SULPHUR, Oklahoma (KTEN) - Less than 48 hours after a damaging tornado, Sulphur athletes competed in the regional track and field meet in Madill on Monday with hopes of making it to state. But after every one of Sulphur's buses was damaged in the storm, it was up to their county rivals to step in to save the day.

Just hearing the amount of devastation that's happened, I mean we've all got to get on the same rope and pull as hard as we can to help them," said Trey Owens, the Davis High School principal.

But on Saturday night, buses and the state track meet were the last thing on anyone’s mind.

“We had over 500 people in our storm shelters here on campus," Sulphur athletic director Corey Cole said. "You can talk to almost any one of them and they all say they heard the train sound as it came through”


An EF-3 tornado roared through Sulphur, devastating the downtown area.

“It was pretty bad," senior Sulphur runner Trenton Combs said. "I didn’t expect it to be quite that bad“

"It was horrific," Sulphur freshman runner JoJo Gray said. "Just clothes everywhere. Houses broken down. It was bad”

But despite the destruction, the Bulldogs’ determination to attend Monday’s regional track meet in Madill never wavered.

“At Sulphur this has always been a motto, and it's a simple philosophy," Cole said. "You've got two choices everyday when you wake up: to get better or get worse. At Sulphur, there is only one decision to make and that is to get better. We're going to do what's best for our kids and that was to get them and make sure they have everything they needed to compete in Madill at the regional track meet."

The only problem? Every one of Sulphur’s buses had been damaged by the tornado. But that’s where their Murray County neighbors Davis stepped in.

“Coach Trey Owens over there called us, and it was really simple, [I asked] ‘hey you think you might have some spare buses for our kids," Cole said. [They responded} 'Absolutely come get them right now.'”


"That's a no brainer for us. We want to help them," Owens said. "They've helped us and they'd do the same thing. Everybody in these communities, we're inter-connected."

For Sulphur’s athletes… it was a relief knowing they’d be able to keep their state dreams alive…

"It feels great. I didn't think we'd be able to come up here because our bus barn and stuff is gone," senior Sulphur runner DaMontre Patterson said. "It just feels good that Davis let us borrow their bus to come out here."

The resiliency of Sulphur's athletes showed on the track as the Bulldog boys' team won their 4A regional track meet on Monday. Now, they’re hopeful of continuing to be part of the healing process for this devastated small town.

“Going and winning a regional and maybe a state championship, man our community has always been supportive of our athletic programs," Cole said "There’d be nothing better than to give them maybe something to smile about and enjoy just a little bit."