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The weather is warming and the clock is ticking down to Memorial High School’s Titan Relays on March 20.

The Memorial Titans are continuing their pursuit of a state title, and coach Darrell Granger is pleased with the results he’s seen so far this year.

“We’ve been doing really well,” he said. “I’m really happy about the progression we’re making, and with the weather starting to warm up a little bit, a lot of big things are about to start happening.”

The boys came in second as a team at the BISD Ed Taylor Sr. Relays Feb. 28 with 130 points. They placed behind Galena Park, who won with 228.

Harold Mosley III placed first in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.36, while Cornell Jessie placed first in the 300 hurdles with 39.61 and the 4×400 relay team finished first with 3:24.08. Lamont Freeman finished second in the 400 dash with 50.40.

Though scheduled to attend, Memorial did not participate in last week’s Ruben Jordan Classic at Clear Creek High School.

“Overall, the team is in a good place when it comes to rankings,” Granger said. “Long jump, shot put, we’re in a good place for this point in the season. It’s always a progression with me when we’re training. It’s little things — staying focused and mentally tough throughout the year — that’s going to bring us over the hump when it gets to district time and regional time.”

Granger has been most impressed with the Titans’ work ethic in the face of unpredictable and often uncooperative weather.

“I think the work ethic that they’ve been showing this season has been impressive,” he said. “It’s kind of hard when you’re running track and the weather is not good and you have to go indoors. I just like the mental toughness that they’ve shown this season, knowing a lot of expectations have been put on them to be successful this year.”

While the halls of Memorial High School are large enough to run through if the weather isn’t good, Granger does think his kids would do well with more time on a real track.

“The weather plays a lot in what you can do at practice,” he said. “As the coach, you just have to plan accordingly, and do things that the kids would like to do, but they realize that they’re doing it for a purpose, because running inside is different from running outside. So you got to just do things to keep their minds entertained but also get a lot of work out of them.”

Granger has been working with Athletic Director Brian Morgan and girls track coach Sandra Bradford, putting together Memorial’s first track meet hosted at the school. He knows it’s going to mean a lot for the fans and the runners.

“I’m just excited for our kids to be able to run at home,” he said. “We haven’t had a whole track meet in a while, so I know the kids are going to be excited about it. I know our fans are going to be excited about it, and I’m just looking forward to having a full house back there in our stadium. I know it’s small, but I’m just looking forward to seeing the fans, and we got a packed house that Friday afternoon, so our kids can be excited and entertain our fans.”