Damien's Herrera ready for Arcadia Invite
By Steve Ramirez
It's funny how things work out sometimes.
Take the case of Damien High School's Taylor Herrera, considered one of the top sprinters in the CIF-Southern Section, if not the state.
But there was a time when the senior, who also plays football and soccer for the Spartans, considered track and field as an afterthought.
"I'm a track guy who plays football," said Herrera, who is one of the featured entries in the 100- and 200-meter runs for Saturday's invitational portion of the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School. "The funny thing is that my freshman year I played football, then soccer, and when spring came, I decided not to run track, because I felt I needed a timeout.
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"But my mom questioned me about it and she kept pushing me to track. I went out, and now four years later it's track that gets my school paid (with an athletic scholarship to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), and its the sport I fell in love with."
It's easy to see why. Herrera has become the elite sprinter in the area, finishing second and third, respectively in the 100 and 200 in Division II at the CIF-SS championships last May, fifth in the 100 at CIF-SS Masters and a solid 15th in the 100 at the CIF State championships.
But all that has Herrera wanting more.
"Last year, I peaked at CIF finals, made it to state, but peaked too early," said Herrera, who ran a blistering 10.63 seconds at CIF-SS finals before slowing to a 10.93 two weeks later at the state meet.
"If you look at the times at the state, second place was a 10.63. Well, if I run what I ran at CIF finals at state, I would have finished second.
"It definitely bummed me out, but it's also motivated me this year to peak later. I'm definitely looking at winning (a CIF-SS title). It's my goal to win CIF, but at the same time, I think, for my division, I can still win CIF and still peak at state."
His performances last year didn't go unnoticed and guided him to accept a scholarship offer to attend Cal Poly SLO.
"I was heavily committed to Northern Arizona," Herrera said. "I liked the coaches, the facilities, the town. Then I went to San Luis Obispo.
"I just fell in love with the program, the coaches, the area and what it offered me. I'm happy with my decision."
Now he can concentrate on an outstanding finish to his high school career, and so far he is off to a solid start, running some of the quickest times in the state in the 100 and 200.
Herrera ran the 100 in 10.78 and the 200 in 21.81 at the Pasadena Games two weeks ago. Both marks are the sixth-quickest in the state this season.
Those numbers are slightly off last season's bests of 10.62 in 100 and 21.66 in the 200, but Herrera said he is right on schedule.
"They're are not as fast as I was at the end of last year," Herrera said.
"But when you compare those times to what I was running at this time last year, I'm running a lot faster."
He views Saturday's invitational as a stepping stone for what he hopes to accomplish in late May and early June.
"It's a really good test," said Herrera, who didn't run in the invitational last year.
"It's one more early-season test. I'm excited to run fast against (the best)."
steve.ramirez@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2296
Comments
WOW,
Basset 75,
Jacoby 100m 10.41h
That's faster than Randall Carroll's state winning time of 10.42 last year! Could this kid be the best 100m runner in the Nation? Or...?
Posted by: Amazing? | April 13, 2009 11:31 AM
All of you will hear and read the names of Jacoby Nguyen and Edward Bonilla both from La Puente H.S. after next weekends Mt.Sac Relays.
Jacoby 100m 10.41h
Edward TJ 43-5
Posted by: Bassett 75 | April 10, 2009 12:38 PM
Taylor has qualified for the evening invitational heat of the 200 - he'll have to run well in the afternoon to qualify in the 100.
He's joined by five other Trib area athletes, plus a relay team:
Karynn Dunn - Diamond Ranch - 100m Hurdles, Long Jump, Triple Jump.
Glendora HS Distance Medley Relay (Anthony Castro, Dillon Downard, Austin Goodheart, Christopher Ramsey)
Christopher Ramsey - Glendora - 800m
Sheldon Price - Bishop Amat - Long Jump
Sam Rockwood - Diamond Bar - High Jump
Eric Rogers - Charter Oak - Triple Jump
Short sprinters and hurdlers who can qualify for the night meet include: Bishop Amat and Damien (Boys), San Dimas (girls) - 4x100 Relay; Ryan Gibson - Diamond Ranch - 110m Hurdles; Sheldon Price - Bishop Amat - 100m & 200m; and Marcus Buckley - Diamond Ranch - 300m Hurdles.
Posted by: Bob Ramsey | April 9, 2009 8:34 PM
Hey Fred: good to hear of these success stories for track// below are the top freshman thus far from SG valley schools with CIF-SS marks: I'll post each week if you allow till end of season for these top freshman - maybe a blog credit might motivate for a 1/10 sec faster or something - these are our future valley leaders - here are the boys - I'll do girls later:
CIF -SS Freshman SGV leaders - episports.com 4/08 - by rank, name,school
of special note: Jarrett Gonzales of Damien is listed in three events - and Josh Nelson of Wilson is the only freshman in the state of CA to be listed in the state top 20 in the 400m and the high jump
100M
3 11.37 Andrew Aguirre Damien
17 11.84 Ryan Bedford Covina
200M
4 23.08 Jarrett Gonzales Damien
19 24.15 Keith Hawk Wilson-HH
400M
10 54.19 Joshua Nelson Wilson-HH
11 54.25 Andrew Fisher Dia Ranch
800M
27 2:12.47 Julian Sanchez Los Altos
1600M
21 4:46.04 Austin Mendoza Glendora
3200M
14 10:25.38 Brandon Dahl Chino Hills
110M Hurdles
1 15.99 Jarrett Gonzales Damien
3 17.07 Kilan Pace Ontario
300M H urdles
7 43.68 Rashid Awan Walnut
High Jump
11 5' 6" Joshua Nelson Wilson-HH
12 5' 6" Vincent Pacheco Northview
L ong Jump
13 18' 11.5" Jarret Gonzalez Damien
Tri Jump
15 37' 8.50" Brandon Croom Dia Bar
Pole Vlt
9 10' 0" Kier Deville Covina
S hot Put
6 37' 3" Trevor Elliot Glendora
Posted by: AgMan | April 9, 2009 4:27 PM
Yesterday Damien mauled Chino Hills on the track which should clinch the Sierra League title for the Spartans.
Herrera coasted to the 100m win in 10.9 and he actually slowed down with about 10 meters to go.
Posted by: SGV Track | April 9, 2009 3:29 PM
AZUSA vs GLADSTONE today in Track & Field, Baseball and Softball.
Should be a good one! Alright all you AZUSA fans come out and support the AZTECS!
Coach Rigney your up one game, lets take the second game TODAY!
AZTEC PRIDE!
Posted by: AZTEC PRIDE | April 9, 2009 8:59 AM