Caden Thurman wins Class 2A 800-meter run for sixth state gold medal
May 3—AUSTIN — Wolfe City senior Caden Thurman finished a victory double on Friday at the University Interscholastic League State Track and Field Championships
Thurman won the Class 2A 800-meter run to go with an earlier victory on Friday in the 3200, giving him six state gold medals in his illustrious career.
Thurman, who has signed to run at the University of Houston, won the 800 in the time of 1 minute, 54.60 seconds to go with the victory in the 3200 with a record-setting time of 9:06.21. That 3200 time broke a Class 2A state meet record of 9:22.03 set in 2001 by Julian Acuna of Agua Dulce.
Thurman's winning time in the 800 ranks him fourth on the all-tine 2A state meet list. Dallas Rushing of Axtell set the record of 1:52.24 in 2013.
Thurman ranks fourth and fifth on the all-time 2A state meet list for the 1600. He won his first 1600 title in 4:22.00 in 2022 and his second 1600 last year in 4:23.22.
Ricardo Marquez of Sanderson set the 2A 1600 record in 1975 with a 4:13.84.
Thurman won the 3200 last year in 9:33.92, which at the time ranked him third on the all-time list.
He also won another state title in the fall in cross country as his Wolfe City team finished third. He was also second at state in cross country in 2021. So he now has eight medals from UIL state competition, including six gold, one silver and one bronze.
The Wolves placed fourth in the 2A boys team standings with 24 points after placing fifth in the 4x200-meter relay. Luke George, Jadon Forniglia, Brodie Hillary and Ryan Wallace ran a time of 1:30.38 to finish fourth behind Refugio (1:28.22), Mason (1:28.72), Beckville (1:29.74) and Lindsay (1:30.11).
The Wolves' 4x100 relay of Forniglia, H.D. Davis, Carson Herron and Wallace finished seventh at 43.34. Refugio won in 42.15.
Refugio won the boys Class 2A team title with 84 points after sweeping all three relays. Crawford was second with 30 and Stockdale finished third with 26.
Running on about eight hours rest following the 3200, Thurman was in fourth place after the first lap of the 800, running a split of 56.81 seconds. He clocked a split of 57.80 on the second lap to win by a half-second over defending 2A champion Johan Menjivar of Plains (1:55.15). Jace Coleman of Rio Vista, second last year, wound up third in 1:55.98.
All but one of the nine state runners broke two minutes in a fast 800 race.
