Boca High is on the right track

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

If the Boca Raton High boys track team has a familiar look this year, it’s because several members of the Bobcats football team will be helping to try and lead the team to its first district title in 30 years.
And Coach John Combs thinks the time is right for that to happen.

“We’re well-rounded this year,” Combs said. “We’ve got guys in the high jump, in the hurdles, pole vault, a couple of distance guys have stepped up, middle distance is looking pretty solid right now.”
The boys started strong with 85 points in their first meet, topping Atlantic High by 10.
The biggest returner is senior captain Antonio Fenelus, who made states last year in the 300 hurdles and will be running on the 4x400 relay team this year.
“He’s tough,” Combs said.

Fenelus won both hurdle events at Tuesday’s meet, while Colby Wohlleb won the high jump.
Last year Fenelus said he wasn’t in the proper shape when he went from basketball to track. This year, Fenelus skipped basketball and he’s been running to try and get in shape for the season.
“I feel like we’re at least going to make it to regionals, have everybody make it to regionals,” he said.
Fenelus is shooting for a time of 14.2 seconds in the 110 hurdles, and he’s seeking a 37 in the 300 this year, which he feels will put him in contention for the state title.

“I’m pretty close this year,” he said.
Another football player Combs is excited about is Jerry Harris, who will take part in the long jump this year.

Harris competed in track and field as a sophomore but took last year off. Harris said he had never attempted a long jump before his sophomore year, when he consistently hit 21 and 22 feet.
But he said, “Now that I’ve got my legs and my body’s matured more, I’m expecting a lot more.”
Harris wants to hit 24 or 25 feet this year. To that end, he’s been in the weight room doing squats, and running with a parachute 2 1/2 hours a night to increase his speed.

As for being reunited with some of his teammates, like discus thrower/center Vinny Pelligrini and discus thrower/quarterback John Garrish, Harris said, “It adds a lot of athleticism to the team. It’s going to help us rack up a lot of points in the meets.”

Harris will also run the 100 meters and be on the 4x100 relay team.

Sean Chesney will also provide help in the mile, where Combs thinks he can run a 4:30.
On the girls’ side, Coach Stacey Loughman said her team has a lot of talent but is short on experience.

“We’ve more than doubled the size of our girls team from last year,” Loughman said. “We’re hoping to build a foundation with them and make them stronger for next year.”
The girls lost a lot of sprinters to graduation last year, but Loughman thinks 100 and 200 runner Michelle Weal can fill the void in that area. Loughman is also high on middle distance runners like freshman Natalie Fraley, who runs the 800 meters.

Her brother Nate, who runs on the cross country team, gave her some advice: “He just tells me to get good times,” she said.

In the first meet Tuesday, the girls won the 400 relay with a time of 52.94, and freshman Gabrielle Genacci won the high jump.

Sisters Ashley and Amanda Zook are also good prospects in the long jump.

“The outlook for the girls is very promising,” Loughman said.

Combs added, “We’re going to be head to head with Dwyer. I think this is going to be our year, I really do. It’s about time.”

Numbers problem for Pope John Paul girls
While Boca Raton High has a surplus of numbers with 50 athletes on the track and field team, Pope John Paul II is struggling to even field a team.

Last year, Coach Nate Robinson took a team with just seven girls to states. This year, because of the drain by lacrosse and flag football, the Eagles are fielding a two-girl team of Jaybrille Calcotte and freshman Stephanie Schappert.

“A lot of girls don’t want to run,” Robinson said. “In track and field you’re exposed.”
So, although he has just two girls, Robinson said, “they’re a strong two.”

He said he’ll treat the two girls as specialists, with Schappert running in all three distance events and Calcotte running in the three sprint events.

In their opening meet, the two girls racked up 24 points between them, with Schappert winning the 1,600 and 800 races, and Calcotte taking first in the 100.

Robinson is hoping the schools will waive the $50 team fee each team has to pay so his girls can compete.

Otherwise, he said it’s not worth paying for two people.

On the boys’ side, Robinson has a young team made up of several football players, but at least he has more than two athletes to compete with.

The Atlantic High girls team, which won its opening meet, will again be strong with Texas commit Stacey Ann Smith leading the sprinters.

Smith won the 200 and 400 meters, and had plenty of help from teammates, who won five other events.

West Boca Raton has Tommy Creamer and Michael Burke, the best runner in the area. But Burke has battled injuries since the cross country season and he did not compete in the Bulls’ first meet.