Austin Smith
Equinox staff
Success at any time is something that all athletes enjoy, but success as a first-year is even better.
Angel Ramirez, a first-year sprinter, came in second place at the Jim Sheehan Invitational meet on Saturday Mar. 6. In this meet, Ramirez ran the 100 meter dash in 11.37 seconds. Ramirez was just eight hundredths of a second away from the first place finisher.
At the Silfen Invitational a week later, Ramirez ran the 100 meter in 11.13 seconds, this was his personal best for the season. He placed ninth in the race with this time.
With this time of 11.13, Ramirez is currently about two tenths of a second away from the school record for the 100 meter dash. The current school record for the 100 meter is 10.94 seconds. This record is held by Tom Neary, who set it in 1977.
Ramirez is already close to breaking a 42-year-old record, as a first-year.
“I really attribute to starting early, really being passionate about it, always working hard,” said Ramirez. According to Ramirez, he has been running track since he was in eighth grade. He ran at Concord high school in New Hampshire.
Teammate and Senior Sprinter Tony Jennings said, “He’s gonna get a … of a lot faster, that 200 meter school record is going to be gone honestly.” The 200 meter record is currently at 21.74 seconds, this record is also held by Tom Neary from 1977.
At the Jim Sheehan Invitational, Ramirez ran the 200 meter race. In this race he had a time of 23.33 seconds..
Ramirez is also looking at other records.
“A few actually, I’m looking for the 200, the 100, the 4×1 we’re working on right now,” Ramirez said.
The 4×100 meter record has been held for 44 years, since 1975. The record is 43.3 seconds. According to Ramirez, one of the members of the 4×100 team is out for the season due to injury. The 4×100 is a team of four people that are all running a 100 meter dash around the track.
Coach Nick Athanasopoulos said, “He has three more years here, we see a lot of ability. He’s continually improving meet after meet.” With three more years of eligibility, Ramirez will have time to continue to improve on his times.
While Ramirez is going for records, Jennings says he can be one of Keene State’s best runners. “I don’t see anyone beating him, in the near future,” Jennings said. Jennings is also part of the 4×100 team that is trying to break the record.
The next meet that Ramirez and Jenning will run in will be the LEC championship meet at Fitchburg State University on April 27. After this meet there are three more meets this season, all championship meets. Ramirez has qualified for the Division III championship meet.
Athanasopoulos said, “I don’t necessarily think there is a ceiling, we’ll just keep getting better every day and I think some really good things can happen.”
Austin Smith can be contacted
at asmith@kscequinox.com
