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BEING CLOSE, just isn't good enough when it comes to the competitive world of Texas high school track and field.

Eisenhower girls' relay teams have been close the past two seasons, but self-inflicted wounds like dropped batons on exchanges have kept the Eagles from reaching the final track meet of the year in Austin.

Coach Ahmad Roper has watched this happen the past two years and is ready for the 2019 season to be the dawning of a new standard.

"This year, it's unfinished business," Roper said. "I told them, we have to take care of business. We get hyped up because we have one of the fastest times in the state, but we're not at the big dance."

In 2017, Eisenhower sent its 4X200-meter relay team to state, where it finished eighth overall with a time of 1:38.48. Last season, no relay teams made the trip to Austin, failing to get out of regionals.

"It was that lack of execution throughout the year that caught up to us when we really needed it," Roper said about last season.

The consistent message to his team during the offseason has been about consistency and discipline.

If his group buys into that message, he believes they will be able to make the run needed to get to state because they have the raw talent to get there. The core of the girls' track team includes Iyana Gray, Darnee Williams, Kiana Rollins, Jaiya Covington, Tytiania Morrison, Hannah Simmons, Chanelle Houston, Deshawn Petitt and DeJanee Washington.

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