Mustangs medal at state track meet
Madison Cuplin and Graham Goggans pose with their gold and silver medals from state track and field competition. Photos by Brenda Gonzalez
Two Marble Falls High School students medaled at the state track and field meet on Thursday, May 14. Junior Madison Cuplin and sophomore Graham Goggans took home some hardware in three events after facing off against athletes from across the state.
The Mustangs spent a long, hot Thursday at the 2026 UIL Track and Field 4A Conference State Track and Field Meet in Austin, competing at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus.
“We are so proud of these athletes not only for their accomplishments on the track and in the sand pits this season, but also for how they represented our community while earning all the medals,” reads a statement issued by Marble Falls Independent School District following the meet.
Brenda Gonzalez is the head cross country coach, head girls track and field coach, and the primary coach for long-distance runners at Marble Falls High School. She spent Thursday alongside Cuplin and Goggans, and hit home the gravity of the athletes’ stellar performances.
“It is impressive to get a medal in Texas,” Gonzalez told DailyTrib. “No matter the division, the quality and the talent is there.”
Cuplin
Cuplin competed in four events and medaled in two of them. She took eighth place in the girls 100 meter dash, and ninth in the girls 200 meter dash.
Triple jump
Cuplin took first in triple jump, an event also known as the “hop, step and jump” in which the athlete must perform a technical leap using a specific hop and step before launching as far as they can over a pit of sand. The distance is measured from the edge of a wooden take-off board on the runway leading up to the pit.
She hit 40 feet and 5.75 inches on her best out of six attempts to get gold, beating out the second-place finisher’s 39 feet 10.25 inches. The 4A state record for girls triple jump is 44 feet and 2.25 inches, achieved by Ychlindria Spears in the 2000-2001 academic year.
According to Gonzalez, Cuplin has jumped even farther on other occasions, with a personal best over 43 feet.
“(This result) just shows how hard she has worked,” she said. “Her work ethic, her attitude, her drive. And she still has another year (to compete).”
Long jump
Cuplin took silver in the long jump, but nearly got the gold.
She tied for first, with both she and her opponent, Chiora Enyinna-Okeigbo, landing exactly the same max jump distance of 20 feet and 2.75 inches.
Under UIL rules, in the event of a long jump tie, the win goes to the athlete with the second longest jump in their series. Each athlete is given six jump attempts, with the best result counting towards their score.
Cuplin’s second farthest leap was 20 feet and .5 inches and Enyinna-Okeigbo’s was 20 feet 1.75 inches.
Goggans
Goggans only competed in one event, but he made a big impression. The young Mustang was a wildcard pick in the boys 800 meter run, meaning he was not among the top eight qualifiers, but his silver-medal finish proved he belonged among the best in the state.
“With his commitment and his competitiveness, he knew he could medal,” Coach Gonzalez said. “We aren’t surprised.”
Goggans finished the 800 meter run in 1 minute and 55.2 seconds, about .63 seconds behind the first place time of 1 minute and 54.57 seconds.
According to Goggan’s mother, Tracy, he wrote a Bible verse on his arm for the race, Hebrews 12:1-3.
One version of that biblical excerpt reads:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
“Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls or lose heart.”
It runs in the family
Speed might be in the Goggans genes. Graham’s older sister Bailey was a Marble Falls track star as well, having been ranked in the top 10 U.S. high schoolers in the girls 800 meter run as a senior, in the 2020-21 academic year.