AUSTIN – Jarvis Anderson was the lone Duck to represent Taylor High School at the UIL Class State Track and Field Meet Thursday, May 11 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. He would compete in four different events at the State Meet, giving him plenty of opportunity to show why he is one of the best in the state.
Anderson impressed throughout the day and ended on the highest of notes in his final event. In the boys’ 300-meter hurdle event, Anderson opened many eyes across the stadium as he dominated the competition with a blistering time of 35.96 seconds, which set a new conference record. With his stellar indi- vidual effort, the Taylor senior surpassed the previous record of 36.44 seconds set back in 1985 by Tony Brooks of Rockdale High School.
Just a few events earlier, he settled into the starting blocks of the 110 hurdles, and when the race started the show began. Anderson would fire out of the gate with a great first step, allowing him a slight edge at the start of the race. Clearing every hurdle with ease, Anderson’s great time of 13.64 seconds was able to edge out Matthew Tyeskie of Kilgore High School to take home his first of two gold medals in hurdles events.
In the field events, Anderson started with the long jump, and got off to a bit of a slow start but it only teed him up to dominate in the rest of the events. He jumped to a 22’6” mark to earn himself a fourth-place finish
in this event. The Taylor standout would lock it in the rest of the way after leaving his first event of the day without a medal, and appeared on the podium in his last three events.
Next up for Anderson was the triple jump, which is one of his specialties as he’s known statewide as one of the best in the event, and he showed why he was held in such a high regard. With an excellent jump of 49’6” he was able to put on display his blazing speed and unrivaled athleticism, which propelled him to a silver medal in the event.
Anderson put together a very strong season, and with this being his senior year, it was the perfect way to end as he moves onto the next level at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.
