“That is what champions do,” I said to Demare Dezeurn just after he pulled himself up off the track. The Bishop Alemany Freshman had just won the championship in the CIF Southern Section Masters 100M in a California Freshman #2 all-conditions time of 10.36. His time also tied the Bishop Alemany school record set by Miguel Fletcher in 1998! Moreover, the race featured another Freshman, Benjamin Harris of Long Beach Poly, who finished second in 10.43. For these two 9th graders to appear on the track and field stage simultaneously is, quite frankly, amazing.

As the first person to hug Demare after the race, I whispered in his ear, “I am so very proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself. You fought through the adversity. That is what champions do. They stay focused, listen to their coaches, and they overcome adversity. You did that. Well done!”

Since my wife, Rocky Turner, is the Bishop Alemany head coach, I have enjoyed a front-row seat to this amazing young man’s growth this year. Watching him fight through a tight hamstring issue that popped up just days before the CIF-SS Prelims has been particularly impressive.

After his 100M win at Prelims, his hamstring tightened again, and he was pulled from the 200M and the 4x400M races he was scheduled for later in the day. It was an agonizing decision for him, the coaches, and his family, but it is now apparent it was the right call.

I’m not sure anybody anticipated Demare could run a 10.36 after the last few weeks of modified workouts and limited full-speed practice time. But he did. And once it hit him, it brought him to his knees. He had every right to be emotional.

As I hugged him, I could feel the joy pouring from his body. This was a very thankful 15-year-old, a young man happy to be taking the next step toward his goals as the CIF-SS Masters 100M Champion.

And Coach Turner was pretty happy too. 🙂

An Addendum:
After publishing this and posting it to X (Twitter), I saw that Dylan Stewart from PrepCalTrack had captured the moment. Thank you, Dylan!