Gazelles Track Club

The latest update on the Gazelles 2020 season is we’re still on hold. The GCISD has closed all campuses, including the track at Heritage Middle School where we train. Additionally, the NWISD has also closed all their campuses, including the Northwest High School track where our Northwest team trains. The earliest these campuses would open is June 1st, although the decision whether to keep them closed all summer won’t be made for another few days.

Region 4 of the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF) has cancelled all the circuit meets in June and the Regional track and field meet in July. The TAAF state board decided to cancel the State Games of Texas.

With all this uncertainty, the Gazelles Track Club is waiting for further guidance on whether we should have only workouts this summer at the Colleyville and Northwest locations. We will keep you posted, and feel free to email Coach Greg Scoggins for clarification at coachsuperg@gmail.com.

The Gazelles Track Club 2021 season is about to begin!  The Grapevine practices will begin Monday, May 13th from 7:00 PM until 8:30 PM at the Heritage Middle School track, located at 5300 Heritage Avenue in Colleyville, behind the high school off Highway 121 between Hall-Johnson Road and Glade Road.  Practices will be twice a week from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM until July 8th.  The Justin practices begin on May 14th at Northwest ISD’s Texan Stadium.  The Justin practices will be held twice a week from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Interested participants may register by emailing Coach Scoggins at coachsuperg@gmail.com. Registration forms may also be turned in at any practice until June 25th, and the athlete may participate that same day.  Uniforms and parent / athlete t-shirts are ordered online separately by visiting:

www.agreatideaonline.com/gazelles

A parent meeting will be held on Monday, May 13th at 7:00 PM at the Heritage Middle School track during the introductory practice. During the meeting, we will present information about the Gazelles, schedules, coaching and training philosophies, registration fees and ordering team uniforms. The first practice session will be held during this meeting and cover the warmup and stretching routine used throughout the season, as well as an introduction to proper running form and technique.

The summer track meet schedule has not been set by the region, and 2018’s dates are listed below as a guide for 2019. All the regular circuit track meets before Regionals and State will follow the same schedule, where both running and field events begin at 8:00 am on a rolling schedule.  The link to the TAAF Region 4 website is http://www.taafregion4.org/Region_4_Track.html .

June 2, 2018 – Arlington Bowie High School - 2101 Highbank Dr, Arlington, TX 76018

http://www.taafregion4.org/uploads/2018_TGYBL_Arlington_Eagles_Circuit-June_2.pdf 

June 9, 2018 – Lake Dallas High School -  3016 Parkridge Drive, Corinth, TX  76210

http://www.taafregion4.org/uploads/2018_IBTT_Blazers_Circuit-June_9.pdf 

June 16, 2018 – Mineral Wells High School - 3801 Ram Blvd Mineral Wells, TX 76067

http://www.taafregion4.org/uploads/2018_Mineral_Wells_Circuit-June_16.PDF

June 23, 2018 – Flower Mound High School – 3411 Peters Colony, Flower Mound, TX 75077 

 http://www.taafregion4.org/uploads/2018_Flower_Mound_Circuit-June_23.pdf

June 30, 2018 - Little Elm Athletic Complex – 1151 E.Eldorado Pkwy, Little Elm, 75068

http://www.taafregion4.org/uploads/2018_Little_Elm_Circuit-June_30.pdf 

July 7, 2018 -  Lewisville High School – 1908 W Main Street, Lewisville, TX 75067

http://www.taafregion4.org/uploads/2018_Westside_Baptist_Circuit-July_7.pdf 

July 12 – 13, 2018 Regional Meet - Weatherford High School – 2121 Bethel Road, Weatherford, TX 76087

July 26 – July 29, 2018 - TAAF State Games of Texas, College Station High School Stadium, 1812 Welsh Avenue, College Station, TX  77840

Athletes should plan to arrive at the meet approximately 45 minutes prior to the first event they wish to participate in.   If you and your child do not know what events they would like to participate in, just come at 8:00 AM and we will send them into running events as they are announced. Your child needs to be registered with TAAF prior to participating in the circuit meets, but not pre-registered for any events at the meet.  Pre-registration is only required for the Regional meet.

Since there is no way to determine exactly when an event will begin, it is best to arrive at the beginning of the day by 8:00 AM. Simply purchase a plastic wristband for $5 at the front gate for your child to participate, and find other Gazelles families to set up camp with. Coaches will be helping athletes on the track, and it is very important for parents to listen to the announcements about upcoming events, and encourage the Gazelles athletes who are interested in each event to begin warming up and reporting to the check-in area near the starting line. We want to encourage the young athletes to try different events in these practice meets, as there are no ‘wrong’ choices on events. Simply choose an event and do it to the best of your ability. Most meets limit the kids to 3 or 4 events per day.

Each meet has running and field events beginning at 8:00 AM. The running events follow a ‘rolling schedule’, with each event beginning immediately following the conclusion of the prior event. The typical order for running events is as follows:

(Girls, then Boys, Youngest to Oldest Age Divisions)

Cory Carter, a longtime member of the Grapevine Gazelles Track Club, competed in the Games of America in San Diego and placed 4^th in both the triple jump and the 400 meter hurdles.  Carter, an incoming sophomore at Trinity High School, also placed 11^th in the 400 meter hurdles and 29^th in the triple jump at the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics in Wichita, Kansas the week before. Carter recorded season bests of 40’ 7 1/2 “ in the triple jump and 58.97 seconds in the 400 meter hurdles.

“Cory excelled on the national stage, and we are very proud of him,” said Greg Scoggins, founder and head coach of the Grapevine Gazelles.  “Cory has continued to build on the legacy of national and state champions training with the Grapevine Gazelles and our coaching staff has enjoyed preparing him for competitions this summer.”

The TAAF State Meet was held July 28^th through July 31^st at Baylor University in Waco.  The Gazelles qualified 11 athletes in 14 events for the state meet.  The team was led by incoming Grapevine High School sophomore Emily Hart, who placed 3^rd in the 100 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 15.67.  T.J. Shelton placed 3^rd in the high jump, and 9^th in the long jump.  Rachel Sutliff placed 5^th in the 800 meter run and Cassidy Parshall placed 8^th in the 1,600.  Zachary Brown placed 12^th in the 80 meter hurdles, and Jerome Lewis and Alyssa Molina each placed 13^th in their age divisions in the long jump.  Landon Samson placed 14^th in the high jump.

The Grapevine Gazelles Track Club began in 1996 and just completed their 16^th season.  The Gazelles have crowned numerous State and National champions since their inception, and 23 former Gazelles have earned college athletic scholarships.  The team has approximately 60 team members each season.

The Grapevine Gazelles Track Club was well represented during the TAAF State Games of Texas, held August 5th through the 8th at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.  The Gazelles were led by 14 year old Cory Carter, who became the latest in a distinguished list of State and National Champions for the club since 1996.  Carter won the 300 meter hurdles in a near state record time of 42.33, with a winning margin of over half a second.  Carter also placed 3rd in the triple jump with a leap of 39' 2.5" (a 2' 8" personal best), and 12th in the long jump.

Jerome Lewis placed 4th in the 14 year old boys long jump with a leap of 18' 5", while Cassidy Parshall placed 8th in the 12 year old girls 1,600 meter run with a time of 6:05.21 and 14th in the 800 meter run.  Teammate Rebecca Moore placed 14th in the same race, and Reid Harrison-Ducros placed 19th in the 14 year old boys 800 meter run.

Most of the Gazelles were in the youngest portion of their age bracket, and will return to the same division next year with high hopes.  The entire Grapevine Gazelles Track Club had an outstanding season; training hard, improving times and distances, and enjoying success at meets.  Thank you to all the young athletes, their parents and the Gazelles coaching staff.  See you next season.