Summer Creek High School’s track and field team celebrates winning the state championship at Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin. Photo courtesy: Darice Lundy.
Members of the Summer Creek High School Track and Field team ran, jumped, and threw for gold at the UIL State Meet held May 6 - 8 in Austin. The Summer Creek boys track team earned the Class 6A State Title, the second Track and Field State Championship in the 12 years that the school has been open, and the first as a District 6A team.
Jalan Rivers, Kevin Grubbs, and Barry Richards won gold in their events.
Rivers, a senior, won high jump, clearing 6-foot-9. Grubbs, a senior, won with a 207-foot-1-inch discus throw, his best ever. It was the second-longest throw on record at the Texas state track meet. Richards, a senior, won with 110-meter hurdle win after running the fastest time in the nation. He also set a state record after clocking a 13.31 run.
When it was all over, the Summer Creek Boys Track and Field Team earned 54 points to win the state championship. In addition to the events in which individuals won gold, points were also earned by Darius Rainey in the 800-meter. Points were also earned by the team of Rainey, Donovan Bradley, Sean Fisher, and Malcolm Washington, who placed second in the 4x400-meter relay.
“The championship means a lot for the student-athletes and the Summer Creek community,” Summer Creek Track and Field Coach Shelton Ervin said. “We could not have done this without the support of the community.”
The win is bittersweet for the team after a year of challenges. Restrictions due to COVID-19 canceled their previous season and their hopes of winning the title in 2020.
“We were on our way to becoming state champions last year, but COVID stripped it all away,” Grubbs said.
In April 2021, Summer Creek Cross Country athlete Kylie Pope, a freshman, died from injuries she received in an accident. The team wanted this victory not just for themselves, but for Kylie as well.
“This win wasn’t just for us, it was for Kylie,” Rivers said. “We gave it our all to make sure we won state for her.”
Coach Ervin has been coaching at Summer Creek since the school opened in 2009. He’s been with Humble ISD since 2006, having coached multiple sports at Atascocita High School prior to his time at Summer Creek. Before joining Humble ISD, Coach Ervin was a member of the University of Houston Track and Field coaching staff.