Heritage 4x800 Team Making A Move To The Top
The average blink of an eye takes three to four tenths of a second. Now, what can you do in about eight tenths of a second? Not much, considering you can barely blink twice in that amount of time. However, in sports, eight tenths of a second can make a huge difference. It can be the difference between a first or second place finish in a NASCAR race. It can be the difference between gold and silver at the Olympics. And, it can be the difference between medaling and not medaling at the Virginia AA State Track & Field Championships in 2006. The Heritage Pride Boy's 4 x 800 relay team missed medaling by eight tenths of a second at last year's championship. They look to improve and come away with a medal this year.
With three spots on the relay team already determined, and the last spot up for grabs between two talented runners, this year looks promising. Led by seniors Nick McLaughlin, Dominick Kroupa, and Zach Armentrout, with either John Donohoe or Kevin Winsheimer, both juniors, and competing for that last spot, they will be tough to beat!
McLaughlin will look to win a state championship this season in any of the 1600, 800, 400, 4 x 800, or 4 x 400, all being his specialties. He already holds school records in the 800 (2:01) and the 1600 (4:24), was "All-State" a year ago, and an Honorable Mention "All-Met" in Cross-Country this past fall. McLaughlin started running three years ago while living in New Zealand when he entered a race and won; from there he was hooked on improving himself. McLaughlin has achieved running levels as high as USATF National Junior Olympic Games and the AAU Junior Olympics. His goals include, "...becoming the next state champion in the 800 meter sprint this season. I know our team is capable of accomplishing anything we want, as long as we set our minds on that dream," says McLaughlin. This fall, he will be attending Virginia Tech on a running scholarship.
Kroupa was a member of three relay teams at last season's state championship. He ran on the 4 x 100, 4 x 400, and 4 x 800 teams, where his latter two teams each missed medaling by one place. He still says running last year was his greatest high school memory. Kroupa has been running track for four years and has been on Heritage's varsity team all four years. His personal goals for this season include running the 800 in 1:56 and the 400 in 0:48. The 400 time is the national qualifying standard. As a team he hopes the relay squad can run a sub-eight minute time and possibly win the state title. Unfortunately, at the conclusion of his senior year, his track career will come to a close, "After high school I am going to WVU [West Virginia University] but I'm not going to run in college," says Kroupa.
Armentrout is the third senior on this experienced team. Unfortunately, he was sidelined during his junior year due to anemia, the shortage of iron in the body. He has been running since his freshman season, and has been on the varsity squad his sophomore and senior season. He started on the relay team at the start of the season but lost his spot to Winsheimer only one race into the season. He plans on winning that spot back before the end of the track season. "I plan to maintain--or possibly win back--my position on the
4 x 800 team. If that doesn't end up happening, I'd at least like to P.R. [Personal Record] once or twice this season. As for the team, we'll hopefully qualify for the State meet again, and perhaps even do better than we did last year," says Armentrout when asked about his goals. He will attend either Carnegie Mellon or the University of Virginia this fall.
Donohoe was only a sophomore at last year's championship, and will return for another crack at that medal stand. Like all his fellow teammates, Donohoe has been running track since his freshman year. Like most 4 x 800 runners, he is a middle distance runner who also excels at the one mile and hopefully the 4 x 400. He hopes to come away with a medal at this year's state along with his teammates who have become like family to each other. His experience last year was great. "It was intimidating because I was just a sophomore, and not many sophomores can say they went to states. Also it was intimidating because you know that everyone there is really good and going to take the race very seriously," says Donohoe. But as for college, he has a great outlook for the future lined up, "I am not sure if I want to run in college but I plan on going to a college for further education and running for secondary activity."
Winsheimer, who is holding on by a thread for that 4th and final spot, will look to improve himself throughout the spring season and decrease all his times. He excels as a middle distance runner, who leaves everything he has out on the track. Winsheimer didn't run on the team last season as graduate Jayme Maddox ran in the fourth spot. However, not running on that team doesn't stop Winsheimer from giving it all he has. "The team's goals are to get back to states and hopefully medal," says Winsheimer. With another year of running left in him he looks to improve his speed and catch the eyes of some colleges.
Coach Kate Cassidy, who threw discus at Catholic University and was a graduate assistant at James Madison University, has the experience to coach this group of young men toward a podium visit at the end of the year. "The 4 x 800 missed medaling by about .8 seconds. Of course we were hoping for a medal...after all that's why you race. However, those boys ran hard and did what we asked them to do which is all one can ask for. There time (8:19.66) was only 3 seconds slower than there best time(8:16.35).---which is darn good and no one can run a personal best every time they step on the track." Says Cassidy, who believes this year's team is mentally stronger than a year ago.
All the boys have meshed together and become closer. "I love it because it feels like you're free from everything else. The team bonds through the common ground of what we do. You also get the chance to see some great runners give a race all they have and then some," says Winsheimer. "It depends. On easy days, we're all about sticking together." Says Armentrout. "But when it's time for a workout or a race, we have no problem leaving each other in the dust. When you run a relay, you're running for yourself and for your teammates. It's an awesome feeling passing the baton off to someone else, putting the outcome of the race into that person's hands,"
McLaughlin adds, "The boys that I run with are the best around. I wouldn't exchange any one of them for anyone else out there. Our team camaraderie is something I'll never forget and will always miss. The boys of Heritage track and field are like no other. We encourage and help each other out when the times get tough. Every single one of them is dedicated to what we do and what we need to accomplish." The team has the talent, and experience to carry them deep this season. Good Luck to them, now and in the future.
