Newton’s D.J. Dean + Spring Hill’s Morgan Knight Each Win Two Medals at UIL State Track + Field Championships

AUSTIN -- Two East Texas boys competitors came home with multiple medals with at least one gold at Saturday's UIL state track and field championships.

Newton's D.J. Dean and Spring Hill's Morgan Knight grabbed two medals apiece. Dean, an Arkansas football signee, ran the first leg of Newton's Class 2A state title-winning sprint relay team, then won the 400-meter run for a second gold.

Knight won the Class 3A discus competition in addition to a silver medal in the shot put.

Newton's sprint relay team ran a 41.70-second time to edge Jefferson (41.81) for gold. Anchor leg Kevin Shorter, who leads the 2014 East Texas football class with 22 offers, claimed silver Friday in the 2A long jump. Dean then narrowly beat Childress' Scout Hale in the 400, finishing with a time of 48.85 seconds to beat Hale by 0.03 seconds.

In the 3A boys shot put, Celina's Tyler Finke threw a 58-2 3/4 to top Knight (57-4 1/2) and Kilgore's LaDarrin Anthony, who earned bronze with a throw of 55 feet, 6 3/4 inches.

But Knight registered a 171-foot, 1-inch throw on his first discus try and no 3A competitor could match it, earning him the gold.

Another multiple medal-winner of note was San Augustine's Anwar Davis, who brought home three silver medals. Davis ran anchor for the Wolves' sprint relay and 800-meter relay teams that placed second, while also finishing second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.84 seconds.