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National Leaders Outdoor Track 2008
2,000m SC Nick Hughes 6:16.20 4th
NYS Leaders Outdoor Track 2008
2,000m SC Nick Hughes 6:16.20 3rd 3,000m SC Nick Hughes 9:46.77
Final National Leaders Indoor Track 2007-08
Final NYS Leaders Indoor Track 2007-08
1600m Chris Carrington 4:22.36 13th
alumni@nrxc.net North Rockland Cross Country and Track and Field alumni, do we have your name? Check our alumni directory and find out! Not on there? E-mail Coach Baloga with your info. We'd like to hear from you!
e-mail@nrxc.net
VARSITY HEAD BOYS CROSS COUNTRY VARSITY BOYS DISTANCE COACH T&F
VARSITY HEAD BOYS TRACK AND FIELD MEET DIRECTOR RED RAIDER RELAYS RACE DIRECTOR RED RAIDER RUN
VARSITY HEAD GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY VARSITY HEAD COACH GIRLS T&F
MODIFIED HEAD COACHES CROSS COUNTRY
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Rockland Cross Country Athlete of the Season award: North Rockland's Martinez
Making the Wall of Fame
By CHRISTOPHER HUNT North Rockland standout John Martinez's English teacher has a special wall in his classroom "The Mr. Joyce Wall of Fame." He fills it with newspaper clippings about the school's student-athletes.
"Half the wall is just on me," Martinez said. "It's pretty cool." Most of the press comes from the senior's races at the State and Federation meets, where he catapulted from being the best runner in the section to one of the top runners in the state. Martinez knows the names, those who are supposed to be better than him, the favorites for each race. He knows his competition not only locally but statewide and regionally. When the names rolled out in pre-race predictions, somehow his name wasn't heard. So he made people listen. Before the state meet, people talked of Kevin Tshirhart of Northport and Ryan Sheridan of Walt Whitman. Martinez took a torrid pace on a flat course at the state meet in frigid weather and proved that he belonged. He finished second in Class AA, third overall. At the Federation meet more names were mentioned, but not Martinez's. This time it was Tshirhart, Sheridan, Dan Busby of New Paltz, Kevin McDermott of Chaminade and Dan Raucci of Red Hook. Still, it seemed no one saw him. He finished second at the Federation meet in 15 minutes and 57.7 seconds, a school record and the 11th fastest time ever run in Section 1 at Bowdoin Park. "It was pretty weird because people were like (after states), 'That was the best race of his life,'" Martinez said. "Then after feds they said, 'That was the best race of his life.' So it was weird. Now everyone knows. The Journal News boys runner of the year went from the quality athlete no one heard about to the really fast kid on the awards stand in the colorful pajama pants and Texas Longhorns cap. "A bunch of people I've never seen before have been coming up to me and saying congratulations," said Martinez, who is being recruited by Quinnipiac, Boston College, Wake Forest and Tennessee. "Some guy ran up to me and was saying good job and congratulations. I had no idea who he was." But the goal was never to get people to notice him. Martinez wanted to win. He said before the season that he wanted to beat his teammate and good friend Carlos Jamieson, one of the most talented runners in Section 1. But as his performance rose, his goals evolved. He accomplished even more than he thought he would. He won his first county title, finished second at sectionals in Class AA before his breakout race at states, and continued his success by finishing seventh at the Foot Locker regionals to qualify for the national meet in San Diego, Calif. "People asked me if I'm surprised by John's development," said coach Barry Baloga, who was his modified coach when Martinez started competing in seventh grade. "I can't say I'm 100 percent surprised. He believes in himself and listens to what you tell him. ...Winning is John's goal. It's not a certain place. He gives his best to win." Confidence read as clear on Martinez as the "North Rockland" across his chest. He believes he can compete with anybody and his aggressiveness in races illustrates that. And even if no else notices, it doesn't matter. "I don't think it bothers me," he said." "People didn't pay attention (before) so I don't expect them to pay attention now. But if they want to hop on the bandwagon, I wouldn't mind having a little fan club." |
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© 2008 NRXC |
