‘LeLe’ faced with options
A three-sport star, track champion will have choice of college offers.
Bastrop junior Glorilisha “LeLe” Carter is a throwback athlete who competes in nearly every sport her high school has to offer.
Carter does not subscribe to the prevailing idea that high school athletes must spe- cialize in one sport. A standout in volleyball, basketball and track and field, she did not complete her athletic calendar until she crossed the finish line a week ago at Myers Stadium.
As the gold-medal winner in the Class 4A girls 200 meters at the UIL track and field championships.
“Once my name popped up on the board, I was in shock, overwhelmed,” Carter said by phone Friday from her coach’s office. “I made my hometown proud, my fans proud, my family proud.”
Bears football coach Todd Patmon took it a step further, saying: “She’s the face of Bastrop athletics.”
Her father, Travis, was in the east side bleachers to watch his daughter’s night race in the 200, but he did not have a clear view of the finish line.
“When I saw her name flash up, I started to cry,” Travis
said. “It was like she’d won the national championship. I was so proud of my baby, so proud of my daughter. I started hugging, kissing, giving high-fives to everyone. I’m still getting goosebumps thinking about it.”
While Travis celebrated in the stands, roughly one mile north of Myers Stadium, LeLe’s stepmother, Monica, was resting comfortably in a private room at St. David’s Rehabilitation Hospital, awaiting gall bladder surgery the next morning.
Monica woke up when her husband returned to the hospital after LeLe’s race.
“I walked back into her room — my sister-in-law was there, too — and I said, ‘Well, we have a state champion in the family,’” Travis recalled.
Monica’s eyes welled with tears. Her voice barely audible, she raised her thumbs and smiled proudly.
This week, Monica was recovering from her gall-bladder operation and a bout with pneumonia. She was expected to be released from the hospital late Thursday.
Travis Carter hid the seriousness of his wife’s condition from LeLe, knowing his daughter might be distracted from her goal of winning a state championship. Last year, LeLe tore her hip flexor during an area meet, and the injury kept her from competing at state.
“I remember feeling down, how it wasn’t fair,” LeLe said, referring to the injury. “Then my coach (Steven Mayberry) gave me a pep talk, reminded me I was only a sophomore and I had more chances to go back to state.”
Mayberry said it was no surprise his star sprinter reached the state meet this year. LeLe performed well at the Texas Relays in April, and several college track and field teams — including Texas, Texas A&M, Brown, Arkansas — have shown interest.
“LeLe was hungry because of what happened to her last year,” Mayberry said.
The race last Friday night was so close, LeLe thought she had lost the lead to Danielle Leaks of Wolfforth Frenship at the tape. After several agonizing seconds — and more than 16,000 spectators staring at the Myers Stadium scoreboard — the results were revealed: 1. Carter, Bastrop, 24.59 2. Leaks, Wolf. Frenship, 24.61 LeLe Carter, who celebrated her victory with about 25 friends, family members and coaches at a postrace dinner at an Austin steakhouse, has some serious decisions to make before her senior year at Bastrop High.
A nonstop athletic schedule running from August through May might not benefit a high school athlete who wants to compete in college track. Travis Carter said the family will study his daughter’s options, including playing college volleyball.
As a second-team all-district volleyball honoree and a firstteam all-district basketball player, LeLe has shown promise in those sports, too.
“She doesn’t even realize what kind of volleyball player she can be,” said Bastrop volleyball coach Nicole Creek. “She jumps out of the gym. Her potential is limitless.”
“My parents have always said I’m capable of doing whatever I set out to do,” LeLe said.