The Flash: Refugio's Ernest Campbell scorches competition in double gold effort
AUSTIN — When Ernest Campbell was playing youth football, he was given a nickname that now defines him.
“The Flash.”
Campbell lived up to the moniker Friday during the UIL State Track & Field Meet, torching the track at Mike A. Myers Stadium for three gold medals and one state record.
“It was tiring because the meet was on a rolling schedule,” said Campbell, describing the faster pace of the meet as the UIL attempted to avoid potential thunderstorms. “I didn’t really get to rest like normal, but I was able to come out here and perform.”
Campbell first anchored the Bobcats to gold in the 400-meter relay, teaming with Karson Herring, J. Henry Moore and Isaiah Avery for a time of 41.95.
He followed with the day’s most talked about performance, smoking the rest of the field in the 100 meters and setting a new Class 2A state record at 10.22. The previous record was set in 1985 by Snook’s Stanley Kerr, who ran a 10.34.
Technically, Campbell ran a faster time than that mark last year as a sophomore, but his time of 10.32 was ruled to be wind-aided and didn’t count as the official record.
“I could have done better in the 100,” Campbell said.
He’s not just saying that.
The scary part about Campbell’s race is he didn’t sprint through the finish line. He started slowing down a couple steps early, leaving the crowd to wonder exactly how low he could have been clocked.
More: Twice as Nice: Refugio boys, girls capture Class 2A UIL State Track Championships
“My legs were dead after the 400 relay,” Campbell said. “I could have walked across the finish line, but I still had to fight through it.”
For an encore, Campbell stepped into the blocks for the 200 meters and again electrified the crowd in a flash, finishing at 20.92. That’s the second fastest time ever clocked at the Class 2A level, trailing only Kerr who ran a 20.64 in 1985.
So just how did he get the perfect nickname?
“The first person to call me that, his name was, um, we called him ‘Bug-Eye.’ We played peewee football together,” Campbell said. “He just said one day, ‘You’re ‘The Flash.’ It just stuck.”
And for good reason. One not only has to earn that nickname, but then maintain past childhood. Heading into Saturday’s events, Campbell has run the fastest 100 meters at this year’s state track meet. The next best time was posted by Class 5A champion Josiyah Taylor of Denton Ryan at 10.39.
No one in the Class 6A race enters with a lower seed.
It’s that rare speed earning Campbell 22 Division I football offers from the likes of Penn State, Baylor, Colorado, Oregon, Penn State, TCU and Texas A&M to name a few. And that’s despite his listed height and weight of 5-8 and a generous 150 pounds.
“It means a lot because it shows that my hard work is paying off and that they recognize my speed,” Campbell said.
The rest of the state recognizes it, too.
Just don’t blink. Or you’ll miss “The Flash.”
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: The Flash: Refugio's Campbell scorches track in double gold effort
