior year by winning the Class 1A boys 200-meter dash (21.57) by less than ⅓ of a second at the 2025 state meet. He also earned a pair of second-place finishes in the 100-meter dash (10.48) and the 4x100 relay (43.53).

He was only 0.15 seconds away from a gold medal in 4x100-meter relay and 0.02 seconds away from gold in the 200-meter dash at last year’s state meet.

Now at Class 2A Hico, Gutierrez enters the state meet as a favorite to win gold in each of his events. He enters the weekend with the fastest qualifying times in both the 100 (10.56) and 200-meter dash (21.49).

He’s one of just two state qualifiers who have broken the 10.80-second barrier in the 100-meter dash, and he’s the only state qualifier to clock in faster than 21.50 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

Gutierrez should also be considered a slight favorite in the 2A boys long jump, being one of three state qualifiers to record a leap of 23 feet or more at the regional meet (23-03.50)

BIG COUNTRY’S MOST EXCITING MOMENT AT UIL STATE TRACK MEET?

The single most exciting and highly-anticipated moment of UIL state track weekend for a Big Country audience will be the Class 1A boys 4x100-meter relay.

Four of the five fastest relay teams to qualify for the state meet in this event represent Big Country schools — Gordon, Hamlin, Richland Springs and Strawn.

Hamlin’s 4x100 relay team enters the weekend with the top qualifying time of 42.99 seconds, but that doesn’t give the Pied Pipers very much of an edge against an incredibly fast and talented field.

Gordon, which had the fifth-fastest time among state qualifiers at the regional meet, is separated from Hamlin’s top time by less than a second.

Hamlin (42.99), Strawn (43.05), Richland Springs (43.) and Gordon (43.) all have what it takes to walk away with gold medals, making this potentially the most highly-competitive minute of action waiting to unfold this weekend at the 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Here are Big Country storylines to watch at 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet