The Aubrey Area Youth Sports Association’s track and field team crossed the finish line on their summer season with a strong showing at the Texas Amateur Athletics Federation’s 2026 Summer Games of Texas on July 30-Sunday.
The AAYSA track and field team sent 22 athletes to Merrill Green Stadium, where they faced off against the state’s best, with two AAYSA representatives recording Top 10 finishes.
“My goal this season for our track program was to build off the basics,” AAYSA track commissioner Michelle Watkins said. “I wanted the little kids to learn everything from what the 100- and 200-meter dashes are to staying in their lanes, and I wanted the older kids to build on what they knew …, and even though we didn’t come home with as many ribbons or medals as we wanted, our goal was achieved.”
Harley McCraw was the team’s top performer, finishing fourth in the 14U girls 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.85 seconds.
“I kept thinking, ‘I was there competing against some of the best athletes,’ and running with them taught me a lot,” she said. “I know I was capable of more, but where I placed motivated me because I finished eighth last year, and this year I moved up, so my goal is to come back next year even more prepared and compete for the state title.”
McCraw also finished 10th in the 100-meter hurdles, with a time of 17.3 seconds.
Tyson Edwards was the second AAYSA team member to record a Top 10 placement, finishing sixth in the 14U boys 110-meter hurdles with a personal record time of 17.6 seconds.
Edwards, who started participating in hurdles during the summer season, said he didn’t see any of this coming.
“I’m a sprinter, and I kept saying no to hurdles,” he said. “Even my mom has asked me sometimes, and I would say, ‘No, Mom. I would never do hurdles. There’s no chance,’ and then I found myself going to State in hurdles.”
Edwards said he got off to a strong start in his first races in the event this summer but said that competing at the State meet was an eyeopening experience.
“I felt like I was at the top of my game, and then I saw the times, and I was running in the 18s, and the other guys were running 16s,” he said. “It was very humbling to see what the people who have been practicing their whole lives can do, but it was really inspiring. Now I know I have to [work] harder if I want to be on that level.”
McCraw and Edwards were the only two members of the AAYSA team to reach the finals, but Watkins said she was proud of all of the team members that competed and thanked her coaching staff and the AAYSA boards and parents for making the season special.
“Thank you to all of the coaches, and the AAYSA parents were great,” she said. “It was definitely a team effort. This was something I could not have pulled off by myself, and I’m so thankful because we had such a great group of kids this season, and I’m excited to see where we go from here.”
