Prep talk: College football coaches are watching track times
There is no quicker way for a high school football player to immediately attract the attention of a college recruiter than to produce a time or mark in track and field showing off his speed and explosiveness. These are mostly electronic brands, which makes them verified and not made up on social media.
It happened last week to 210-pound junior running back AJ McBean of Mira Costa. He ran the 100 meters in 10.61 seconds, an early-season mark that means he’s going to get even faster. He said he received several calls and text messages after that time was made public.
“It meant a lot to me,” McBean said. “It shows how much work I’ve put in since the end of the football season. I played last season with an ankle injury. I had a few weeks off and then came back to work. I expected nothing less than that. The goal is to reach the minimum of 10.4 and the maximum of 10.3.”
Another football player showing speed was Loyola defensive back Zion Phelps in his freshman year of running back. He ran the 100m in 10.79 seconds. Santa Margarita catcher Jacob Caragao ran 10.81.
On Saturday at the Los Alamitos Invitational, three Sherman Notre Dame football players will compete in their first events to show how much faster they are: sophomores Emmanuel Pullins and Noel Washington and junior Quincy Hearn. Quarterback Wyatt Brown, instead of heading to West Virginia, trained in the 400 to gain speed for his college season this fall.
Other footballers believe that time spent traveling for seven-on-seven competitions is the way to improve. Others try to do both track and seven-on-seven.
For McBean, the track was essential in his development of speed.
“During the offseason, a lot of people participate in football programs,” he said. “I like going to the track to speed up. It’s helped me since my freshman year. I’ve seen the growth.”
This is a daily look at positive happenings in high school sports. To submit news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
