BOYS WINNER: Walter Tucker - Senior @ Plantation American Heritage
For Plantation American Heritage senior Walter Tucker sports are year round. Tucker spends the fall on the gridiron and then when the spring rolls around he hits the track. This constant conditioning is what makes him one of the best all around athletes in South Florida. Coach Corey Hicks says his hurdler/thrower also does mutiple variations of cross training to incorporate both the aerobic and anerarobic energy systems. These give the senior a competitive edge and help him to maintain his fitness level. Already in 2013, while most runners have competed in one or two meets, Tucker is ahead of the competition. The Sam Burley Hall of Fame Invitational this past weekend marked his fifth meet since the Jimmy Carnes Indoor meet at the end of January. Hicks believes that the key to his success is repetiton.
"The hallmark of validity is consistent reproducible results and repetition builds consistency. Coach Walter Tucker Sr., our hurdle coach and Walter's dad, is big on on the amount of races our runners are exposed to, which ultimately builds confidence."
Leading up to the Sam Burley Hall of fame Invitational, Tucke, the reigning 2A State Champion in the 110 hurdles, worked on his speed endurance, along with repetitions of hurdle interval training. The hard work paid off when the senior ran 13.89 in the 110 meter hurdles the top time in both the state and the nation. He followed that up with a third place showing in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 39.41 the fourth best time in Florida and 15th best in the U.S. for the outdoor season. Hicks says Tucker has a relentless desire to be the best and has a work ethic second to none.
"We were not surprised by his performance because we had already saw glimpses of this in practice. Timing and technique is everything and he displayed flawless execution. The Sam Burley meet was his best time this season and we are still in the early phases of fine tuning his race."
The hurdles weren't Tucker's only events on the afternoon. The senior also throws the discus. It's a rare combination of events that I don't think I have ever seen in my time covering track and field. He's good too. At the Sam Burley Hall of Fame Invitational, he gave American Heritage six points right off the bat by scoring third with a throw of 149'3"-. It's the 19th best mark in the state for the 2013 outdoor season. Hicks says Tucker has been involved with the discus since he was a kid competing in AAU meets and in the recent years the coaching staff has fine tuned his skills to make him a more versatile athlete.
"Training Walter is like working with a decathlete and his practice covers multiple track disciplines. He is in the best shape of his life and certainty ahead of where he was last year this time. Our main focus is the hurdles and our goal is a state championship and a national title."
GIRLS WINNER: Darrielle McQueen - Junior @ North Florida Christian
"Graceful, but powerful." That is how North Florida Christian coach Jamie Hall describes his star jumper Darrielle McQueen. McQueen took a month and a half off between her junior and senior track seasons. After that it was back to work. She began improving her strength through plyometrics, working on jumping drills, and improving her fundamentals. Along with conditioning work, the defending state champion in the triple jump was ready for the outdoor season. Her first test, the Jesse Forbes Invitational. On a bitter cold Tallahassee day, McQueen took to the long jump pit and after scratching on her first attempt by a toe, Coach Hall says she made an adjustment on her mark and got down to business.
"The next jump, I noticed that she seemed to wait until the wind calmed and raced down the runway. I knew she went after it because of the sound her foot made when hitting the board. She attacked it. The official pulled the tape tight and called out 19’8.5”. My thoughts were “Wow, 19 feet this early in the season!” She had another jump in the finals that was measured at a longer mark but was not counted due to a discrepancy."
Her mark of 19'8.5" was the top jump both in the state of Florida and in the nation for the 2013 outdoor season. Lightning struck twice as McQueen was not finished marking her territory. The triple jump was on next and the junior took to the air going 39'1.5" which puts her at the top of the Florida leaderboard list and second nationally. She also competes in the 100,200 and 400 for North Florida Christian and will show her hand in those events later on in the season. Coach Hall says that McQueen is one of the leaders of the team and has brought a great deal of notoriety as a result of her dedication and efforts through track and field. He adds that there are a lot of qualities in the junior that make her not only a great athlete, but a great person as well.
"First, Darrielle is a devout Christian and as a result of her relationship with Jesus Christ, she is able to focus on His plan for her athletic career. Second, Darrielle comes from a very successful and athletic family. It is my belief that her desire to be the best is a way of life, just the norm within her family. Lastly, she enjoys winning.
McQueen isn't just getting the job done on the track. In the classroom she has a 4.0 grade point average, is ranked in the top three in the junior class, and is a member of the National Honor Society. Hall has the same goals every year for his star pupil which are to win a state championship every year in each event and to just improve each day and be the best she can be. He knows that the best is right around the corner.
""She hasn’t competed in the sprints this season so that is yet to be determined, but I would say that she is ready to jump and I look forward to seeing the numbers when the weather warms. During her senior season, we will look into competing in some unfamiliar yet highly competitive meets. She has so much more potential waiting to be seen. I often tell Darrielle that I expect a plane ticket as well as access to the Olympic Games when she gets there."