“What is that?” Coach Louis Quintana said, pointing to Allan Hancock College’s rising track and field star Douglass Webb’s stomach. “Was that from the weekend? He sucks in that stomach when he runs, you know.”
If there really is a stomach there, it’s hard to notice with the times Webb’s racking up. The freshman is running the 100-meter at 10.69, and is within a hair of topping the school record. In addition, Webb is running the 200-meter in 21.3 seconds; the triple jump at 46-0, making him number two in the Southern California Conference; and he’s ranked at number four in the conference as well with his long jumps, leaping at about 22-0.
With those numbers, it’s no doubt that Webb is going to be attending Southern California regionals, held at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo on May 8.
“I’m sure that I’ll qualify for four out of six events at regionals,” he said with the same confidence that Alexander the Great had before he “untied” the Gordian Knot. “I’m feeling pretty good about this week.”
After this weekend if Webb destroys the competition, he will head out to finals, and finally state. Afterwards, who knows? Maybe Disneyland.
This article appears in May 5-12, 2010.