Texas high school track champions, 1905-2012 Updated, April 22, 2012 by Dr. William (Billy) Wilbanks Self-Published by Dr. Wilbanks on Computer Disc in 2005 & 2006 Placed on Internet website in May

Chandi Jones, 1997-2000
Bay City’s Chandi Jones won a career “double 4-peat” at the state track meet in 1997-2000 by winning both the triple jump and long jump for 4 years for a total of 8 career gold medals. She played basketball at the University of Houston where she was the leading scorer in the nation as a junior at 27.5 ppg and was UH’s and Conference USA’s all-time leading scorer. She was a 1^st round WNBA draft selection and played in 2004 for the Detroit Shock.
As a freshman in 1997 Chandi won the triple jump at 38' 03" and the long jump at 19' 07" at the state track meet in Austin. She won the triple jump at 40' 04" and the long jump at 19' 03 as a soph in 1998; the triple jump at 40' 07" and the long jump at 19' 07" as a junior in 1999; and the triple jump at 40' 09" and the long jump at 20' 10" (a conference 5A record from 2000-2004) as a senior in 2000. Her 20’ 10” LJ still ranks as the 6^th best in U.S. history thru 2005. She became only the fourth girl in the history of the state track meet (from 1972) to win two events for 4 straight years (the others were Stephanie Duke of Utopia in the 1600/3200 in 1991-94; Nanceen Perry of Fairfield in the 100/200 in 1992-95; and Ychlindria Spears of Luling in the TJ/LJ in 1999-2002). Chandi has 8 of the 9 gold medals won by Bay City girls at the state track meet since 1972. A knee injury at UH ended her track career though she was able to continue her basketball career.
Chandi was also a basketball star in H.S. as she averaged 26.2 ppg as a junior and was named the 1999 Texas Player of the Year by USA Today. As a senior in 2000 Chandi averaged 28.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5 assists per game to lead her Bay City team to the 4A state semi-finals. She was named first-team All-American by Parade Magazine and again was named Texas H.S. Player of the Year by USA Today.
Jones, 5' 10", was recruited by Texas, Tennessee and numerous other Div. I schools but chose to attend the University of Houston. As a freshman in 2001 she was Conference USA’s and the nation’s leading freshman scorer at 21.5 ppg and was named first-team all-conference. As a soph in 2002 she was named Conference USA’s Player of the Year and second-team All-American by the Women’s Basketball News Service after averaging 22.5 ppg (25.6 in Conference USA games). As a junior in 2003 she was the leading scorer in the nation in Division I universities at 27.5 ppg; was Conference USA’s player of the year; was named 3^rd team All-American; and led her team to a 26-8 record (though snubbed by the NCAA tournament). As a senior in 2004 Chandi averaged 22.0 ppg; was named (for the 3^rd straight year) Conference USA’s Player of the Year; was named 2^nd team All-American; was one of 16 finalists for the Wooden Award for the top player in the U.S. She led her UH team to a 28-4 record and to a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament before losing to UC Santa Barbara. Jones is the all-time leading scorer in the history of Conference USA (averaging 23.6 ppg over 4 years) and became the 3^rd fastest player (after Jackie Stiles and Lynette Woods) in NCAA history to reach 2,000 points. She scored in double digits in every college game she played breaking a NCAA record with a 115 game streak. Chandi was selected in the first round (8^th overall) in the WNBA draft and was the Detroit Shock’s Rookie of the Yearin 2004 as their “6^th man.”
Chandi Jones was born on March 25, 1982, in Wharton TX, to David and Janice Jones. Her father was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1974 and was the assistant women’s basketball coach at UH in 2003. Her mother is a long-time coach/teacher in Bay City. Chandi was raised in Bay City where she graduated from H.S. in 2000

Jolanda Jones, 1981-1984
Jolanda Jones of (Houston) Alief Elsik won 7 gold medals at the state track meet from 1982-84 in the 400-meter run, the 800-meter run, and the high jump and scored 38 points in 1984 to become the only girl to ever win a TX state team championship as a “one-woman” team. She went on to the University of Houston where she was a 3-time NCAA champion in the heptathlon. In 2004 she was an attorney in Houston.

Jolanda Felicia Jones was born on Nov. 6, 1965, in Houston to John and Gwen Jones. She and her siblings (Uchenna, Emeka, Ugo & Ifoma) were raised in Houston where “Jo” graduated from Alief Elsik H.S. in 1984. Jolanda won her first medal at the state track meet in 1981 as a 15-year old freshman when she finished 2^nd (2:09.06) in the 5A 800-meter run to Pharr-San Juan Alamo’s Margarita Salinas’ 2:08.5 (a state record from 1981-2001). As a H.S. soph in 1982 at the state track meet, Jolanda won the 800-meter run at 2:09.7 (defeating Salinas) and the high jump at 5' 09" (a 5A record) and was 2^nd in the 400-meters at 55.2. As a junior in 1983 she won the 400-meter run (55.0) and the 800-meter run (2:08.9) and was 4^th in the HJ. As a senior in 1984 she won the 400 (55.0), the 800 (2:11.7) and the HJ (6' 01.5). Her HJ mark was the best in the U.S. in 1984 and broke a 9-year old state record held by (later) 1988 Olympic HJ champion, Louise Ritter of Red Oak. Her state HJ record stood from 1984-1991 and remained a 5A record in 2005 and is 8^th best all-time in U.S. history thru 2005. In 2004 (21 years later) her 2:08.9 800-meter mark still ranked 6^th all-time in the history of TX while her 6' 1.5 HJ ranks 3^rd all-time.

Jones scored scored 38 points as a “one-woman team” for Alief Elsik to tie Dallas Carter for the 5A team title in the 1984 meet. In addition to the three gold medals she won in 1984 in the 400, 800 and HJ she had a personal best of 19' 7.7" in the LJ to finish 2^nd in that event. Jones became the first and only athlete (male or female) ever to win a 5A state “team” championship by herself and is the only female to ever win a TX state team championship as a one-woman team at the girls state meet from 1972-2006. During her 4 year career Jones won 10 medals at the state meet (seven gold, two silver and one bronze). Her HJ mark at the state meet in 1984 qualified her for the 1984 Olympic trials where she finished 8^th (she was injured in 1988 and thus missed the 1988 Olympic trials). She also qualified for the Junior Olympics in Los Angles in the summer of 1984 but chose instead to compete at the Olympic trials. In 1984 she was given the Hertz No. 1 award for the top H.S. athlete (for all sports) in Texas
Jolanda was also an all-state basketball player at Alief Elsik averaging 25 points & 16 rebounds and was named the top player in the Houston region by the Houston Post as a junior and senior. She was recruited by Tennessee, Stanford, and USC and considered academic scholarships at Ivy league schools (she was named the female scholar/athlete of the Houston area) but signed with the University of Houston for track and did not play college basketball. The versatile Jones became a heptathlete at UH and won the NCAA championship in the heptathlon three times---in 1986 (with 5,826 points), in 1987 (6,068), and in 1989 (6,022). She also was 9^th (5' 11.5") in the HJ at the NCAA indoor championships in 1987 and tied for 4^th (5' 10") in the HJ at the 1989 NCAA indoor. She was a 3-time SWC high jump champion (and still holds the SWC & UH HJ records) and was runner-up in voting for the SWC women’s “Athlete of the Decade.”
Jones also won the USA Heptathlon championship in 1989 and was a member of USA teams at the 1985, 1987 and 1989 World University Games and the Pan American and Goodwill Games. She was ranked #1 in the U.S. in the heptathlon in 1989 after earlier rankings of #4 in 1987, #4 in 1986 and #5 in 1985. Two-time Olympic champion heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee is arguably the US’s greatest female track and field athlete and was ranked #1 in the U.S. 8 times from 1986-1994 . But Jolanda Jones broke Kersee’s “string”as she was the top ranked heptathlete in the U.S. in 1989.
Jolanda graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston in 1989 with a degree in political science and was voted the Most Outstanding Senior at UH. She was a post-graduate scholar (and Rhodes Scholar nominee) and a two-time Academic All-American. She graduated from the UH Law School in 1995 and began practicing law in Houston for her own law firm in the same neighborhood where she grew up. The Jones Firm specializes in issues related to historically disadvantaged youth and she devotes much of her time to organizations such as the U’Jana Conley Foundation for SIDS (where she is on the Board), Oshman’s Women & Sports, the Texas Young Lawyers Association’s Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Coca Cola Share the Dream Essay Contest and the Harvest for Homelessness Committee.
Jolanda was given the Women Sports Foundation’s Up & Coming Award, the NAACP’s Alex Award for Legal Excellence, and was honored with proclamations of “Jolanda Jones” Day in both Houston and Galveston. In 1999 she was elected to the GTE Academic All-America Hall of Fame which is based on career and community achievements after graduation. She ran for the Houston City Council and is in great demand as a public speaker at numerous local, state and national conferences. Jolanda Jones has one son, Jiovanni, 10, and coaches his youth teams. Her younger sister, Ifoma, competed for the 2004 USA Olympic team as a high jumper.

Raasin McIntosh, 1999-2000
Raasin McIntosh won 4 career gold medals at the state track meet in 1999-2000 and later was an All-American in two events and USA champion while running for the U. of Texas.
Raasin won the 5-A 300-meter hurdles at the state HS track meet in both 1999 (42.3) and 2000 (42.46) and ran on Houston Westbury’s winning 400-meter relay team in 1999 and the 2000 800-meter relay team. Westbury’s 4 X 200 relay team was ranked No. 1 in the nation by TK&FN in 1999 and 2000; the Westbury 4 X 100 relay team was No. 2 in 1999 and no. 4 in 2000; and the Westbury 4 X 400 relay team was no. 5 in 2000.
Also, while in HS Raasin ran on the USA’s silver medalist 400-meter relay team at the IAAF World Youth Athletics Championships in Poland. In 1998 she won the 400-meter hurdles at the Junior Olympics setting a national record at 1:00.1. She was 2^nd in the Junior Olympics 400-meter hurdles and was ranked #1 in the U.S. in that event by T&FN in 1999. She also won the 400 hurdles at the Junior Olympics and the USATF Youth Athletics Championships in 2000.
As a freshman at UT she was named an NCAA All-American by running on the Longhorn 4 X 400 relay team which was 2^nd at the NCAA outdoor meet at 3:30.36. She also was 3^rd in the Big 12 400-meter hurdles and qualified for the NCAA meet. As a soph in 2002, McIntosh was 3^rd at the NCAA Outdoors in the 400 hurdles with a PB of 55.7. As a junior in 2003 she was the USA Outdoor champion in the 400 hurdles at 54.62 and was 2^nd in the NCAA Outdoors in the 400 hurdles. At the 2003 NCAA Outdoors she scored 16.5 points by placing 2^nd in the 400 hurdles, 3^rd in the 100-meter hurdles and running the 3^rd leg on UT’s runner-up 1600-meter relay team which recorded the all-time third-fastest collegiate relay time (3:27.05). From 2001-2003 she was a 10-time All-American and a 8-time Big 12 Champion. As a senior in 2004 Raasin was 7^th at the NCAA meet in the 100-meter hurdles (13.18) and 4^th in the 400-meter hurdles (55.56). She won the Big 12 and the NCAA regional in the 400-meter hurdles and made the U.S. Olympic Trials in both events. She finished 5^th at the Trials in the 400-meter hurdles (54.16). Her personal bests at UT thru 2004 were 54.16 in the 400 hurdles; 53.78 in the 400; 23.62 in the 200 and 12.85 in the 110 hurdles.
Raasin Grabre McIntosh was born on April 29, 1982, to Booker T. and Blynthia Scott McIntosh. She was one of six children and graduated from Houston’s Westbury HS in 2000.

Mindy Myers, 1987-1990
Mindy Myers won 10 gold medals in track and field from 1987-1990 leading her Munday team to three straight team championships in Class 1A. She is part of a remarkable athletic family of 14 children (6 boys and 8 girls) that included two older sisters who won multiple state track championships. Mindy concentrated on basketball in college at Midwestern University and was an all-conference guard for 2 years.
Melinda Marie (“Mindy”) Myers was born on Sept. 4, 1971, in Knox City TX to Billie Jake and Dot Myers. She is the youngest of 14 children (Billie, Larry, Jeremy, Mary Beth, Danny, Tony, Annelle, Julie, Caroline, John, Darla, Janet, Laura and Mindy). Her older sister, Caroline Myers, won the state 1A 880-yd dash for four straight years in 1978-1981 setting conference 1A records in 1978, 1979 & 1980 and her older sister, Julie Myers, won the 1A mile run 3 times in 1977-1979 setting 1A conference records in 1977 & 1978. Two other sisters, Laura and Janet ran on Munday’s 800-meter relay team which finished 4^th at state in 1986. Also, four of the children of the AMyersA14" ---Laurie Welch (Annelle), Laci and Megan Myers (Danny), and Amanda Myers (Tony)--- were on Munday’s 1999 State 1A team champions and Angela Cuba (Caroline) was on Munday’s 2003 state cross country team that won 2^nd in the state. Laci and Amanda were on Munday’s state championship 800-meter relay team in 1999. The Myers siblings (Caroline, Julie and Mindy ) won a total of 17 gold at the state track meet ranking them 4^th on the all-time “family gold medal” list behind the 21 gold won by the Jones siblings of Frisco; the won 19 won by Elgin’s Carla and Ychlindria Spears; and the 19 by Snook’s Jerry, Leslie, Larry and Stanley Kerr.
As a freshman in 1987, Mindy won the 800-meter run in 2:23.1 and also won silver in the 1600-meter run and the 400-meter relay and bronze in the high jump. As a soph in 1988 she won the 800-meter run in 2:16.4 (setting a Class 1A conference record which held until 1993) and the 1600-meter run in 5:20.0 and anchored the winning 1600-meter relay team in 4:01.5. As a junior in 1989 she won the 800-meter run at 2:18.4; the high jump at 5' 02; and anchored the winning 1600-meter relay team in 4:00.7. As a senior in 1990 she won the 800-meter run at 2:17.7 and the 1600-meter run at 5:27.5 and anchored the winning 1600-meter relay team in 4:00.3 (still a Class 1A record in 2003).
Mindy’s 10 gold medals in 4 years does not count the 3 gold she won as a member of the state championships teams of 1988-1990. She also won 3 silver and 2 bronze medals in individual events and relays and a silver for her team’s 2^nd place finish in 1987. According to the U.I.L., her total of 13 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze medals made her at the end of her 4-year career the most decorated individual athlete at the state level in the history of the girls state track meet. Mindy also won two individual gold and one silver and two team gold and one silver at the state cross country meet. She also led her basketball team to the state tournament as a senior in 1990. Her total medal count from UIL state athletic events is a state record 26. The Texas HS Girls Coaches Association named Mindy as the Outstanding Girl Track Athlete in Texas for all classifications (1A-5A) in 1990. In 2004 her 10 gold medals in individual events and relays places her in a tie for 5th all-time at the UIL girls track meet in total gold won.
Mindy received numerous offers to run track for different colleges but chose to attend Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls on a basketball scholarship. The 5'5" & 110lb Myers started for 4 years (1991-94) and averaged 9 points, 2.3 steals and 4 assists per game as a junior in 1993 and 11.7 points and 2 steals as a senior in 1994. She shot over 40% from the field and was ranked 19^th nationally in assists as a senior. Her Midwestern team went to the NAIA tournament in 1992-93 & 1993-94. Mindy remains the 6^th all-time leading scorer at Midwestern. She was named First Team All-District in 1993 and All-Southwest Region in 1994 after her team advanced to the sweet sixteen in both her junior and senior years.
Mindy graduated from Midwestern in 1993 with a degree in sport and exercise science and (during her senior year) completed her Masters degree in kinesiology. She coached at Holliday, Aledo, and Odessa Permian before suspending her coaching career to raise her four children. Mindy has served as an official at the state track meet for the past 10 years and in 2002 was elected to the inaugural class of the the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame in Abilene with Gordon Wood, Charles Coody, Don Maynard and Sammy Baugh.
In 1997 Mindy married Tim Flowers and has four children, Tod, 5; Myca, 4; Temi, 2 and Macy, 1. The family lives in Midland Greenwood where Tim’s family owns Athletic Supply of Odessa.

Nanceen Perry, 1992-1995
Nanceen Perry won 10 career gold medals at the state track meet in 1992-95 recording a sprint doublefor four straight years. She went on to become a 12-time All-American at the University of Texas; a US champion at 200-meters; an NCAA champion in the 400-relay; a bronze medalist in the 400-meter relay at the 2000 Olympics; and a world record holder in the 800-meter relay.
Nanceen won 17 career medals (10 gold) at the state track meet in 1992-95 and scored a total of 125 career points while leading her Fairfield team to two state 3A championships. As a freshman in 1992 she won the 100-meters (12.1) and 200-meters (24.8) as her team won the state championship. As a soph in 1993 she won the 100 (11.4) and 200 (23.3) and anchored the winning 400-meter relay team to again lead her team to the state 3A championship. As a junior in 1994 she won the 100 (11.3) and 200 (23.5) and long jump (19' 06") and was 3^rd in the TJ to score 36 points as her >one-woman’ team finished 4^th. As a senior in 1995 she won the sprint double for the 4^th straight year winning the 100 (11.5) and 200 (23.49). She tied the Conference 3A record in the 100 at 11.4 in 1993 and set a new record of 11.3 in 1994 which still held in 2005 and was the 7^th fastest 100 meters in U.S. (high school) history thru 2005. She set a Conference 3A mark of 23.3 in the 200 in 1993 which still stood in 2005. Perry’s 11.50 100-meters in 1995 ranks 8^th all-time in the history of TX while her 200-meters of 23.49 ranks 7^th all-time in TX.
Perry later ran at the U. of Texas in 1996-1999. As a freshman in 1996 she was ranked #10 in the U.S. in the 200. As a soph in 1997 she won the NCAA Indoor 200 meters; was 3^rd in the NCAA Outdoor 200 meters; and was ranked #8 in the US in the 200. As a junior she anchored UT’s NCAA champion 400-meter relay team (Vaughn, Backus, McGruder & Perry) at 42.76. As a senior in 1999 she won the NCAA Indoor 200-meters at 23.10 and ran the 2^nd leg on UT’s NCAA champion 400-meter relay team (McGruder, Perry, White & Backus) at 42.95. Nanceen was a 8-time Big 12 champion as she won the 60-meters (7.46) and 200-meters (23.34) at the 1999 indoor; the 200-meters (23.16) at the 1998 outdoor; the 200-meters (23.57) at the 1997 indoors; the 200-meters (22.73) and the 4 x 100-meter relay (43.60) at the 1997 outdoors; the 200-meters (23.89) at the 1996 indoors and the 4 x 100-meter relay (43.92) at the 1996 outdoors. In 2004 she still held the UT 200-meters record at 23.09 and is 4^th all-time at UT in the 60-meters at 7.33 and 8^th at 55-meters at 6.86. She also still holds the UT outdoor record in the 200-meters at 22.55 and is 7^th in the 100-meters at 11.29. In 1997 Nanceen won the Texas Relays in the 100-meters (11.29) and was voted the Big 12 Athlete of the Year.
After graduating from UT Nanceen continued her track career and was 3^rd in the 200 and 6^th in the 100 at the 2000 USA Olympic Trials. She was a member of the USA’s Olympic bronze medalist 400-meter relay team at the 2000 Olympics. She ran the 3^rd leg on the USA 800-meter relay team which broke the world’s record at the Penn Relays at 1:27.46. Perry retired after 2001 season and, on October 8, 2001, was honored with “Nanceen Perry Day.”
Nanceen Perry was born on April 19, 1977, in Fairfield TX to C.E. and Goldie Hill Perry. She and her brother, Charlie, grew up in Fairfield where Nanceen graduated from H.S. in 1995. In 2004 Nanceen Perry Hoskins lived in Teague TX where she was the track coach at Teague H.S.

Louise Ritter, 1973-1975
Louise Ritter won 5 gold medals at the Texas state track meet in 1973-1975 and went on to win 3 national collegiate high jump championships and an Olympic gold medal in 1988. She has held the American record in the HJ for 26 years.
Dorothy Louise Ritter was born in Dallas TX on Feb. 18, 1958, to Leo and Dorothy Ritter. She and her three sisters (Rhonda, Donna, & Sharon) grew up in Red Oak (just south of Dallas) where Louise graduated from H.S. in 1976. Her athletic career was interrupted as a youth when she contracted rheumatic fever at the age of 9 and was prohibited from strenuous activity for almost 3 years.
As a Red Oak H.S. freshman in 1973, Louise won the state Class B triple jump (37' 03") and the high jump (5' 4&1/2"--2^nd best mark in the U.S.). As a soph in 1974 she won the Class 1A HJ title at 5' 8 &1/2" (a new state record breaking the mark of 5' 5.5" set the previous year). As a junior in 1975 she won the 1A long jump at 18' 01" and the 1A HJ at 5"11" (a new state record breaking her own record set the year before). She held the state HJ record from 1974-1984 when Jolanda Jones jumped 6' 01.5". Louise did not compete at the 1976 state meet (her Red Oak teammate, Debbie Muirhead, won the 1A HJ title at 5' 3") but did jump 5 11' & 2" (only 3/4 inch off the national high school record of 6' 0") as a senior at the Gulf Coast Meet in Houston.

Ritter went on to Texas Women’s University where she won three AIAW national high jump championships in 1977-1979. From 1979-1989 she broke the American record in the HJ ten times raising the mark from 6' 4 & 1/4" to 6'8". In 2005 Louise still held the American record at 6' 8" and thus has been the American record holder in the HJ for 26 years. She won the U.S. outdoor HJ in 1983 (6'4"), 1985 (6' 3.25") and 1986 (6' 4") and was a national outdoor and indoor champion 15 times.

Ritter was a member of three Olympic teams (1980, 1984 & 1988). The boycott prevented her jumping at the 1980 Olympics but she finished 8^th in the HJ at the 1984 Olympics. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul Korea she defeated Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria, the world record holder, for the gold medal by jumping 6'8" to equal her own American record and set a new Olympic record and was named co-captain of the 1988 USA Olympic Team. She also won the Pan American Games HJ in 1979; was 3^rd at the 1983 World Championships; and won the USA-Eastern Europe meet in Los Angeles in 1983 setting an American record of 6' 6 & 2".
Ritter was ranked No. 1 in the USA in the high jump in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987 & 1988 & was 2^nd in 1977, 1981, 1982, 1984 & 1989 (thus she was 1^st or 2^nd from 1977-1989) and was world ranked 9 times from 1978-1989 reaching a high of 2^nd in 1988, the year she won the Olympics. Her all-around athletic ability was demonstrated in the 1984 SuperStars competition when she finished second to basketball star Nancy Lieberman. She won the basketball event and 60 yard dash & was 2^nd in the 440-yd run competition.
Louise Ritter is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, The Texas Hall of Fame for Women, the Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Hall of Fame. Red Oak H.S. named the street where the school is located, “Louise Ritter Boulevard,” and in 2004 displayed a plaque at the gym about her career.
After retirement in 1989 Ritter was the assistant track coach at SMU in 1989-90 and the head track coach at Texas Tech in 1991-92. Since 1993 she has been a regional sales manager for Nautilus Health and Fitness Group. In 2004 Louise Ritter lived in Ovilla TX with her 4-year-old daughter.