[ HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD ]
Locey’s ‘flying start’ sets
table for record
WAILUKU » Joseph Locey began his day disqualified and ended it in the record book.
The Kapaa sprinter is an awkward starter, and he got off to a very bad start at War Memorial Stadium. But the rest of his effort was something to behold at the HHSAA/Island Movers Track and Field Championships trials.
Locey, using a rare "flying start" stance where he is much more upright in the blocks than orthodox sprinters, was disqualified from his 100-meters heat when he flinched at the command of "set."
But Locey was ready for "go" in his other two events. He bounced back to run a meet-record 21.9 in the 200 meters and also was the second qualifier in the 400 with a time of 50.54.
Locey broke the 200 record of 22.09 set by Jason Rivers of Saint Louis in 2002.
"I feel better now, way better," Locey said. "After a good run, a good win, I feel a lot better."
Locey was visibly upset after his mistake in the 100, but coaches helped him buck up.
"He never false-started before," Kapaa coach Calvin Paleka said. "Hopefully he can take this as a lesson and apply it in the future."
Locey said he will stick with his unique starting style.
"I use it because I don't get fast until I'm upright in my stride," he said. "I figure the faster I get in that position, the better."
There's no telling how much faster he can get. He ran a 10.78 (hand-timed) on a dirt surface two weeks ago. He also began working with weights to improve his explosiveness.
Locey runs for gold tomorrow in the 200 and 400, and since he's a junior he will likely get another shot at the 100 next year.
But there is no high school track future for Logan Taylor. The Word of Life senior was here yesterday, and minutes before the 110 hurdles he was practicing as if he would be in the trials. But his school's principal decided the medical clearance Taylor received from a doctor on Wednesday was not enough to allow him to compete with a broken wrist he suffered last week.
Taylor and Word of Life coach Zac Odom declined comment, but the school issued a statement yesterday defending its decision not to let Taylor compete.
The controversy over Taylor's being held out did not overshadow some fine performances yesterday, including two by his teammates, Brashton Satele and Careena Onosai.
Satele and Onosai had the best marks for their respective genders in the discus (160-9 and 130-6), and are poised to win the first state championships in track and field for Word of Life.
Tia Ferguson of Seabury Hall nearly broke one of the state meet's strongest records. She won her 1,500-meter heat in 4:39.57, just missing Victoria Chang's mark of 4:38.57, which the Punahou star set in 1999.
"I want to win three events (she also qualified in the 800 and 3,000 meters), so I'll have to conserve energy in the finals," said Ferguson, when asked about going for the record. "It felt right today. I didn't feel like I was pushing it too hard."
Ferguson, a senior, returned to Hawaii after living in Santa Barbara, Calif., for a year. She won the 3,000 meters in this meet as a freshman and sophomore and the 1,500 as a sophomore.
The team championships are still up for grabs, although defending champions Kamehameha for the boys and Iolani for the girls appear to have an edge.
"This is one of the better meets, there's a lot of competition," Iolani girls coach Earl Hedani said. "I think the pole vault could be a key event."
Warriors sprinter Nick Frazier's performance tomorrow could determine if Kamehameha takes home the boys trophy again. He had the top qualifying time in the 400 meters (50.48) and is expected to score heavily in several events.
"I'm in five races, so I'm just trying to qualify so we can get some points on Saturday," he said.