Rocky Mount High track athletes finding own lanes

Damian Moore hadn’t done this much jumping since basketball season.

Normally, the Rocky Mount High senior’s name would be penciled in next to mid-distance events like the 800 meters at track meets. Moore is also a mainstay on the 4×400 and 4×800 relays. His long frame made it an easy decision to plug him into longer races, allowing his legs to eat up track.

But on Monday, during a triangular meet at Rocky Mount High with Nash Central and Kinston, Moore took on a new challenge. He ran the 110-hurdles, an event coach Sonya Pickett figured the senior would excel.

“He has been a distance runner and mid-distance runner for us, he did the distance relays and I thought I’d give him a new challenge,” Pickett said. “It was his first time doing the 110s. He started with the 300 hurdles this year, and he’s athletic and in a leadership role on this team so I knew he could handle it.”

Moore had actually been jumping too high while running the 300 hurdles, which are set at a lower height than in the 110 race. And his endurance, built up by running distance events, and natural jumping ability made him a perfect fit for the exhausting race.

Turns out those hunches were right. Moore, competing in his first 110 hurdles event of his career, finished third in 17 seconds flat. His time was just 1.26 seconds off the qualifying mark for the 3-A regional meet.

That’s encouraging for Moore, who said his legs knocked the top of the bar several times during the race.

“I didn’t even practice it before,” Moore said. “Before the meet, Coach has a sheet that lists what everyone is running that day. I saw my name up there by the 110 and just went out and ran it. I know I need to work more on technique. But there’s time to be made up.”

Moore also has less than a second to make up to qualify for regionals in the 300. He just has to dial in his jump height, and get a better feel for the pace of the race. He has quickly become someone Pickett can lean on as she toys with event lineups ahead of championship meets.

“I’ve noticed already that some of the hurdlers don’t have the endurance,” Moore said. “They die out at the end. I think that I have a little bit of an advantage there.”

As for the distance runners, Keyonte Williams won the 1,600 and placed second in the mile. The deep RMH roster allows for Pickett to do some maneuvering, and with capable runners holding down races, athletes like Moore have a chance to shine elsewhere.

That has the Gryphons thinking big again this season.

“Winning a conference championship is our goal,” Pickett said. “A lot of guys can be put in different races. I think we can have six kids be at the top in our conference. I have a lot of confidence in this team.

The Gryphons, who won the Big East Conference last season, are aiming for another shot this year despite some key losses to graduation, including Sherrod Greene, a state champion and now a South Carolina football player.

But new additions to the team have RMH humming along. Nigel Cobb, a senior, is running his first track season and has already impressed. Cobb has earned a spot on the 4×400 relay that posted a regional-qualifying time on Monday.

“In his first year, Nigel Cobb really has been an awesome athlete,” Pickett said. “I wish I would’ve had him the past three years. He came in during indoor, never ran before, and helped qualify a relay.

“He runs the 100 and 200 for us now, and I moved him to second leg of the 4×4. He can get a lead for us early, then we can give the other guys time to bring it home.,He’s probably my top sprinter.”

Cobb finished second and third in the 100 and 200, respectively.