Englewood track coach Jay Graves continues evaluating
performances to determine exactly which athletes should compete in
which events.
“We are doing OK as we keep working to decide on athletes for
individual events and set up the best lineups for each of our relay
teams,” the coach said. “Part of that is because we have a lot of
young kids with us and part of it is the fact quite a few kids are
involved in two sports this season. But, overall, we might be
pretty good by the time we get ready for league meet in May.”
The Pirates were on their home track for a Metro League meet
March 22, which was the final competition before the track goes
idle during the week of spring break.
Spring break is over and students return to class and practice
on April 4. The track athletes have to get ready quickly as April
5, they travel to Peak-to-Peak Charter School for a league
meet.
The busy schedule continues as the team returns home April 9 to
host the annual Windjammer Invitational. Currently, 14 teams are
coming to the annual meet that begins at 8 a.m. The meet will be
run in the Englewood High School Stadium. Admission is $5 for
adults and $3 for students with school identification.
Graves said there was a good turnout for track this season. He
said the boys team is made up of a combination of returning
veterans and guys who are new to the team. Graves added that,
basically, the girls team is very young, made up primarily of
freshmen and sophomores.
“We have four lettermen, Dustin Fletcher, Michael Goodwin, Quan
Pham and Scott Duscher, who we expect to be our team leaders,” the
coach said. “We also have two very good runners, Eric Vega and
Kevin Matthews, who also are playing baseball so we don’t have them
with us all the time. However, they really help us when they are
with us and they are two members of the 4 X 100 relay team that
should do very well in all the meets we run.”
Scott Duscher said soccer is his favorite sport but he likes to
run track to keep in good physical condition
He said, right now he is part of the 4 X 100 relay team and
competes in the triple jump but will compete in more events as the
season progresses.
“I think I like the relay the best,” he said. “I like it
because, while each leg is an individual race, it also is an event
that requires putting it all together if it is going to work
well.”
He said likes the jumps too. He said he tried the long jump but
decided it just wasn’t for him so he focused his energies on the
triple jump.
Duscher said he has spent a lot of time in the weight room to
try to get stronger so he can run faster.
“I use heavy weights with a few repetitions of each exercise,”
he said. “Most of the work I do is to build up the legs,
particularly the thighs because they provide the drive you need to
run fast.”
He said his goal for the season is to go to state. He said while
he does pretty well in individual events, he feels his best shot of
making it to state is as part of a relay team but that would be
fine as long as he makes it.
At the March 22 league meet, Quan Pham took runner-up honors in
the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.38 seconds. He also took third
in the 200 dash with a time of 23.3 seconds.
The Pirates 4 X 100 relay team and the 4 X 200 relay team each
took top honors in their event. Englewood won the 4 X 100 with a
time of 46.32 and took the 4 X 200 with a time of 1:41.52.
In the field events, Jamel Crocker took second in discus with a
throw of 116-10 1/2 and was second in shot put with a throw of 42
feet, 1/2 inch.
The girls team has several returning athletes, including Mason
Brainard and Karly Gelinas, who also are members of the track team,
the coach said.
Another of the returning letter winners is Destinee Rockamore
who runs the 100-meter hurdles and competes in the triple jump.
“I was injured last spring so I am running much faster at this
point of the season than I was at that time last year,” she said.
“I like running the 100 hurdles and my goal is to cut about three
seconds off my time so I’m running about a 15-second race.”
She acknowledged cutting that much time can only be done by
reducing the number of steps between hurdles from four to
three.
“The only way I can cut down the steps is to lengthen my
stride,” she said. “That isn’t easy to do but I will work hard and
keep trying achieve my goal.”
At the March 22 track meet, Rockamore finished third in the 100
hurdles and the Pirates 4 X 800 relay team of Haley Fraiser,
Cassidy Ransom, Alicia Hillan and Tiffany Scroggin won the event
with a time of 2:14.05.