Big Country storylines to watch at 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet

After months of hard work and fierce competition, the Big Country’s top high school track and field athletes have secured their spots at the 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet. The top athletes in Texas high school track and field are set to compete in the UIL state meet on Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16, at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

Class 3A and 4A schools will kick off the UIL state meet on Thursday, May 14, followed by athletes from Class 2A and 5A schools on Friday, May 15, before wrapping up with Class 1A and 6A schools competing on Saturday, May 16. With more than 100 Big Country and Abilene-area high school track and field athletes set to compete in Austin this weekend, here is a closer look at the Big Country’s top storylines entering the 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet. COAHOMA’S GRANTOM, CISCO’S FOUGHT AIM TO SWEEP WHEELCHAIR GOLD MEDALS The Big Country’s most captivating and intriguing storyline heading into the 2026 UIL State Track and Field Meet boils down to one division — the wheelchair division.

Wheelchair high school track and field athletes in Texas compete as part of one combined division with athletes representing Class 1A-6A schools from around the state. That leaves nine state qualifier spots for wheelchair athletes who qualify for the UIL State Track and Field Meet, making the competition for spots at state even tougher. However, the Big Country will be strongly represented in every wheelchair division event at this year’s UIL state meet by the Lone Star State’s two most accomplished high school wheelchair track and field stars – Coahoma’s Kohen Grantom and Cisco’s Lillian Fought.

Grantom and Fought both qualified for and medaled in all six wheelchair events at the 2025 UIL state meet to cap off breakout freshman seasons. Fought collected a bronze medal in the wheelchair girls shot put, a silver in the 400-meter dash and a gold medal in the 100-meter dash at last year’s state meet, breaking the UIL’s state record in the girls wheelchair 100-meter dash (17. 44) in the process.