Next Great Buff
Dominick Houston-Shepard is Marshall's dual-sport star
Ashton Jeanlewis
Apr 26, 2018, 9:36 pm
Entering April, Houston- Shepard was ranked No. 1 in Texas in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 36.76 seconds Vype
The Marshall Buffs have another one on their hands.
Another elite level, dual-sport athlete who calls Thurgood Marshall High home. He’s the next big thing on Buffalo Run.
His name is Dominick Houston-Shepard.
He’s made his name on the football field, torching defense all the way to the Region III title game last season. After an early transition to wide receiver, he hasn’t looked back.
“My freshman year I switched from defensive back to wide receiver because I love to score,” said Houston- Shepard.
Believe it or not, football isn’t even his primary sport.
No one in the nation has the combination of speed, flexibility, drive and natural ability that Dominick displays when he runs the hurdles.
Entering the month of April, Houston- Shepard was ranked No. 1 in Texas in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 36.76 seconds. That time was also good for third fastest in the country.
“I started as an 11-year-old,” Houston-Shepard said. ”My summer track coach was a hurdler herself, so she told me she was going to train me. That same season I won gold at the AAU Junior Olympics.”
That coach knows a thing or two about hurdling, considering she’s the three-time Big West 100-meter hurdle champion Tanya Davis Moore.
Moore runs a club track team that saw the potential of a young Houston-Shepard. He’s more than delivered on the promise Moore saw in him all those years ago. He still has loftier goals in mind as he eyes the state hardware.
After a fourth place finish in the 110-meter hurdles at state last year, Houston-Shepard has run with a vengeance in 2018.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Houston-Shepard has five first place finishes, including running a 14.16 at the Victor Lopez Classic. In the 300-meter hurdles, Houston- Shepard has reigned in three first place finishes, including a personal record at the Victor Lopez Classic.
But winning these meets in the hurdles aren’t the ultimate goal this season.
“My goal is to win state in both hurdles,” said Houston-Shepard.
So what’s the magic ingredient that FB Marshall has built their track legacy on?
“We consistently have some of the best athletes because of our work ethic,” said Houston-Shepard.
This article appears in the April Issue of VYPE Magazine. Pick up your copy at any one of our locations today!
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.