Rare double proves challenging for Bulldogs’ Jonathen Tamayo
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By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
The idea was in Jonathen Tamayo’s head from the start of the season. If his coaches gave him the OK, he was going to try.
There’s a reason athletes don’t double in the 400 and 300 hurdles. Both are grueling races and they’re back-to-back on the schedule.
That didn’t deter Tamayo.
“I’m very good at both of those events,” he said. “My coaches told me if I had it in me, I could do it.”
It started out well for Wilson’s senior, who had the No. 1 qualifying time in each event at last weekend’s Firing Meet. Tamayo finished the 400 in 49.84, more than 1.5 seconds ahead of the field.
The second race, predictably, was when things became difficult. Tamayo hit the line in 42.73, three seconds off his PR, and placed sixth. He vomited between races.
“We left it to him,” Wilson coach Doug Dahms said. “If they’d have taken a 5- or 10-minute break like they had been doing, maybe it would’ve been better. He wanted to run it.”
Track athletes typically compete in both hurdles or combine the 200 with the 400. That’s less daunting and provides more rest.
Tamayo, who everyone calls JT, was exclusively a hurdler last season before choosing this alternate route. There was a moment between races when he wondered why he was doing this to himself.
“That’s what I was thinking the whole time,” he said with a smile. “It was all worth it really. I’m able to go home with some medals and it was fun.”
Tamayo is the No. 4 qualifier in the 400 and was No. 7 in the 300 hurdles in District 3 Class 3A. He’s only listed for the 400 on the performance sheets and will have an excellent chance to medal. Only six athletes in the field have broken 50 seconds.
This has been a breakout spring for Tamayo, who finished fourth in the 300 hurdles at Firing last season and didn’t attempt the 400. Last year’s result fueled him.
“Every race I go in, I feel like I can win it,” he said. “So going home that day really sucked. I knew I had a chance. I just used that anger this year.”
Tamayo was the only Wilson boys athlete to win an individual event at Firing. The senior also helped the Bulldogs win two relays.
“He’s had a heckuva year,” Dahms said. “He really has. He has pushed himself. We didn’t know he was going to have this kind of year coming in. Based on last year, he was solid, middle of the pack. He has a never-quit attitude. That’s the difference.”
If entering consecutive races wasn’t difficult enough, Tamayo ended his day at the Firing Meet with the 1600 relay. His final tally was three gold medals.
Most of that work was squeezed into the final two hours of the meet.
“It feels very good to be a county champ,” Tamayo said. “Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve been looking at this. I’d look at the older kids. I knew it was going to be challenging.”
By attempting a rare double, no one challenged himself more than Tamayo.
District 3 Track and Field Performance List
