Reality replaces the dream

By JOHN DEMPSEY
Tribune sportswriter

Friday, June 04, 2004

Major Ramsey hit the nail on the head Wednesday.

"It's the dream of everyone in track to go to state. I've been wanting to go since my freshman year," the Kokomo High School senior said.

And he's made it. The Wildkat sprinter will be among three Kokomo Tribune area girls and nine boys who will compete in this weekend's IHSAA State Track and Field championships at Indiana University.

Of those 12 athletes, six of them were there a year ago -- Kokomo's Maggie Scheiman and Tristan Rogers, Maconaquah's Jocelyn Cook, Northwestern's Jay Young and Western's Kyle Walsh and Blayne Burkholder.

Going for the first time will be Ramsey, teammate Bryan Phillips, Panthers' Annina Gruber and Jonathan Brittain, Tipton's Kraigh Denham and Peru's Elliot Cohee.

Ramsey enters the meet knowing his time is not among the best in his event, the 200-meter dash.

"My main goal is to run my best time and go out and compete," he said. "My best time is 22.9 so I'd like to get 22.8 or 7.

"This is just a great way to finish my high school career and a great season."

That goal -- putting together their best performance of the year -- is the same for each of the athletes.

Young, Rogers and Burkholder know they must get off to a better start at the state meet in order to perform better.

For Young, that means standing up for himself and getting some practice jumps in before it's time to start the high jump.

"I know I have to warmup. Last year, I let everyone else go and I got no attempts ahead of time," the Tiger senior said. "This year, I've to go get my steps in and get some jumps.

Rogers is ready for a second state attempt at high jump.

"I know what I need to do. Once I get the opening height, everything else is mental."

Even though he cleared just 6 feet, 4 inches at the Kokomo Regional, he went 6-7 in the sectional.

A junior, Rogers was the regional champ at 6-4, but he went 6-8 earlier this season.

"I feel really good about this. [Going to state last year] opened a lot of doors for me. Colleges started writing me after I went to state even though I didn't do as well as I would have liked," he said. "Just being there was a big thing.

"The one problem I had last year was that I wasn't mentally ready to compete."

He also knows that if he can hit 6-8 once more "most likely I'll place."

Western's school record holder in the pole vault, Burkholder was just excited making it to state as a sophomore last season. This year, he wants to place.

"Last year it was rainy and it wasn't too good. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been," the Panther athlete said. "I want to go up a foot a year. I was 13-6 as a freshman and 14 even last year.

"I want to go 15-0 this year. If I run off the ground, get a good boost and put everything together, I can do it."

A qualifier in the 800 and 1,600 runs, Walsh is also looking to better his performance from last year when he took eighth in the 1,600 after having the No. 27 seed. This time, he's seeded 16th, but that doesn't faze him much as the No. 2 seeded runner is just three seconds quicker.

"That [the 1,600] is the main thing I'll be thinking about. I feel like I have a lot more time to cut off. I'd like to run around 4:14," the Indiana State University recruit said. "If I'm able to run that fast, I'm sure I'll be happy with my place.

The closeness of the field "is why it's exciting. Nothing is really guaranteed. It's really a strong field with a lot of speed. I have to run on the top of my game and be ready to run my fastest."

The favorite is Columbus North's Christian Wagner, who will be looking to break at least one of Rudy Chapa's two state meet records in the distance events. His best shot for that is in the 3,200 where he's a little more than 2.5 seconds off the Hammond runner's 1975 time of 8:55.10.

"The only way he can be beat [in the 1,600] is if he tries to save something for the 3,200," Walsh said. "There are a lot of guys with some good speed and who are strong in the 800 who might get him."

As for the 800, Walsh's plan is simple.

"I'll give it everything I've got left. It will be the last race of my high school career and that alone will make me want to run my best," he explained.

Phillips will be running the 1,600 as well and his goal is clear cut.

"We're not worried about places at state. I was happy with my regional time [4:27.46] -- that's fourth all-time on Kokomo's list," the Wildkat senior said. "A couple seconds off of that time and that would put me second [behind Bill Keller]. Anything under 4:27 is satisfactory and I'll be happy."

After reaching the state meet in the shot put, Brittain has just one goal left he wants to achieve -- break Mark Wesson's school record of 54-4.

"I haven't been throwing my best here lately," he said. "This will be the last time I throw in my high school career and I just want a good throw. Anything over 53-6, I would be pretty excited about and hopefully I'll get past my final goal."

Gruber was one of the last people to get into the state meet. She found out Sunday morning she'd be going in the 1,600.

"I was just looking at the times on the website and Mom said, 'there's your name.' I thought she was joking," said the Western sophomore, who went to state last fall in cross country. "I'd given up hope."

Her goal is to break Michelle Faulkner's school record of 5:16.1.

"At the regional, I was two seconds off of it," Gruber said.

©2004 The Kokomo Tribune. A cnhiMedia Newspaper.