On the way to this meet, when I was forced to trade in my family’s second car to fill up the gas tank of my truck—my main transportation to and from track meets--it occurred to me that the rising price of gas ($3.95 on February 22, 2013 at the Kangaroo Express on Moody Blvd. in Bunnell) and the declining mile record (3:43.13 on July 7, 1999 by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrous in Rome’s Olympic Stadium) are definitely going in opposite directions. At the current rate, it won’t be long before we’ll all be forced to stay at home and be “Virtual Track” fans. Fortunately, Jason Byrne’s got that covered. (And he’s been improving on it for years.)
The one problem that I foresee for myself is how do I take take photos of the spectators? (They’re my favorite part.) If we are forced to watch track on our computers, viewers will be in widely separated locations, observing T & F from their interactive camp chair (or tire, as the case may be). I could trade in my Nikon for a squadron of UAVs (or drones, as they are more commonly known)…well, maybe not. (It seems that they are becoming somewhat controversial, what with everyone quoting the Constitution these days.) So what we need here is a solution, and “Solutions R I!” (Or is that am I? I always forget that rule.)
My suggestion is that we turn our tracks into GIANT ENERGY GENERATORS! First of all, the track itself could be one big photovoltaic cell. A lot of them are black anyway, and this is “The Sunshine State.” But I would make some “minor adjustments,” using many of the modes of technology currently available.
The six outside lanes—which we rarely use anyway—could be photoelectric, and the inside two photoelectrochemical, which, in between distance events, would be able to produce more than enough hot water to keep the steeplechase pit nice and warm (while its byproduct, oxygen, could be saved in case someone hypoventilates). Thus, even while those twelve hour meets are going on—and even more so when the track is vacant--we can gather HUGE amounts of energy, and send them directly into charging units (that can be stored like big batteries under the parking lots). So when we get to the track meet, we simply plug our cars in, and by the 4 X 4, our “smart cars” will be fully charged.
It gets better. Instead of foam landing pits in the high jump and pole vault, we can lay down tube-filled cushions, with expandable cells that transfer the downward movement of air into a compressed gas, being useful for such things as filling tires, inflating chair cushions, and—if the jumpers go high enough—CAVs (compressed air vehicles), which use air engines, or even hybrid-pneumatic electric compulsion systems. Compressed air is actually considered as a “fourth utility,” behind electric, natural gas, and water. Use it or lose it, I always say.
The sand in the LJ and TJ pits could be swapped out with millions of those tiny colored beads (that everyone buys to make necklaces, but never quite gets around to actually using). With each landing, the impact would cause outward friction, thereby creating heat. After being stored in insulated containers buried deep underground, when the sun goes down in the middle of the boys pole vault, the “heat tank” could be opened up, and since heat rises, it should keep the 40 or so people still around to see the 3200 nice and warm. (Bead beach party, anyone?)
The shot and disk could be re-manufactured to mimic those handy-dandy electronic automatic quartz watches, where a weighted rotor turns a tiny electrical generator, which in turn charges an accumulator (such as a capacitor), thereby storing energy. (And, we can use up all that surplus sand, which we would no longer need in the LJ and TJ pits, for their “quartz movement.”) With each of the two dozen teams having numerous discuses, there would be more than enough “disk lights” to illuminate the track for the finals, and even point the way back to our cars after the meet. (Just don’t throw the lit disks up into the air after dark, or the Air Force will be there before you can say “Area 51.”)
And one last suggestion: instead of those ribbons and medals that you get for winning a race, how about gas coupons so Mom and Dad and Ralph can show up at the next, energy-saving track meet. As the saying goes, “Think Green!”
What We Actually Logged On For
For the Flagler-Palm Coast Boys team and the Spruce Creek Girls, this meet has always been about “showing up,” so to speak. In its nine year history, FPC has won its own meet seven times, and visiting Creek five of seven (finishing a pretty solid second in 2005 and 2007; they ran elsewhere in 2010 and 2011). Important to both of their stellar records has been “covering the events.” In 2013, each team scored in 17 of the 18 events listed, with FPC taking six firsts and Creek four, plus numerous multi-place scorings for each team in a number of events.
FPC’s “elder statesman” is senior Kadeem Williams, whose level of athletic ability brings instant joy to his FPC track coaches, and whose 10 megawatt smile is the key to every girl’s heart. In this meet Kadeem won both hurdle events (15.33 in the highs and 39.68 in the lows), placed second in the long jump (20’ 7-1/2”), and in his last event of the night helped Flagler win the 4 X 4 (3:26.04).
Fortunately, I was able to speak to him--albeit briefly--after the 300 hurdles, during which he was a lucky survivor of an epic crash on the last hurdle. He and Colonial’s Jonothan O’Brien—after setting a 40.40 PR in the preliminaries—who was in the adjacent lane, were running neck and neck when a misstep by O’Brien caused him to go down big time. For anyone out there who believes in ominous signs, this was the first of no less than three newsworthy track crashes, the latter two on the following, consecutive days at “that other area blacktop”: Daytona International Speedway.
“He was hitting the hurdles for awhile,” Kadeem said. “On the second hurdle I saw chips flying. Wow. I didn’t think he’d be able to keep that up. But he did, and gave it a race. I guess if I wanted a competitor, he’d be the man.”
Williams was not alone among FPC multiple winners. Senior Sammie Cooper III won both the high jump (6’ 1”) and triple jump (44’ 0”), and placed fourth in the 300H (42.07). A third senior, Andrew Folk, won the 400 (50.32) and helped out on the 4 X 4 (third in 3:330.80)
Colonial seemed to “pick their events” in this meet, and in doing so gathered in 80 points, finishing fourth. With All-Everything Andres Arroyo up in Seattle running an elite 800 (third in 1:51.10), fellow senior Caleb Licht took over in the mile/3200 double. He won the mile in 4:34.48, after which I interviewed him trackside.
“Tonight, I just kind of ‘felt it out,’” he explained, “and pushed it on the third lap. In most of my races, that’s where I lose the pace I’m trying to hit.
“I feel pretty confident, but it’s partly due to the competition, and how the day goes. Last time I was here I ran a 4:40 (.76 in the 2/24/2011 ECC, a PR at the time).”
With the next-to-last race still to go, Caleb had unfinished business. It would be his second long, hard race of the day, but with a senior goal of “somewhere in the 9:30s, or faster,” he had no time to relax.
“Usually my focus is the 3200. I’ve never done the mile and 3200 on the same night, but I am tonight.”
In retrospect, it was no problem for Caleb. While he won the mile by about a second and a half over Colonial teammate Raul Ramirez (4:35.10), Licht had a five second cushion (10:07.82) over a second teammate, John Proffitt (10:12.61), in the longer distance race.
Buchholz senior Michael Tillman was a three-time winner (the 100 in 12.4, the 4 X 1 in 44.10, and the long jump in 22’ 5-1/2”), and still had enough left to place second in the 200 (23.12). His analysis of a sprint seems longer than the race, but then again so are his thought processes.
“(Before each race) I try to remember what we did in practice, and do it on the track. I make sure my drive phase is as fast as my coach wants, and do those little things in the end—my finish. I still have time to work on that.”
When asked which event, among his many, that he considers his favorite, Michael grinned.
“The long jump is my favorite. I got first—22’5-1/2”, I believe. I got into it because of a good friend, Marquese Nogles, who was a junior when I was a freshman. He was a great jumper.”
The Spruce Creek Boys placed second behind FPC in team scoring, in large measure due to three throwers and a number of jumpers.
Going 1-2-3 in the discus, the Hawks were led by sophomore Brandon Ditton.
“It’s my first year of throwing,” he explained. “My brother-in-law, Matt Strump, did it. He told me that I’d be good at it. We came here (to FPC) one day last summer to throw. That, and my (football) position coach—Coach Paul Speagle—helped make me comfortable doing it. I thought it would be harder than it is. I got the spin down, finally.”
With his immediate success in track, Brandon has since decided to retire his football jersey.
“This is about it for now…I fish a lot, though.”
No doubt a thinking man at heart.
SC’s Rodney Mack (135’ 7”) and Keith Narozney (133’ 9-1/2”) finished second and third, respectively.
In the shot, it was the aforementioned Narozney’s 47’ 11” that led both the competition, and his teammates. He thinks there’s more where that came from.
“I’ve thrown further in practice: 49, 50 feet,” he told me. “So I think I could have thrown further (here). This year I think I can get past fifty in the shot, and 150 in the discus.”
Behind Keith, Brandon Ditton was third with a 44’ 6 -1/2” throw, and Nick Delucia was fourth (44’ 1-1/2”). Rodney Mack‘s 43’ foot put placed sixth.
“We’re pretty strong,” Keith continued. “We all play football. We practice hard, and stay out there as long as we have to….”
Sometimes it can be little as possible, as was the case in a timed race. Spruce Creek sophomore Jeffrey Spence “wowed ‘em” with a 22.89 win in the 200.
“It was kind of a surprise,” he admitted. “He”—Colonial’s Tillman—“started out behind me, but then took the lead. But I was able to catch back up to him. In general, I (usually) have a bad finish, but today I just pushed myself a little more. I guess the strongest part of my race is the finish.”
Girls Rule
Although Spruce Creek eventually won the Girls title by a “comfortable” 23.5 points, it wasn’t—at any time—a runaway victory. In fact, both Bolles (125) and Colonial (98) were still in the chase for most of the afternoon. Bolles, especially, was having a very “Rice” day--Frances Rice, that is. The sophomore (individually) accounted for 20 of their points, winning the pole vault (10’) and the high jump (5’), both of which tied her best heights. She was even on hand at meet’s end to help add another point in the 4 X 4 (her team was eighth in 4:32.90). First, however, came the pole vault.
“I started the summer after seventh grade,” she said after her last attempt. “I had been in track—the high jump and hurdles mainly. We had a little team party after the season, and the coach (Ira Wellborn) said, ‘If anyone would like to try the pole vault, now would be a good time to try it.’ That was in May, I think. We started working on it in June.
“It was hard at first. Probably midway through the eighth grade track season, I began to catch on. At the end of eighth grade I jumped 8’6” (May 7, 2011, at the flrunners.com Middle School State Championships); at the end of ninth 10’ (April 28, 2012, at 2A State Championships). This year I hope to get 11’ or 11’6”.”
Another “rising star” in the Bolles lineup is freshman Mackenzie Wilson. Mackenzie is already well-established in cross country, finishing 15th in the 2011 2A State Meet (19:49.09 on November 19th) as an eighth grader, and quickly moving up to second in 2012 (18:28.85 on November 17th). But track is a whole different animal, with leg speed--more than endurance—the all-important ingredient. Still, with an 11:28.50 in the 2A 3200 last April 28th, she’s already gotten off to a good start.
“During the winter, I did a lot of training with the team--tempo workouts--and my Dad setting out long runs—seven to nine miles—at the house,” Mackenzie explained. “They want me to do my best in the post season, and they’re concentrating on that. So, definitely a lot of speedwork.
“Coach Ryan said he wants me to be a strong second half runner, so (he told me) to go out with the front runners for the first two laps and (then) run hard. I feel that I can become a negative split runner.”
And with 3 ½ years of high school, and four more of college still left to explore her events?
“I want to win a couple of State Meets, and run in college. And after that, keep it up for the ‘long run.’ I love running in general. Pretty much my whole year centers around school and my running.”
Mackenzie ran the ECC 3200 pretty much according to plan, pacing both her teammate Lily Arnold (second in 12:11.04), and the field in 11:50.40.
Colonial’s answer to the aforementioned Bolles wins is spelled K-e-t-u-r-a-h Smith. Keturah, although a junior, has been interviewed before (Read: winning is nothing new to her). She came into the meet with a bounty of strong PRs: 12.89 in the 100 (set at this ECC); 25.72 in the 200; 5’2” in the high jump; 16’8” in the long jump; and 35’ 10-1/2” in the triple jump. However, none compares to her 400 best of 56.68, which, considering she ran that as a sophomore in the 2012 4A State Meet, leaves two full years to improve upon.
In this meet, however, she dropped down to win both the 100 (where, at ECC, she set her most recent PR), and the 200 (25.82), plus a leg in Colonial’s 4:05.86, second place 4 X 4 (SC won in 4:05.24).
“This is the first year I’ve done the 100,” she admitted. “The first time my coach told me, I said ‘No. I’m a 400 runner.’ Then he put me in the 100 in a developmental meet (Jones HS Developmental Meet #1, on February 13th). I said, ‘I’ll give it a try.’
“I was scared. You see those short, little girls with those big thighs….But I came out hard, focused on my form, and won (12.98). It should help me for the 400. My coach said if my 100 and 200 times get better, my 400 time will too. That’s what I’m trying to do for the States; a 56.”
Whether it’s a growth in knowledge, or a growth in confidence, these early meets are the foundations for a young athlete’s season-ending performances, and nowhere is that in greater abundance than in the very young 4 X 8 team of Oak Hill: Jenny Cott, Lauren Perry, Talia Carlson, and Grace Blair. In the first race of the day, these four middle school girls—Grace, who anchored, is a seventh grader, and the other three eighth graders--ran a 10:06.97 to win.
Coming back later in the meet, Blair won the 800 (2:23.81) and Perry the mile (5:43.70). Grace—class of 2018—came in with a PR of 2:18.04 (set when she finished fourth in the 1A State Meet last April 27th, as a sixth grader. Since this was Lauren’s first mile, it was also her best (5:43.70), although she has a 5:22.29 1600 to her credit (she was fourth in1A Region 2 Meet on April 19, 2012).
“It was her first mile of the year,” reiterated her coach, Edwin Mc Tureous. “We were hoping someone else would take it out, but at the 800 the pace was really slow. I said to her, ‘pick it up at the 800.’ I didn’t want a six. But I’m happy with the win. We can work on that and improve her time. She can run the mile faster than she did. I just wanted her to race the competition, but I (also) wanted her to push it, and use the closing pace. She’s still a little young.”
“I started with the team in sixth grade,” Lauren explained. “My brother started running in sixth (too). He’s in ninth now, and Coach Matt has been my coach since second grade. (At that time) He had me doing laps on Fridays.
“I really like it. It is something that I’ve enjoyed since I was young, and I’d like to do it in college.”
“My brother, Cody, got me into it,” added Grace Blair. “He goes to Oak Hill and is a junior. When I was young—in first or second grade—I ran the mile and really enjoyed it. That’s not to say that I was really good at it. But in elementary school, every once in awhile we’d run it on a little grass track.”
“We’re really close, the four-by-eight team,” continued Blair. We hang out and get together on long runs on Saturday, and afterwards sometimes we get something to eat, or a smoothie.”
While “hanging out” is the end result of a distance runners’ labors, it is the very substance of the distance throwers’ existence. After all, you can’t exactly go out on Saturday for a long throw, and then meet for a smoothie, now can you? So they spread it out over the whole week. Truth be told, “weight throwers” are the salt of the earth; quiet dignity in a mellow countenance.
To put all that into context, meet Angie Greene and Angel Alston of Fleming Island. For one thing, they’re a little older than the four-by-tet of Oak Hill. Angel is in tenth grade, Angie in twelfth. In that maturity dwells a certain amount of composure, unless you happen to break a school record in the discus, and Angel was pretty excited about her 113’ 10” throw.
“Amazing,” was how she responded. That, and “I got it, I got it!” (the latter while jumping up and down—twice--for emphasis).
But now it’s back to work.
“If I work hard, I want to get, like 130. I just have to work hard to get there.”
Then she added a brief discourse on the meaning of life, the importance of school records, and the joy of discus.
“I like it (more than the shot put) because it makes me feel free. I like to send it soaring.”
/About six hours later, I bumped into Angel and Angie who were kind of, well, hanging out in the infield amidst all the confusion of a relay. The significance of that momentarily escaped me, but later I was able to put that into context. You see, this is a Dave Halliday meet, and no one (but no one) “hangs out” in the infield. He’s even been known to eject an athlete while I was interviewing her. (“It’s okay, really. You’re with me. I won’t let that man banish you.”) But there they were. I guess when you’re really, really good at something—even if it is hanging out on a quasi-professional level--what can anyone do about it? So I interviewed Angie.
“Today, I wanted to beat my best throw from last year (35’9” at the St. Johns River Conference Meet on April 28, 2012), but I was about even (35’ 7”). We haven’t been measuring in practice. We just use a line, so that today was kind of a pleasant surprise. It was my second best throw ever.”
While she came close to a new best in the shot put, she definitely got it in the discus (71’ 2-1/2”).
“My discus is nowhere near my shot. I need to improve my technique. I can muscle it, but I need to work on my release.”
Which is often my own, personal, writing-related quirk. But not this time. Thanks to Angie’s lead, it’s my time to “hang out” until the next fill-up.
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