AUSTIN -- UIL officials held a special ceremony to hand out diplomas to graduating seniors at the state track meet Friday, presenting them as they symbolically walked across the finish line.

Meanwhile, a lot of the younger athletes were climbing the medal stand.

Juniors Clint Hutson of Lexington was among those winning gold medals. Brenham sophomore Derek Edwards took silver, and sophomore teammate Will Antkowiak won a pair of bronze medals at Myers Stadium.

Hutson has to wait through a pair of unfair starts in the Class 2A 110-meter hurdles, after blocks slipped and a long hold when the runners came set, delaying the race until a fourth try. He blasted out the blocks and claimed the lead over the first hurdle, winning in his best time of 14.68 seconds.

"It was a distraction, but it was the same for everybody," said Hutson, who was most bothered by the long hold because of an injured lower back. "Experience helps and you get used to the situation."

The quick start is his specialty.

"Naturally, I'm a sprinter, so I pride myself of good starts," Hutson said. "Sometimes, I'll start breaking down farther down the track, so that's something I really have to affect in order for me to win."

Still, he won impressively, beating second-place Kolby Barnhill of Merkel by .12 seconds.

It was the only event at state for Hutson, who has been a multi-event competitor all season. Hutson was a state alternate on Lexington's sprint relay as a freshman and finished seventh in the event last year.

"It made it tons easier," said Hutson. "When you're doing so many other events, you lose focus and have to refocus on each event, and it's a lot easier with a one-event kind of deal."

Antkowiak thought he had another lap to make a move in the 3,200, but he misread the finish when no bell was rung for the last lap.

"It wasn't until that last 100 that I looked up and realized it wasn't two laps to go," Antkowiak said. "It was too late to do anything but I should have gone hard on that last 100, because that guy caught me."

Forced into the lead early, Antkowiak lost the lead to eventual winner, Nathan Christianson (9 minutes, 21.52 seconds) of Boerne Champion. When he realized his mistake, Antkowiak had no chance to catch Christianson but used a home-stretch sprint to momentarily overtake Friendswood junior Brandon Swindler. Swindler responded as Antkowiak slowed at the finish, edging in front with a late lean to take the silver medal.

Swindler ran 9:22.70 and Antkowiak was timed in 9:22.77.

"When the kid from Friendswood came around, I thought he was really going after it, so I sped up to stay with him and get set for that last lap," Antkowiak said.

Antkowiak took the lead early in the second lap of the 1,600 but faded back to fourth at one point. He finished with a strong kick, placing third in a time of 4:20.28. Another runner for the aptly-named Boerne Champion, Ethan Dougherty, won in 4:15.10.

Edwards hit his career-best triple jump of 48 feet, 8 1/2 inches on his second attempt, the rare one where he was able to hit the boards.

"It's hot out here, and when my muscles start loosening up my mark varies from one place to another," Edwards said. "I was just trying to guess, but I hit the board a couple of times and it helped me."

Marshall's Darius Jones leaped 49-6 1/2 on his second jump in the finals to take the gold from Edwards.

Edwards shot onto the state scene at the 4A Region III meet when he jumped 48-1. Jones, the state bronze medalist in the triple jump last year, won with an outstanding series of jumps. All of his jumps exceeded 47-4 3/4, which topped all of Edwards' jumps except his medal-winner.

"I'm a sophomore so I've never had this feeling before," Edwards said. "Just coming out and feeling the atmosphere of the state track meet is invigorating."

Edwards matched the effort of his brother A.J., who won the silver medal in the triple jump while at Brenham and now jumps at Sam Houston State.

"I'm trying to follow in his footsteps and do what I can to make him happy," said Edwards, who held off Big Spring's Mike Menefield (48-7), whose final two jumps exceeded 48-5 3/4.

LiDarral Bailey had hoped to contribute to jump-start Bremond's bid for a team title, but struggled hitting the takeoff board in the long jump.

"I just couldn't hit the board in the prelims, but when I got that 21-5, I hit it pretty good," Bailey said. "I knew I was behind and I was trying to get points for the team.

Bailey's best jump was 21-5 3/4, on his fifth attempt. That netted sixth place and a single point in the team race. Bailey's District 27-A opponent, Chilton's Montrez Landrum, won with a jump of 23-10 1/2. Landrum, a junior, took the silver medal his sophomore season.

Bailey has three events Saturday -- the 110-meter hurdles, the 300 hurdles and a leg on the Tigers' 4x400-meter relay.

Brenham senior Kendrick Washington fell behind 20 meters into the 4A 100-meter dash, won by Waco High's Charles Silmon at 10.41 seconds. Washington ran 10.83, placing sixth.

Lexington's Clark brothers each scored points. Senior Titus Clark jumped 22-2 on his final long jump to place fourth in 2A behind Kameron Horace of Corrigan-Camden. Horace's winning leap of 22-10 1/2 came on his fifth try.

Julien Clark, a junior, cleared the first three heights in the high jump but missed on his three tries at 6-4, a height he had cleared at the 2A Region IV meet. His best attempt was his first at the height.

Julien Clark was still able to smile easily after the event.

"I was just happy to be here," he said.

Lexington's Courtney Jackson was in medal position after the preliminary throws of the 2A discus; her third throw traveled 121-11. But Micah Thorton of Idalou threw 125-2 on her second toss of the final to move past Jackson. Cisco's Emily Edwards, who had three throws over 130 feet, won the event at 132-11.

In the 2A girls' high jump, Franklin's Candace Bourque cleared 5-0 but finished in eighth. Gladewater Sabine's Ashley Gadson won at 5-5, edging Geronimo Navarro's Noelle Kubenka on misses.

Centerville freshman Callie Padgett started fast in the 2A girls' 800, holding second place coming off the opening turn, but intentionally dropped to the back of the pack. She was able to make up only one spot, finishing seventh in 2:24.57. It was her best time of the season.

Padgett's teammate, senior Isabel Reyes, ran a lap with the lead pack in the 3,200, which quickly turned into a three-person race. Reyes was eighth in 12 minutes, 51.02 seconds. Academy's Emily Koenig won at 11:20.01.

Despite a delay of nearly a month because of the swine flu situation, attendance was up for Friday's running session by more than 600 over 2008. It was listed at 13,642.