Haywood only Bastrop County athlete to qualify for state track meet

Bastrop High School junior Maggie Haywood practices the long jump in preparation for the state track meet

• Maggie Haywood finished ninth out of nine competitors in the long jump at the UIL Class 5A State Track Meet in Austin last Friday with a leap of 17 feet, 3 3/4 inches.

By Jim Irish

Photos by Jim Irish

Maggie Haywood was first and foremost a basketball player.

She competed on Bastrop’s girls varsity team as a sophomore two seasons ago but decided the sport was too “combative.”

She also competed in track but had not been passionate about it.

Her initial reaction to the sport was “I don’t want to (that),” she said.

That was until former Bastrop assistant track coach LeLe Carter spoke to her. Carter, a former high school state track champion and sprinter at Texas A&M, encouraged Haywood to focus more on the sport, telling her that she could earn a college scholarship.

Haywood accepted the advice.

She will now compete in the long jump at the Class 5A state track meet at 10:45 a.m. on Friday at Mike Myers Stadium on the University of Texas Campus in Austin.

She is the only track athlete from Bastrop County to advance to the state meet.

Haywood, a 5-foot-6 junior with braids, finished second at the Region III meet with a leap of 18 feet, 4½ inches to qualify for state. 

Her personal record is 18-4¾ set this season at the district meet.

”This is only my second year” competing in the event, she said. “I don’t have my (best) form yet.”

Haywood uses a hurdle to practice lifting her feet in the air, which is critical in the long jump

She found herself in trouble at the area meet after scratching on her first two attempts. She leapt off her non-dominant left foot to qualify at 17-8. 

“The area meet was not a good day,” Haywood admitted. “I was really tired at the 9 a.m. start.”

With advice from track coaches, Haywood has a ritual for her event.

She starts 76 feet, 8 inches from the jump off board and takes eight steps to reach it. Sometimes, she chops her steps, which occurred at the area meet, forcing her to leap off her left foot.

One of the parts of the long jump she has to remind herself is to “keep my head up” as she is running to the board. It is tempting to look down at one’s feet.

Haywood ranks ninth among the nine state qualifiers. Rohan Bilous, from McKinney North, has the best jump at 20-2.

Khai Davis, from Denton Ryan, is just in front of her at 18-4¾.

Five jumpers have leapt farther than 19 feet.

Nevertheless, Haywood feels that she can be in the mix’s among the state’s best.

Jim Irish is a freelance writer in Bastrop, Texas