Kinzie, Tucker ready for state track meet

Memorial track athletes Braylon Kinzie and Uriah Tucker both punched their tickets to the state track meet.

At the regional meet in late April, Kinzie had an impressive performance in the 800, leading from start to finish. He secured the regional championship title with a two-second lead. Meanwhile, Uriah Tucker qualify for the finals in the 110 hurdles, then returned on Saturday winning by .01 of a second with a 14.19. 

Kinzie is looking to improve on his 2024 state results, where he finished seventh in the 800 and ninth in the 300 hurdles while competing for Wichita Falls High School. He enters this year’s meet with a significant four-second improvement in his 800, dropping from 1:57 last season at regionals to 1:53 this year.

On Friday, the two will be headed to compete at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Running finals will start at 5 p.m. 

The Messenger sat down with Kinzie and Tucker to talk about their pre-race rituals, staying loose under pressure and what it takes to transition from regionals to state.

Q: How do you feel like regionals went? 

Kinzie: I think regionals went exactly how it was planned, but my time went more down then expected.

Tucker: I feel like regionals went really good. 

Q: What was your mindset going into regionals? 

Kinzie: When it comes to racing, you never know what could happen so I stay open-minded for races. Even though I was seeded No. 1, there were still a few others close on my tail.

Tucker: My mindset going into regionals was I want to win this really bad. 

Q: How hard have you been working this season?

Kinzie: I have been putting in a lot of hard work, time and grind. I definitely see it paying off.

Tucker: I’ve been working really hard this season to achieve a lot of goals. 

Q: What does it mean to become the first Memorial track athletes competing at state?

Kinzie: I definitely think truly special because I was also the last state qualifier at Old High so becoming one of the first at Memorial as well is something that’s an accomplishment and something I look forward to. 

Tucker: To me, being one of the first track athletes to compete at state is exciting and to know if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything. 

Q: What are your goals for the state meet?

Kinzie: I definitely think winning state is a big goal, but if not winning, I will be OK with hitting a PR or top three. 

Tucker: My goal for the state meet is to compete hard and get on the podium.

Q: Take me through your race and tell me what happened.

Kinzie: On the day of the race, I run a mile warm-up. Then, I use the Normatec to help get the blood flowing through my legs. After that, I stretch and then I head to go race and just let loose.

Tucker: I got into my blocks and kept telling myself, ‘You want this more than anyone here.’ Then I showed out and won first.

Q: What did you learn about the state meet last time that will help you this week?

Kinzie: One thing I learned last time was to not be as tense because yes it’s a big stage, but it’s just another race so definitely loosen up and focus on the task that is at hand.