Polk County’s indoor track team will gather Monday night to celebrate its season, a final farewell to the just-completed schedule before the start of outdoor practice on Tuesday.
There will be much to celebrate.
A week after the state indoor championship meet, a day on which Polk County brought home three state individual titles, head coach Alan Peoples still gushed about the performances of the 17 team members that traveled to Winston-Salem for the 2A/1A competition. The Wolverines placed third in the boys team standings, ninth in the girls team standings and brought home three champions’ medals for the first time.
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“When you put everything together, boys and girls, this is the best year we’ve ever had in indoor track,” Peoples said. “We had more kids go to the state meet than we’ve ever had and we did better overall, combining both teams, than we ever have.
“This has been the most rewarding seasons I’ve ever had. It’s one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
Given Peoples’ lengthy tenure at Polk County, that’s quite a statement. But the Wolverines, a close-knit team off the track as well as champions on it, may well have earned that praise, especially with their on-track performance in the state finals at JDL Fast Track.
There was the historic effort of senior Hanna O’Brien, becoming the first female in state history to win an indoor medal in an adaptive event, beating the clock in the 55-meter dash to be crowned state champion. There was the boys 4×800-meter relay team, finishing a season of dominance with a record time of 8:15.58 and a winning margin of more than 22 seconds.
And then there was the 4×400-meter relay victory. Solid legs from Caleb Brown, Eli Hall and Jacob Wolfe put Polk County in second place as anchor Sean Doyle took the baton for the final 400 meters. Doyle, though, trailed North Pitt’s anchor by some four seconds as he began, and with 200 meters, then 100 meters remaining, Doyle still faced that same deficit plus a challenge from North Brunswick’s Latrell Hill.
Doyle, though, surged past Hill in the final curve and began to kick, and as Doyle and Hill came out of that turn and headed for the finish, they began catching North Pitt’s Guido Palacios. Nearly stride for stride, Doyle and Hill passed Palacios, then Doyle surged a step in front of Hill in the final meters and crossed the finish line in first, a remarkable anchor leg giving Polk another state title. Watch video of the race here
Peoples, standing at the finish line on the track’s interior as a race official, had to contain his celebration. Briefly.
“I can’t describe it,” he said of Doyle’s leg. “Being an official, I’m not supposed to say anything or do anything. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Definitely once the last runner had crossed the finish line I got over there with them.
“That’s probably one of the higher points of my coaching career, to see a kid work that hard and pull it out.”
Polk County’s girls 4×800-meter team surged to a second-place finish in their race, posting a time of 10:28.38. Community School of Davidson won the race thanks in large part to the presence of Malia Ellington, one of the state’s top distance runners who was later voted the meet’s outstanding performer.
“Our girls were phenomenal,” Peoples said. “They work well together and they support each other so well. Not to take anything away from Malia, but our girls worked very hard to get where they were.”
All 17 team members who traveled to Winston-Salem trained hard, Peoples noted, which is one reason he is excited for the outdoor season to begin. Another is the group of coaches who guide those athletes.
“Over the years, coaches come and coaches go, but I’ve put together the best coaching staff we’ve ever had, track and field, cross country, no questions asked,” Peoples said. “They are an excellent group.”
