Freshman Emmitt Wheatley took home first place in two events after the IIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Wheatley won the 200-meter dash, was a member of the 4×200 team that won, placed third in the 60-meter dash and got fifth in long jump.

“It was a lot of fun,” Wheatley said, “ but it was a lot more fun winning a relay with Tupp and Prince and Dylan. It was so crazy after we won. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

As a basketball player, Wheatley was only able to participate in one other indoor meet.

He also missed many of the track practices because of basketball practices.

“I used to be a lot slower, but I put in a lot of hard work and a lot of time to get to where I am,” Wheatley said.

Success is not new to Wheatley.

Besides state championships, he was undefeated his junior and senior years of high school in the 100- and 200-meter dash.

He also set five or six school records.

To maintain his speed Wheatley said, “I run with Tupp. I just run a lot. I’m doing sports year-round and don’t have time to lose my speed.”

Wheatley didn’t start running sprints until he was a junior in high school. His first two years were spent running distance races.

After he started sprinting, he ran to break records. His goal was to break his school records and the meet records.

Teammate Davey Jergens said, “He’s freaky fast, the freshman speedster. He makes our relays way better, can give us points in individual events and pushes me to be faster in practices and at meets.”

While Wheatley used to run to break records, he has changed his reasoning.

“Now I like running because I get to run with guys like Dylan, and Tupp, and Davey, and Prince and those guys,” he said. “They’re all as fast as I am, if not faster, so that makes it crazy. We’re all running the same races and running really good times.”

Wheatley ran a 22.58 to win the 200-meter dash at the championships, but his best time ever is a 22.06.

“Life is too short to run slow,” he said.

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