Herzog brings home gold from State Meet

Thorndale senior Michael Herzog leapt for gold once again, as he took top prize in the Class 2A boys’ triple jump on Friday afternoon at the UIL State Track and Field Championships.

Fellow Bulldog Branson McCoy also competed at the state meet in his 100-meter dash.

Herzog was the defending state champion in this event, as he had won gold in 2019 and there was no state meet held in 2020 due to the Corona virus.

The Duke University signee held the lead after his third round jump at 48 feet, 5-25 inches and chose to not take his fourth round jump.    In his final jump of his high school career, Herzog complete a triple jump of 48 feet, 11-75 inches to secure the gold.

The silver medalist leap of 45 feet, 8.5 inches (by Jonathan Mora of Farwell) was more than three feet under Herzog’s winning jump.

Devinar Roberson of Coleman won the bronze at 45 feet, 5.5 inches.

Herzog was the district, area and region champion in the boys’ triple jump as well. Thorndale’s Branson McCoy competed in the 2A boys’ 100 meter dash at the state meet on Friday evening. The junior placed eighth in a time of 11.5 seconds.

McCoy qualified in the “wild card” spot for his state meet event. Each of the four state regions advances their top two finishers in each event.  Then, the best of those four third-place finishers (where McCoy placed at the Region IV-2A meet) earn the ninth slot.

The top two finishers at the state meet were the two other qualifiers from McCoy’s region.

Herzog is the top qualifying athlete in his event, with the closest competitors being Jonathan Mora of Farwell at 46-7.5 and Devinar Roberson of Coleman at 46-6.

The Duke University signee has his second chance for gold in this event, as he was the state triple jump champion in 2019 as a sophomore.

The state track meet was held May 6-8 at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.