HUNTSVILLE — His mind has been working overtime. Huntsville senior Quenntin Tucker has spent the past two weeks preparing for the Class 4A Region III track meet.

Tucker practices the discus by day, then dreams about it at night. Physically and mentally, he’s ready for the big meet.

“I had a dream about this,” Tucker said last week during a short break from practice. “In the dream I finished second in our region, then I finished second at state.

“I woke up that morning smiling.”

Some of Tucker’s teammates may be having similar dreams, either while sleeping or sitting in class. Students all over the state are doing the same thing, hoping and praying that their best will be good enough to get them to Austin for the ultimate high school track and field meet. 

Several Huntsville athletes have reasons to believe they can advance past this week’s Class 4A Region III meet, which is scheduled Monday and Tuesday at Sam Houston State’s Bowers Stadium. The Lady Hornets and Hornets have had a marvelous season this spring, and each of the 18 region-bound athletes hope to extend the season by finishing in the top two at regionals in their respective events.

Do that and their ticket to state will be guaranteed.

“I’m feeling confident,” Huntsville senior Justin Gilbert said Friday afternoon. “Looking at the times (in the 100-meter dash), I see the fastest time is what I ran at the Texas Relays. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot faster since then.”

Gilbert and a few other Huntsville athletes will be very busy Monday and Tuesday. Junior Kaylynne Wright will compete in five different events starting with the girls long jump at 11 a.m. Monday. She’ll also triple jump (2 p.m. Monday) and run a leg on all three of the Lady Hornets’ relay teams.

Running prelims begin Monday at 4 p.m., and running finals are set to start at noon Tuesday.

“I was going to do the 200, but I wouldn’t have much time to rest between races,” Wright said. “Also, I don’t want to sound negative, but I would have had to run like a 24 (-second time) to get to state in the 200.”

Wright went to state in the long jump as a freshman. Her head coach believes she has the stuff to get back there this spring.

“Kaylynne has five events going on, but she’s an athlete,” Huntsville head track coach Jason Elliott said. “She can handle it.”

Gilbert will compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, plus run the anchor leg on the Hornets’ 400-meter relay team which turned in the best time of all of the Region III qualifiers at the district meet last month.

Huntsville’s team of Dimitri Collier, Cameron Simmons, Henry Ford and Gilbert ran a 41.74-second time, which was better than the district times turned in by Angleton (41.85), Dayton (42.32), Goose Creek (42.36) and Houston Westbury (42.4).

Gilbert is also scheduled to long jump early on Tuesday morning. He finished third in that event at last year’s Region III meet and would have advanced to state had he not fallen backward in the pit and put his hand down in the sand.

“Justin has a serious opportunity to get out to state in four events,” Elliott boasted. “That would be pretty impressive if he does that.”

Gilbert said he’s anxious to compete against some of the state’s top athletes — sprinters like Angleton’s trio of Terrance Franks, Henry Josey and  Ryan Jackson, Devin Parks of El Campo and some of the speediest relay teams in Texas.

“Our 4-by-1 team, as long as we get the baton around and don’t run up on, or off from each other, we should be good,” Gilbert said. “I should have made it to state last year in the long jump, but I put my hand back on my best jump. I’ve been working on that a lot this week, getting my marks down. As long as I’m hitting the board, I should be in the 22- to 23-feet range.”

Another Huntsville athlete with a legitimate shot to advance to state in more than one event is sophomore RaKira Turner, who brings the best qualifying throws in both the shot put and discus into the region meet. Turner won gold medals at district with throws of 141-2 in the discus and 38-11 in the shot.

“Kira has a very good chance of getting to state in both the shot and discus,” Elliott said. “She’s leading our region in both events. Her teammate, freshman Kristine Hanks, also has a chance to advance in the shot.”

The Lady Hornets have a solid shot at advancing in at least one of the relays, especially if senior Jamie Brown returns healthy after nursing a hamstring injury since the second day of the district meet. Freshman Jasmine Williams has also been hobbled with shin splints caused by a lengthy season that started in February and stretched for four months.

“We’ve had some time to heel up,” Elliott said. “Jasmine Williams, her legs are a lot better now. We’re expecting her to be able to perform at the level she did at the district meet. She’s a 15-year-old girl running a full high school track schedule. By the time these kids get to regionals, they’ll be running their 10th track meet. That’s a pretty grueling schedule.

“Jamie Brown has been striding a little bit, working her hamstring out a little bit. I don’t see a problem with her going. We’re counting on those two girls in the 4-by-1 and 4-by-2.”

Some of Texas’ top track athletes will be here this week, and all of them will be after the same thing: a spot in the state meet. Tucker and his Huntsville teammates have another night to dream about their performances, then on Monday it’s time to get busy.

“Like coach (Mitchell) Coey always says, we’ve made the batter, added the sugar and the eggs and we’ve put the cake in the oven,” Elliott said. “Soon we’ll get to see the results. Hopefully, Tuesday we’ll see some good things.

“I want the kids and the coaches to have some fun,” Elliott added. “The girls ended up winning three meets and finishing second at district, and the boys won one meet and also finished second at district. ... We got 23 kids, including our alternates, in the regional meet. That’s a pretty good year.”

What: Class 4A Region III and Class A Region IV Track and Field Meet



When: Monday and Tuesday



Where: Bowers Stadium and York Field Events Center, Huntsville



Tickets: $10 for adults; $5 for students



Monday’s schedule

Class A field events — 8:30 a.m.

Class 4A and A field events — 11 a.m.

Class 4A field events — 2 p.m.

Class A running prelims — 12:30 p.m.

Class 4A running prelims — 4 p.m.



Tuesday’s schedule

Class A & 4A field events — 8:30 a.m.

Class A & 4A running finals — Noon