Former Floydada Whirlwind Luke Holcome, freshman shot putter for the WTAMU Track & Field team. (Photo courtesy Rex Holcombe)
LUBBOCK – Yogi Berra would love Luke Holcombe. One of Yogi’s famous quotes of “it ain’t over ’til it’s over” fits Luke to a ‘T’. The former Floydada Whirlwind and current WTAMU Buffalo freshmen uncorked a personal best heave of 54’10” (16.71 meters) on his sixth and final throw to take first place in the Jarvis Scott Open indoor track and field meet in the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center on Friday night.
MORE: Holcombe’s shot wins Tech Shootout
For the second consecutive weekend Holcombe won his division of small colleges in a Texas Tech indoor meet. This time he out threw competitors from TAMU-Commerce, Angelo State, South Plains College, Oklahoma Baptist, Texas Lutheran, Trinity and Lubbock Christian.
Holcombe and his Buffalo teammates will return to the Texas Tech Sport Performance Center on February 25-26 for the Lone Star Conference Indoor Championships. Holcombe currently is No. 2 in the conference standings of the shot put.
Ironically, when Holcombe unleashed the winning throw, he jumped from fourth place to the top position. It dropped Cole Paxton from Angelo State from second to third place. Paxton led the pack through the first four throws. Paxton is from Bracketville, Texas and he fell to third place at the 2A UIL Championships in Austin when Holcombe claimed the gold medal. It was nearly like lighting hitting the same athlete twice.
Luke’s mother Denise Holcombe probably described it best in her Facebook post: “It was late and everyone was exhausted (near 10pm). Luke had fought for rankings all night. Sitting in 4th place, Luke walks in the ring for his last try and as soon as throw released, the crowd came alive. I have never heard my son make such noise (after a throw). The next thing I know he is doing chest bumps with fellow throwers. I think he was even picked up.”
Most Whirlwind fans know about Denise’s health situation of being confined to a wheel chair. She is very limited on the times she can get to a competition to see Luke throw. She did not get to see him win a State Championship in Austin, but Luke reenacted the scene for her at Texas Tech. A script for a movie based on a true story.
https://youtu.be/oGP1v4est-0
When you watch the attached video, you may recognize the man yelling “Yeah, Yeah,” after the winning throw. That yell was from his father Rex Holcombe who is always ring side when Luke competes.
