By By Matthew Nascone
Track can be used as an extremely effective cross-training tool for football and the percentage of track athletes who are also football players at Northview High School is evidence of this fact.
Of the 43 athletes eligible to participate in track for the 2006 season 35 are also on the NHS football team.
Track head coach Mark Heaton said this is a great thing for the school and it will keep the football guys in shape for next year.
"The guys are working hard and I can already tell they are going to be better than last year," Heaton said. "These guys know how to work hard and they will continue to strive to get to the top."
The top can be described as district champions. Heaton said this team is on the right track to achieving this goal.
The events involved with high school track and field are the 100-meter dash, the 200, the 400, the 800, the 1,600 the 3200, the 400 relay, the 1,600 relay and the 3,200 relay for the running events. The field events include the pole vault, the shot put, the discus throw, the high jump, the triple jump and the long jump.
Key contributors for the Chiefs in 2006 will be the 400 relay team. The three known legs of the team are sophomore Nakita Myles, senior Wes Leathers and junior Deonta Davison. Heaton said the squad is still looking for a fourth leg, but senior Ahmadh Simpson is being worked with the other three guys.
Myles will also contribute points for the team in the triple and long jumps.
"Nakita is a real good jumper and I look for him to excel," Heaton said.
In the field John Donalson, Desmond Hunter and Nick Prather will all contribute to the team in the discus throw and the shot put.
Heaton said the future is bright for the track and field team because of the young talent on the team.
"These young guys are hard workers and because of that hard work I see a bright future for all of the spring sports," Heaton said. "Our time is coming to be on top in the district."
Of course senior leadership cannot be overlooked.
"The seniors have come on great and worked hard as well and they definitely show the leadership this team needs."
In 2005 this squad was next to last in the district, but Heaton said he believes this team will have a bunch of guys who will score a lot of points in the individual events and that will help the team as a whole.
The team's first meet is at home tomorrow.
On March 4 the team will travel to Pensacola to participate in the Justin Gatlin Invitational. Heaton said teams from all over the southeast will be at this event.
"That event will be a good thing for our guys to go to," he said. "They will be able to see some teams that are at the level we need to be at. And that will fire them up to work even harder to get to that level."
NHS weightlifters ready for stiff competition
Lifting weights is a heavy task, but for the Northview Chiefs boy's weightlifting team it is a daily operation. Head coach Cody Keene said his 25 guys are working to get ready for the season.
"They are working hard to gain strength and this year should be good for these guys because we will face a lot of tough competition," Keene said. "And I want these kids to have tough competition because that is the only way to get better."
The district will be a competitive group for Northview in 2006 with Jay, West Florida Tech, Woodham, Gulf Breeze, Pensacola and Pine Forest.
"I like having a tough district because it brings the competitive nature out in these guys and that is a great thing," Keene said.
The team will compete in 10 different weight classes. Those classes are, 119, 129, 139, 154, 169, 183, 199, 219, 239 and heavyweight.
Keene said the key guys for this squad will be Deonta Davison in the 169-pound weight class, Shane McCrory in the heavyweight class, John Donalson in the 239-pound weight class, Sean Little in the 154-pound weight class and Nakita Myles in the 183-pound weight class.
"I think these guys will be some of the guys who will score for us," Keene said. "But I know other guys will step up and be big for us as well."
During competitions the lifters will participate in the bench press and the clean and jerk disciplines. Each lifter will have three attempts at each event and the highest weight will be taken from each of the two events and added together for a total score.
Keene said if two lifters are tied for a position the lifter in the lower weight class will take the spot.
The Chiefs first match is March 1 at West Florida Tech at 3 p.m.