WHEN THE LADY BULLDOGS COULD FLY: Honoring the Trimble Tech Girls Track & Field State Championship Teams of the 1970s & 1980s. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.,

WHEN THE LADY BULLDOGS COULD FLY: Honoring the Trimble Tech Girls Track & Field State Championship Teams of the 1970s & 1980s. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.,

Trimble Tech High School — Class of 1984

The story of the Trimble Tech Lady Bulldogs does not begin at a starting line.

It begins with a long run.

Every day, before there were state championships, college scholarships, or newspaper headlines, young women from Green B. Trimble Technical High School left their campus and made the journey to Farrington Field. They ran there. They trained there. They dreamed there.

The distance between Trimble Tech and Farrington Field was more than a route. It was a classroom.

Each step taught endurance.

Each mile built resilience.

Each workout developed fortitude.

And every return trip home reminded these young women that greatness requires sacrifice.

Long before they became champions, they learned how to fly.

Under the leadership of Coach Vanette Medlen, a beloved educator and longtime track and field coach at Trimble Tech, a remarkable athletic dynasty emerged in Fort Worth. Coach Medlen became one of the most influential figures in the history of Bulldog athletics, helping guide generations of young women toward excellence both on and off the track.

Yet the story of the Lady Bulldogs begins with two young women who refused to accept that there was no place for girls to run.

Their names were Ellen and Evelyn Smith.

Ironically, their journey began with fishing.

As identical twins, Ellen and Evelyn spent their childhood competing at everything. After routinely outrunning neighborhood children and classmates in middle school races, they arrived at Trimble Tech only to discover that the school did not have a girls track team (https://www.12thmanfoundation.com/donor-impact/stories/trailblazers/index.html).

Most students would have accepted the situation.

The Smith twins did not.

“We got to high school and realized there wasn’t a track team for girls,” Ellen later recalled. “So we asked the principal if we could have a track program.”

The principal informed them there was no coach.

The twins responded with a challenge.

“If we find one, can we run?”

The answer was yes.

The twins approached homemaking teacher Vanette Medlen and made a simple request.

“We just need you to come out. Please. Just be there. Just a body. We just want to run.”

What followed became Texas high school sports history.

Coach Medlen agreed.

The twins recruited their friends.

A program was born.

And soon the Lady Bulldogs were soaring.

From 1976 through 1979, Trimble Tech captured four consecutive Class 4A State Championships, establishing one of the greatest dynasties in Texas girls track and field history.

The same girls who once begged for a coach became champions.

The same runners who traveled daily to Farrington Field transformed Fort Worth athletics.

The same young women who were told there was no program built one of the best programs in the state.

The Smith twins not only helped create a championship tradition at Trimble Tech, but also broke barriers beyond high school. Their achievements eventually led them to Texas A&M University, where they became the first Black women signed to the Aggies’ track and field program.

History followed them wherever they ran.

But the Smith twins were not alone.

The Lady Bulldog legacy continued through a generation of extraordinary athletes whose accomplishments elevated Trimble Tech into one of Texas’ premier track and field programs.

Among them was Donna Thomas Wilson.

A three-time state champion at Trimble Tech, Thomas carried the Bulldog tradition to collegiate athletics and became a pioneering force at Texas Christian Universit.

After beginning her collegiate career at North Texas State University, she joined TCU when the university officially launched women’s NCAA track and field competition.

There, she made history.

Thomas became the first African-American woman inducted into the TCU Athletics Hall of Fame (https://tcufrogclub.com/honors/tcu-athletics-hall-of-fame/donna-thomas-wilson/107).

She earned numerous All-American honors and still holds TCU records in both the long jump and triple jump. Nationally ranked among the nation’s elite athletes, she was recognized as TCU’s Outstanding Female Athlete and became one of the most decorated track and field competitors in Horned Frog history.

Yet despite her success, she never forgot where she came from.

In 2002, Thomas returned home to Trimble Tech, giving back to the school that helped shape her life. She coached volleyball and assisted Bulldog track athletes in the long jump, triple jump, and high jump, helping inspire a new generation of competitors.

That commitment to giving back reflects the true legacy of the Lady Bulldogs.

Their story has never been simply about winning races.

It has always been about opening doors.

These young women competed during a period when opportunities for girls in athletics were rapidly expanding across America. They demonstrated what was possible when determination meets opportunity.

They ran for their families.

They ran for their school.

They ran for Fort Worth.

They ran for every young girl who would one day dream of competing at the highest level.

Their victories produced more than medals.

They produced confidence.

Leadership.

Character.

Opportunity.

And hope.

Today, when alumni gather and memories are shared, the stories inevitably return to Farrington Field.

People remember the championships.

They remember the records.

They remember the state titles.

But they also remember those long runs.

Because somewhere between Trimble Tech and Farrington Field, a generation of young women discovered something powerful about themselves.

They learned that excellence is earned.

They learned that adversity can be overcome.

They learned that discipline creates opportunity.

They learned that perseverance produces champions.

Most importantly, they learned that when preparation meets purpose, ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things.

The Lady Bulldogs of the 1970s and 1980s did more than win races.

They transformed a school.

They inspired a city.

They changed lives.

And they proved that greatness can emerge from determination, teamwork, and an unwavering belief in what is possible.

Their footsteps may have faded from the track at Farrington Field, but their legacy remains visible in every athlete who wears the Bulldog uniform.

They did not simply run into record books.

They ran into history.

And because of their courage, vision, and determination, generations of Bulldogs continue to follow the path they blazed.

When the Lady Bulldogs stepped onto the track, they were competitors.

When they crossed the finish line, they were champions.

But when they left their legacy behind, they became legends.

And that is why, even today, Fort Worth remembers a time…

When the Lady Bulldogs Could Fly.

Once a Bulldog. Always a Bulldog.