Dulce senior Jaren Johnson is almost a one-man band when it comes to the boys track and field squad.
He took first in the Class 2A 110-meter hurdles in the New Mexico State Track and Field Championships a year ago and this year, not only is he qualified in the short hurdles, but he also has added the 200, 400 and triple jump to the list of events in which he will be competing.
“He’s reminded everyday that he’s got a target on his back,” coach Lewis Martinez said. “He goes about his training and he doesn’t need to be told what do. He’s very easy going and he doesn’t let anything get to him. He works very hard and he’s a good leader of the team.”
Johnson had an interesting experience at state last season when he tried using blocks without really practicing with them.
It predictably did not go well and he ended up tweaking his hamstring in the preliminaries and finishing eighth, which was just good enough to move into finals the next day.
Then he ditched the blocks and shaved almost five seconds off his time to win.
Johnson has been practicing a bit more with the blocks this season, but he’s not sure how much that’s going to help.
“I think it’s going to be a little harder to do that,” he said. “Last year, I did have the hamstring that was holding me back and now I’m 100% but I think my times could be better. I haven’t been going as fast I can.”
Still, Johnson said he’s looking forward to coming home with a handful of medals.
“My expectations are pretty high,” he said. “I want to say that I’m going to place top three, if not first, in all of my events.”
Junior shotput thrower Maliek Green is looking like he has a good shot of qualifying through the district meet, as well, Martinez said.
And sophomores Michael Manwell and Jarius Willie, who both completed in the hurdles at state last year, are key runners in several of the relays, along with seniors Michael Tecube, Dewan Poafpybitty, Brayden Tafoya and Phil Gomez as Martinez has high hopes of qualifying at least four relays into the state via the district meet.
“I’ve had all these young men since ninth grade and now they’re seniors and they know what to expect,” the coach said. “They put in the hard work that needs to be done and they just go out there and do their training and have fun and they also teach the younger ones what is expected of them.”
On the girls side, track newcomer and freshman Amari Castleberry has already qualified for the 400.
“I didn’t think I was going to get qualified when I first ran it, but coach Lewis, he pushed me and told me I could qualify,” she said. “He made me run all kinds of hills. It’s really exciting. We’ll see what happens when I go to state. I’m hoping for maybe first.”
Castleberry thought about going out for track as an eighth grader, but decided against it.
“I was too scared to try track last year, but this year, I finally decided to try it and I’m glad I did because it’s really fun,” she said. “My track team is pretty good. I really like my track team, their high level of energy and how we keep each other going.”
Martinez is counting on Castleberry to be a part of the 4×100, 4×200 and medley relays, along with senior Allyssa Lucero, freshman Alya Rivas and sophomore Mattison Vigil.
The goal, he said, is to try and qualify all three for state and push through past the preliminaries to have a shot at the finals and a medal.
“The medley is the strong one that I’m really looking forward to,” Martinez said. “The 4×100 and 4×200 are good, but the medley is going to be the strongest one.”
The quartet hasn’t had a real chance to run together as a unit yet, but he’s optimistic they will come together well at the district meet.
“I feel very confident in the way they’ve been training and they want to do it and they’ve been very dedicated to it,” Martinez said. “We’ve been switching it up every meet to find out where we can be stronger in the relays so we can be ready for districts.”