April 8, 2009

BEAUMONT - After a long run as a mid week track meet, the 48th annual Exxon Mobil Ty Terrell Relays returns to the weekend this year, with action getting under way at the Ty Terrell Track at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The Ty Terrell Relays continues to be a major event for Southeast Texas track and field buffs, although on a different scope from their original concept. Conceived in 1962 by coaches Ty Terrell (Lamar), Stan Wright (Texas Southern) and Johnny Morriss (University of Houston), the meet began to blossom when it moved to Beaumont in 1964.

Originally designed as a late season event for regional athletes in between conference and national meets, the Ty Terrell Relays attracted elite competitors from across the south and southwest.

When the meet moved to Beaumont, it was called the Gulf Federation-YMBL Relays. The Young Men's Business League of Beaumont sponsored the event for many years. The name was changed to the Ty Terrell Relays in 1968 to honor coach Terrell, who died that April along with five members of the Lamar track team in a plane crash at Beaumont Municipal Airport.

"We're excited to have the Exxon Mobil Ty Terrell Track meet back on a Saturday as opposed to a mid week event," Lamar University head coach Trey Clark said. "It has provided us a great opportunity to increase the field size. We're expecting to see more teams compete than we've had over the last several years."

To realize how big the Ty Terrell Relays have been, all you have to do is refer to the men's record section. Among the record-holders are 1968 Olympic champions Randy Matson and Willie Davenport.

Matson unleashed a 70-footer in the shot put in 1967 and Davenport ran a 13.5 in the 120-yard high hurdles in 1968.

Although the running surface of that era was inferior compared to today's materials, the1966 meet saw a pair of outstanding performances. George Anderson of Southern University set the record in the 100-yard dash in a time of 9.2 seconds and a sensational 3:05.6 clocking in the one-mile relay was run by Southern.

In recent years the several Lamar University athletes have etched their names into the record books for the Ty Terrell Relays. In 1998 Mark LeDoux set the record in the men's 400 meter hurdles with a 50.85 performance, while Yamelis Ortiz set the women's 400 hurdle record with a 59.49 second performance. In 2006 three records were set by LU runners as Chinelo Nwobu set the women's 400 meter dash mark with a 53.77 second performance, Amanda King raced to a 10:44.54 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the women's 4x400 meter relay team posted a time of 3:43.04. In all, Lamar athletes hold a total of 15 meet records.

"Watching Yamelis and Mark set the meet and stadium records in 1998 was fun to see," Clark said. "It's always special to have one of our Lamar athletes set a record at our home meet."

The 48th Annual Ty Terrell Track Meet gets under way at 10 a.m. Saturday with the field events. Running will start at noon with the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase.