LG’s Austen Diggs Sprints Into History

La Grange hadn’t had a state track champion in any event in 23 years.

Austen Diggs changed all that Thursday.

With his blonde hair blown back by the wind he was creating with his stride, and his trademark bright pink spikes a blur on the track at UT, Diggs sprinted to the state title in the 200 meters in a time of 20.82.

It’s was the fastest he’s ever run the 200 meters and he picked the perfect time to do it, edging second place Xavier Butler of Brazosport by just eight hundreths of a second.

“I’m extremely proud of him. He does everything we ask. He deserves every bit of this,” said La Grange track coach Rusty Cauthern.

“It means so much, considering last year I was out with an injury,” Diggs said. “Being able to come back and do this, having these medals feels great.”

Diggs’ title in the 200 meters was the first state track title for the Leps since Shauntee Lovings won the 110 hurdle title in 2000.

No Lep had ever won the 200 meters at state.

The title in the 200 meters capped a busy day for Diggs at the state track meet.

“I knew it would be a lot, but I knew I could do it,” Diggs said. “I’ve been training for this, and I knew I was ready.”

He started the afternoon with a third place finish in the 100 meters in a time of 10.57.

Diggs said he had a slow start or would have fared better in that event.

“I know I can come back next year and do better,” said Diggs, who is just a junior.

He didn’t even have time to go up to the medal stand to get his bronze medal for that event before having to rush off to run a strong anchor leg in the Leps 4x200 relay which finished fifth with a time of 1:27.93 (some handoff issues likely cost the Leps a chance at a medal in that event).

“After the first race a lot of the nerves go away. After the second race I thought my legs would be tired but I was actually pretty refreshed,” Diggs said.

Both those two earlier races just set the stage for Diggs’ 200 meters, in which was has placed in Lane 9, the worst possible starting spot in that event. Because of the staggered start on the curve, Lane 9 can’t see any of the other racers until halfway through the race.

“I remember seeing the lane assignments and at first I was mad,” Diggs said. “But then I remember when I ran up in Virginia (at indoor nationals earlier this year where he was the national champ in both the 60 meters and the 200 meters) I won both of my races on the outside lanes. You can’t let that kind of thing determine your race.”

Diggs appeared to lead the race the entire way, leaning forward at the end just ahead of Butler.

As his name was shown atop the leader board in the seconds after the race, a huge cheering section from La Grange erupted.

There were hugs all around when Diggs finally made his way to the crowd after the medal ceremony.

That capped a day full off support Diggs said helped fuel him at state.

All the Leps state track competitors were treated to a send-off from the high school as the marching band led them out the door. Before they headed to Austin they stopped by La Grange Elementary where the youngsters and teachers (including his mom who has been a longtime educator there) cheered them on and held up posters. It was then that Austen first realized he was perfectly named for success at state, by parents (Brandon Diggs and Jane Gardiner Diggs) who were both great athletes themselves.

“I didn’t think about it, Austen-Austin, until I saw a poster at the send-off “Austen Take Austin,” Diggs said. “It was great. I love seeing support like that. It’s years of training with little to no support, but getting all that – it’s worth it.”