hile his 10th-place finish in the 3,200 meters at the Central
Coast Section semifinals might have left him seven places shy of
where he’ll need to be to earn a berth to the CIF State Track and
Field Championships, Sobrato sophomore Lance Wolfsmith says don’t
count him out of making a big push at today’s CCS finals.
While his 10th-place finish in the 3,200 meters at the Central Coast Section semifinals might have left him seven places shy of where he’ll need to be to earn a berth to the CIF State Track and Field Championships, Sobrato sophomore Lance Wolfsmith says don’t count him out of making a big push at today’s CCS finals.
“Saturday was a good PR,” Wolfsmith said of his qualifying run. “I gave everything in the mile but that kind of backfired in the two-mile. I definitely think I have more in me.”
Wolfsmith is no stranger to top-level competition. He was ninth in the state in Division III in cross country and is a national champion triathlete. So if there’s anybody who knows what he’s capable of, it’s him.
“My training been going perfectly,” Wolfsmith said. “Hopefully this Friday will be my peak.”
Wolfsmith says he likes the fact that he’ll enter today’s competition as an underdog.
“I always kind of do better when I feel like I’m the long-shot guy,” Wolfsmith said. “A lot of the top guys that I know have some respect for me. They know that if I’m on it’ll be a good race. But a lot of the guys that barely beat me are probably counting me out.”
Strategy is one thing Wolfsmith hopes to use to his advantage. And given the fact that he’ll only be running one event, he should have a little more in the tank.
“Because I’ve raced with a lot of these guys I really pay attention to how each race goes,” he said. “The two-mile is such a strategic race. You can use all the information you have to beat your opponent. A lot of times it’s a balance between the smartest and the strongest.”
Wolfsmith was hoping to have teammate Alan Rios join him in the finals competition. But the Sobrato freshman finished 11th – three spots shy of qualifying – with his time of 1:58.75 in the 800 meters.
“I was cheering for Alan all the way. I was really hoping he’d get in,” Wolfsmith said. “But I know he’ll be there Friday cheering for me.”
With Wolfsmith and Rios finding success at their young high school age, it’s beginning to look as if Sobrato will become a name to watch out for in distance running for at least the next few years.
“We’ve already started to build that bond,” Wolfsmith said. “We do a lot of things together. We do almost all of our training together. When it comes to cross country and the distance races in track, it’s nice to know we have things covered. We take pride in it.”
