Eloy Darby: From Running Bases to Laps
Smyrna High School junior, Eloy Darby, has a unique story about how he joined the track team. With the Riverdale Relay being his first ever meet, he did pretty well for himself in the ranking. Coming in 2nd place to Glencliff High School's Lamont Moody by only .01 of a second of the 100m dash is quite the accomplishment.
The Recruitment
"I play baseball for Smyrna High School. We are in season right now, so one day Coach saw me running bases and thought I was really fast. He brought me in and asked if I would run track for him. Now I'm doing baseball and track."
Growing up in Cuba
"I'm originally from Cuba, and came to Tennessee last year. When we were kids, we were always running in the streets, and ever since I've always liked running a lot. When we would race, I would always beat everyone."
Juggling Two Sports While Training Well
"Baseball has helped me get to where I am already in track. We are always running sprints. After every game we do sprints for every error we got to get better. This helps with my speed. Sometimes we will do poles which helps with endurance too. Juggling two sports is challenging, but I try to make it even. A lot of times I will go to the track and run before heading to the field. Track practice helps a lot with my form and practicing the relays, so I try to do both well."
Future Goals
"My goals are to keep running, get better, and keep grinding. I'd love to go to state, and I am confident that I have a shot to go to state."
Darby states that he really likes track so far and plans to continue running throughout high school and potentially into college. He does well in the sport and wants to see where it can take him.
Malaysia Ogburn: 100m Dash Winner
As a freshman running in a Varsity meet, Rossview High School student Malaysia Ogburn has a lot to be proud of, but being a freshman and winning the 3rd heat of the 100m dash is even more to be proud of.
Her Training
"Ogburn started running her 8th grade year of middle school and has trained hard since then. She states, "I have practice every day. Some days we'll have individual days where we will work on exchanges. Other days, we will work on core strength. We will run bleachers a lot. If it's raining we will have indoor practice and all we work on is core." Her hard work and training has helped her get to the place where she is today."
Her Accomplishments
She is pleased with how far she has come and everything she has achieved so far in her career. "I am proud that I'm a freshman with a time as good as it is. To be running in varsity meets as a freshman is something I feel very accomplished in."
Her Goals
Ogburn plans to continue with Track throughout her high school career and potentially through college. With a PR of 13.38 already, she believes she can do well and may have a future in running. She states, "by the end of the season I would like my PR to be 13 if not something closer to the upper 12s".