9 hours Ago By Mike Forman
HALLETTSVILLE — Abdul Rasheed had a message for the Hallettsville athletes taking part in the Brahma Relays. “I told them, ‘It’s not where you are from, it’s where you are going,’” Rasheed said. “Just because you’re from a small town, it’s a big world with a lot of opportunities so take advantage of it.
” Rasheed is living proof. He made three appearances at the state meet for Hallettsville before going on to become a Southwest Conference champion in the jumps at TCU. Rasheed returned to his hometown as the guest starter for Thursday’s meet at Brahma Memorial Stadium.
Rasheed made the state meet for the first time as a sophomore in 1996 and claimed a bronze medal in the triple jump. He won a gold medal in the triple jump as a junior in 1997, and won gold medal in the triple jump and a silver medal in the long jump as a senior in 1998. “Track was the easiest to me, but I was actually better in football,” Rasheed said.
“Track was easier.” Rasheed never took his college entrance exams so he continued his track and field career at Barton County Community College in Kansas. Rasheed’s teammates included future Olympians Tyson Gay and Walter Davis, and he was coached by Lance Brauman, who currently coaches for the Adidas track and field team.
Rasheed transferred to TCU after his sophomore season and became an All-American for the Horned Frogs before wrapping up his career in 2002. Rasheed decided not to continue his track & field career after college, which is one of his biggest regrets. “If it’s in your heart, keep going because time waits for no one,” Rasheed said.
“After a while, it will be gone. If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Rasheed works for Gulf Coast Fiber in the Houston area, but also coaches athletes, including his son Isaiah, who won the long jump and triple jump at the Brahma Relays, and is expected to be the starting quarterback as a junior for Humble Atascocita next season.
“What I’ve used to combat my regret is helping kids and that’s where I get joy from,” Rasheed said. “Motivating kids and coaching them and paying it forward.” Rasheed was grateful for the opportunity to visit his alma mater and connect with the athletes following in his footsteps.
“What a joy it gives me to see them wearing that HB,” he said. “I can remember back years and years ago when I wore that same HB across my chest. I told them whatever you do, be coachable, work hard and keep God first.
That’s three of the most important keys they can have.” The Hallettsville 400-meter relay team of Mycole Pegoda, Shane Migura, Caden Willis and Colt Edmonds are running together for the first year, but set a Brahma Relays meet record in a time of 41.77 seconds, breaking the previous record of 42.
41 set in 2014 by Bellville. "It felt good when they announced it,” Migura said. “I didn’t even know that we had set a record.
We’ve got a lot of new guys on the relay, so we’ve been working handoffs. They weren’t the best today, but we should get better.” The Edna 1,600-meter relay team of Bode McCarrell, Kason Rodas, Keegan Hicks and Kalub Caesar set a meet record in a time of 3:22.
89. The previous record of 3:23.42 was set by East Bernard in 2017.
Rice Consolidated’s Robert Myers set a meet record in the shot put with a mark of 53-5.5. The previous record of 50-0 was set by Mason Denley of Columbus in 2014.
Hallettsville won the girls team title with 141 points, Industrial was second with 123, and Shiner was third with 94. Rice Consolidated won the boys team title with 166, Hallettsville was second with 106, and Edna was third with 86. Hallettsville’s Willis was the high-point boy with 25 points, and Palacios’ Audrey Obenhaus was the high-point girl with 39.
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