At this weekend’s high school state track and field championships, Unalaska had one representative -- Ross Enlow. It was the first track meet ever for the standout athlete.
“When I was at the actual state meet and talking to other kids that I recognized from cross country they asked me about like regions and stuff," Enlow said. "It was like, ‘Dude, I haven’t even run on a track before. I don’t know what it’s like.’”
There are no tracks in Unalaska and no school sponsored track team, but Enlow says in region one there is one berth for each event that goes to an athlete from the region. This year, a Bethel boarding school claimed most of the spots -- everything except the 3200m and the 800m.
His first race in Anchorage was the 3200m and it did not go as well as he hoped. But for the 800m he asked his friends for racing strategy.
“They said start faster than you think you have to and just hold on to that pace,” Enlow said
So he tried it, and he won his heat. Plus, he was the fastest qualifier with a time of 2:04.
For the finals, he ran even faster -- 2:01 -- good enough for second place.
It’s possible in the future there could be more Raiders competing in track. Before the end of the school year there was a meeting about a track club -- an idea Enlow thinks is awesome.
“The thing about track is you can have long distance runners, you can have sprinters, you can have throwers and jumpers," Enlow said. "There’s something for everyone. And especially for the cross country team and those runners being able to run in the offseason and develop speed like that before they end up going into long distance running. I think the track club’s going to be great for the school and athletes in general.”
In the fall, Enlow will continue his athletic and academic career at Willamette University.