Bishop Dunne Senior Wins Shot Putt State Championship in TAPPS
Bishop Dunne senior Darrion Daniels, already a state champion with his Falcon football team in TAPPS 5A Division 1, is now an individual state champion in the Shot Putt. Recruited by over 30 colleges to play football, Oklahoma State got the nod and he'll be heading north this fall to play for the university this fall.
Daniels' winning shot putt heave was 54 feet, 7 inches.
The high jump, triple jump and long jump competitions will also be held today at the Baylor Track in Waco, where Daniels' track teammates will continue to compete. The Falcon boys' track team placed second last week in the regional competition, with the Falcon girls' team placing fourth.
Most of the races will be run Saturday. Daniels' classmate, senior De'Stini Henderson, is prepared to run three races in the hopes of winning three state championships.
Since her first state championship in her sophomore year, when she burst on the track scene by winning the 100, she has added two more state championships and a third place win in her junior year – when she won the 100 meter, the 4x100 relay with her teammates, and placed third in the 200. “I was reluctant to run the 200, so was surprised as anybody that I came in third,” she said.
Her 4x100 relay team was made up of freshman Cassie Garner, sophomore Ayae Williams, and juniors Sarah Massey and De’Stini – a young team that beat the veterans on the track.
Now in her senior year, De’Stini is attempting a trifecta: running for three state championships in three different races: the 100 meter, the 4x100 relay, and the 200 meter race.
A graduate of the Merrywood School, she’s been running since the 7th grade and that’s how she came to Bishop Dunne. “Track Coach Isaac Bell saw me running and said I should apply here,” says De’Stini. In her freshman year, she had an injury that required knee surgery, but she rehabbed quickly and bounced back to her surprise win at her first State Meet. Her best times include a 7.67 second 60 meter time and an 11.91 finish in the 100 meter race.
Those times resulted in scholarship offers from a number of colleges, including the University of South Florida, Alabama, LSU, Baylor, the University of Texas at San Antonio, UNT, Southern Mississippi, Boise State and Southern University in Louisiana. She committed to run for UTSA and signed her scholarship last Wednesday. Her mother Duuana and father Trent were there to celebrate with her. But De’Stini is pretty sure she got really fast by being chased by her four older brothers – two of whom are twins. “I guess I got used to them running around after me,” she says with a laugh.
“She’s the real deal,” Bishop Dunne’s Athletic Director, Kenneth Davis, says. “She’s not a talker. She lets her running speak for her. She’s like a silent assassin on the track – she just quietly zips by everybody.”
The State Track Meet is today and tomorrow, May 8 and 9, 2015, in Waco.
And in the fall this Falcon will be soaring on the collegiate track, and maybe into the record books.