DWIGHT PARKER RETURNS TO RACING ACTION
09/17/2005
Woodlawn junior Dwight Parker was a little disappointed in his last race as a sophomore. His freshman year exploits (2nd place at 4A State Championships) were a surprise. His sophomore year was going great. Dwight Parker was primed and ready to make a statement in the season ending championship races (County, Regional, & States). But then something happened to him that awakened Parker and maybe was the best thing for this talented young distance runner. He got injured.
While no one wishes to get injured or wants to injury themselves, for Parker it was a wake up call. "I was not doing the things I needed to do to be a better runner", stated Parker. With his early success and looking to run an even faster time in his signature event (3200m run / 2 miles); Parker suffered a season-ending injury and almost loss a race he should have easily won.
At last outdoor track's county championships, Parker barely held on to win the 3200m run (9:57.00) on the first day of competition. He was in great shape but barely broke 10 minutes. After the race, Woodlawn head coach Mark Pryor asked Parker's parents to take him to the doctor knowing that his star runner would not be available for Day 2 of the county championships where the team was counting on Parker winning 3 events and scoring 30-40 points. The first diagnosis was Appendicitis. After more tests it was discovered that Parker was severely dehydrated and that he had sugar in his kidney's which caused the sharp pain similar to Appendicitis. His "super sophomore" season was over.
Needless to say, Parker's team lost the county title which they had previously won 8 consecutive years. He missed the region meet which meant he wouldn't run the state championships and get another chance to race against his main rivals Andrew Jesien (Walter Johnson, now at Univ. of Va.) and fellow sophomore Matt Centrowitz (Broadneck HS). He also didn't recover enough to run the HS Outdoor Championships against the nation's best distance runners. All of his goals and aspirations were put on hold.
This summer, Coach Pryor talked to Parker about what it means to be a distance runner. "You read about high school kids running 4 minutes in the mile, winning the Footlocker Finals or logging hundreds of miles to try and break the national 5000m record. But what are not included are the sacrifices that are made to accomplish these great athletic achievements. That's what Dwight had to learn. If you want to be a great distance runner, you have to learn to be disciplined and be able to make sacrifices in order to put yourself in a position to possibly break 9 minutes in the 2 mile event", stated Pryor. "If you're going to increase your mileage, you got to do morning runs. That means getting to bed early (before your favorite TV shows go off) and waking up well before school begins. Your diet has to include all the things your body needs in order to perform at a high level (McDonald's and other fast foods is not included). Distance runners need to intake more than their normal share of water and vitamins to replace what is loss on those hour long runs. Your normal teenage high school runner is not ready to make these sacrifices. Dwight Parker was no different", stated Pryor.
Throughout the summer, Coach Pryor tried to rebuild his young charge's confidence and stamina. Parker had been a regular competitor in the AAU and USA age group meets but passed this year. His goal was to get back to the fitness level that made him one of the state's top distance runners. "It was hard not racing and competing this summer but I knew I needed to build myself back up", said Parker. When asked what he thought happened last outdoors Parker replied, "I took my body for granted. My mom & dad had been telling me what I needed to do but I didn't listen. I wasn't getting enough rest, eating the right foods or drinking enough water and it caught up to me in a big way. The hardest thing was watching the state meet and knowing I could have run a fast time. I thought I might be able to run HS Nationals but my body just wasn't ready. I know people think my freshman year was a fluke but I was so ready to run a smoking 2-mile. My goal was to run 9:20 or better last year. After I ran 9:36 indoors, I knew that I was capable of running under 9:20. I just needed a good race and the state meet was perfect. I am glad Centrowitz and Gelagle (Eleanor Roosevelt) are running fast times. Without someone to push you its really hard to run fast in the mile and 2-mile. I just hope that I can get back to that level and run a time that will attract the attention of college coaches".
Matt Centrowitz and Mikias Gelagle are Parker's main rivals in Maryland. If all holds to form, these three will face each other in no fewer than 7 meets (4A states & regions). Centrowitz is considered the best distance runner in the state with his performance at the HS Nationals (9:13.91 – 2 mile run). Gelagle has emerged as a talented distance runner through hard work and sports a PR of 9:15.31 (Southern Track Classic – Richmond Va.). Both of these athletes were a whisper in front of Parker in last year's state indoor championship 3200m run. But Parker missed his opportunity to put up a fast time outdoors.
Now in cross-country season, Parker has shown that he is determined to regain a higher level of fitness to challenge his rivals. Last year, Parker was undefeated in all of his cross country meets until the state championships where he was beaten by Centrowitz and Gegagle. He ran his best time then for the Hereford course with a 17:18 clocking. Today at Hereford, the Bull Run Invitational was Parker's first race since last May. Without missing a beat, Parker placed 4th with a new Hereford PR running 17:00. Just in front of him in 3rd place was Matt Centrowitz (the top 2 Maryland finishers and times). Next week in West Virginia, Parker will face Mikias Gegagle in the Mountain Top Combo Invitational. If you're a fan of distance running, you might want to find yourself at Hereford on November 12th when all three of these talented young runners meet at the 4A State Cross Country Championships.
By T.S. Garp