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Danville, Marcus Brown, left, was first in the 100-meter dash Friday at the Boyle County Invitational. Lincoln County¿s Deon Shannon, second from right, was second and Danville¿s Tryston Ford was third. Brown also won the 200. (Hal Morris / April 28, 2012) |
As soon as he won the 100-meter dash in 11.77 seconds, Marcus Brown did just a little subtle hand gesture to celebrate his victory at the Boyle County Invitational Friday night.
“I felt pretty good about the race,” said Brown, a Danville senior who also won the 200 dash in 23.28. “My plan was to leave it all out on the track. I really wanted to get this win.”
That’s partially because he knows his high school career, and his athletics career, will be over in the next two to three weeks. After that, he’ll be attending Western Kentucky University but he won’t be running track or playing football, his favorite sport.
“I like track, but I¿have always liked football way more,” Brown said. “I wish I could have broke out and run like this (100 meters) on the football field. That would have been nice.
“We should have done better last season. I wish I could have done a little bit more to help our team win more games. I think they’ll be better next year, or I¿hope they will. But I’ll always believe we should have been better.”
He would like to also get better before the Admirals hope the Class A regional meet May 12 where the top two finishers in each event will advance to the Class A state meet. He’s ranked only fourth based on times recorded this season in both the 100 and 200. He also runs on the 4x100 and 4x200 relays — both teams were second Friday.
“Our 4x1 is really good. We’re ranked first in the region,” Brown said before the team finished second behind host Boyle Friday. “Our 4x2 has not been that good, but we still have time to get it together.”
Time, though, is not something Brown has a lot of now. He’s not only trying to complete his final weeks of school, but he also started a new job at McDonald’s three weeks ago that has basically kept him from practicing.
“To be honest, I don’t know how I can improve and peak the way I want with the way I am working. But I needed to start making money for college,” Brown said.
Not only has McDonald’s cooperated by altering his schedule so can at least run in meets, but he says Danville coach Chris Verhoven has been just as understanding.
“He has not been on me at all. He’s been pretty understanding even though I¿know he wishes I could be at practice,” Brown said. “I really like the way he communicates with us and understands us. He’s made this a lot easier for me to do, and I appreciate that.”
He would like to show his appreciation to Verhoven by qualifying for the state meet in both sprints. He beat teammate Tryston Ford Friday — something he doesn’t always do — in the 100 and knows there will be a “lot of competition” at the regional meet as well.
“Running against Tryston motivates me. Actually, our whole team motivates me.¿I want to do well for them and me,” Brown said. “I love competing. Always have. It’s going to be very hard to have all the free time I’ll have next year without sports. I’ll probably be bored. I’ll have to find something else to do I guess.
“I love sports. I played football all my life. I’ve liked running track. It’s what I do — or at least it is for a few more weeks.”
And that’s why even something as simple as winning the 100-meter dash Friday was so meaningful to Brown.
“I felt pretty good about the race,” said Brown, a Danville senior who also won the 200 dash in 23.28. “My plan was to leave it all out on the track. I really wanted to get this win.”
That’s partially because he knows his high school career, and his athletics career, will be over in the next two to three weeks. After that, he’ll be attending Western Kentucky University but he won’t be running track or playing football, his favorite sport.
“I like track, but I¿have always liked football way more,” Brown said. “I wish I could have broke out and run like this (100 meters) on the football field. That would have been nice.
“We should have done better last season. I wish I could have done a little bit more to help our team win more games. I think they’ll be better next year, or I¿hope they will. But I’ll always believe we should have been better.”
He would like to also get better before the Admirals hope the Class A regional meet May 12 where the top two finishers in each event will advance to the Class A state meet. He’s ranked only fourth based on times recorded this season in both the 100 and 200. He also runs on the 4x100 and 4x200 relays — both teams were second Friday.
“Our 4x1 is really good. We’re ranked first in the region,” Brown said before the team finished second behind host Boyle Friday. “Our 4x2 has not been that good, but we still have time to get it together.”
Time, though, is not something Brown has a lot of now. He’s not only trying to complete his final weeks of school, but he also started a new job at McDonald’s three weeks ago that has basically kept him from practicing.
“To be honest, I don’t know how I can improve and peak the way I want with the way I am working. But I needed to start making money for college,” Brown said.
Not only has McDonald’s cooperated by altering his schedule so can at least run in meets, but he says Danville coach Chris Verhoven has been just as understanding.
“He has not been on me at all. He’s been pretty understanding even though I¿know he wishes I could be at practice,” Brown said. “I really like the way he communicates with us and understands us. He’s made this a lot easier for me to do, and I appreciate that.”
He would like to show his appreciation to Verhoven by qualifying for the state meet in both sprints. He beat teammate Tryston Ford Friday — something he doesn’t always do — in the 100 and knows there will be a “lot of competition” at the regional meet as well.
“Running against Tryston motivates me. Actually, our whole team motivates me.¿I want to do well for them and me,” Brown said. “I love competing. Always have. It’s going to be very hard to have all the free time I’ll have next year without sports. I’ll probably be bored. I’ll have to find something else to do I guess.
“I love sports. I played football all my life. I’ve liked running track. It’s what I do — or at least it is for a few more weeks.”
And that’s why even something as simple as winning the 100-meter dash Friday was so meaningful to Brown.
