Rockland Scholar-Athlete award: North Rockland's  Jamieson

By LISA SOKOLOWSKI
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 12, 2005)

Carlos Jamieson was toying with the idea of playing football when he got to high school. North Rockland is known for its football program. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

But the summer before his freshman year, he got a phone call — and that changed everything.

It was coach Gene Dall, asking Jamieson what he was doing in the fall. He had seen potential in Jamieson as an eighth-grader on the modified spring track team and wanted cross country to be his sport of choice.

"He called, and I just forgot about football completely," Jamieson said.

Four years later, Jamieson has established himself among Section 1's best runners in both cross country and track, and is honored this week as Journal News Rockland Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

"He was very raw," Dall said. "He had an awful lot of potential — you could see that right away — and he had a lot of determination. With those factors put together, I just thought that he would fit in very well with the kids we had on the team. He could help us and we could help him."

It ended up being perfect. Jamieson has gone to state meets four times for cross country, finishing eighth his junior year.

It sounds as if running was a hidden ability in Jamieson, that all he needed was someone to introduce him to the start. But that's not even close.

"For the first few runs, it was really difficult," he said. "I could barely finish them."

So for cross country, he made simple goals.

"At the beginning of the season, my goal was to be the best freshman on the team," he said, "but I ended up being the fourth person on the varsity."

That was before he even understood racing. He called himself "naive," attributing that as his reason why he never made a plan before a race. He would just run.

He knows better now, planning a strategy with his coaches and mentally picturing the course before he gets out there.

But it's that same word — "naive" — that Barry Baloga, Jamieson's English teacher from junior year and his cross country coach for the past two years, uses, though he's not sure that it fits.

"What struck me most about him was that he really, at that point, he didn't necessarily ... " Baloga said before stopping his words. "I don't want to say he was naive, but he was very unintimidated with regards to any challenge thrown his way. What really impressed me about him was that he didn't view himself as having any limitations. He always threw his best effort out there."

That carries over to his academics. Jamieson, who has a 92 average, is taking two advanced-placement and three college courses given at North Rockland by Rockland Community College this year.

His top two college choices are American University and Columbia because of their balance of academics and athletics. He hopes to run all three seasons, just as he has in high school.

"He is one of the most kind and humble people you will ever meet," Baloga said. "He really is just a genuinely great kid."