Castle View's Tanner Townsend hasn't been a sprinter for long, but he sure has picked it up quickly, as he leads the state in the 100 and 200.
Photo courtesy of Ann Mueller
Perhaps no one has been as surprised with
Tanner Townsend's evolution into one of the top sprinters in the state than Townsend himself.
Until his junior season at
Castle View (Castle Rock), Townsend was almost solely focused on running the 400 meters, an event in which he enjoyed impressive early success as a sophomore. Before the track season last year, however, Townsend and Sabercats track coach Ryan Whitenack figured it was time for Townsend to toe the line in the shorter sprint events.
Townsend immediately took off and hasn't looked back. Currently the owner of the state's top marks in the 100 (10.74 seconds) and the 200 (21.61), Townsend is aiming to complete his prep track career by winning gold at the state meet next month.
"When I first started track all I was doing was the 400. I never did the 100 or 200," Townsend said. "I definitely was surprised with the times I ran almost right away. Until my sophomore year, I never really thought I was that fast of a kid. I surprised myself with the times, and I also surprised myself coming back this year and starting off with basically the same times I finished with last year."
Tanner Townsend
Photo courtesy of Ann Mueller
Townsend emerged abruptly as one of the top sprinters in the state last season. After posting a fourth-place finish in the 400 at the 5A state meet as a sophomore, Townsend cemented his place with the fastest in the state last year, placing third in the 100 and seventh in the 200. Townsend was the only junior among the top five in the 100 and only one other junior, sixth-place finisher Ryan Rubley of Mountain Vista, finished ahead of Townsend in the 200.
The tape had barely been broken by the winners of those races before Townsend turned his focus to taking first in 2013.
"I actually started thinking about that right after," said Townsend, who will compete at the Dakota Ridge Invitational this weekend. "I started to get mentally prepared to go for first right after. I was mad because I wanted to get first. Everyone wants to get first. But in the last year I've really gotten better at some things. My blocks were terrible but they've gotten much better. And I've done a lot more lifting.
"I think that's the main thing that's helped. That keeps my strength up through the season and my leg strength is much better. I think that's the main reason why I've gotten stronger."
With four weeks remaining until the state meet, Townsend will begin focusing on the race that provided his start in the sport, the 400. Townsend placed 12th in the preliminary heats in that event at state last year and, due to the less-than friendly weather conditions of late and other contributing factors, Townsend has run the 400 only once so far this season.
Slated to compete in both football and track at Sioux Falls University next fall, Townsend currently boasts only the No. 14 time (50.31) in the state in the 400. Expect that to change by the time state rolls around.
"He's such a confident sprinter and always knows what he has to do," Whitenack said. "When he turns it on in his performances it is very, very nice to watch. His 400 should improve. He's such a good athlete. If we put him in the long jump he'd probably get the school record. He has a great ability to adapt to any situation."
