Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Thinclads Becoming Track Power

Gurdon is rapidly becoming a track power.

The Go-Devil thinclads recently captured the Outlaw Relays against rival Dierks, and whipped defending champs Mineral Springs and Acorn, current state champs in cross country, in the process.

Mark Shelton, Gurdon track coach, said the team performed well at the meet, taking the top three spots in the long jump, with Rashun Hopson, Chris Thompson and Eric Allen finishing one, two, three.

The Devils also captured the 400 meter relay and the mile relay, while finishing second in the 800 meter relay, in spite of dropping the baton on the first handoff.

The best part, Shelton said, is this is a young team. The nucleus of the group is sophomores and juniors.

Hopson is the workhorse of the crew, running in six events regularly. These include the 100 meter, 200 meter and 400 meter sprints along with two relays and the long jump.

Brannon Hatley and Thompson are fast in the 100 and 200 meter sprint and are working to extend their speed to the 400 meter distance.

When possible, the team goes to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia to practice. Allen, who recently signed with the Tigers to play football next season, goes their regularly to work on the hurdles.

After being talked into running the hurdles, he finished third in his first meet and has worked to improve since then.

Allen, who also runs the 110 and 300 meters, is averaging 18 points per meet and is helping the team win more meets.

In the past, the Devils have sent one or two athletes to track meets and have been unable to compete for the overall titles.

The victory at Dierks, Shelton said, helped the Devils realize track is a team sport and not based solely on individual effort.

At this time, the Devils have five solid long jumpers and could easily take the top five spots in this event at each meet.

"We can really hit people in the long jump, relays and sprints," he said. "This is where our primary strength is."

Now, he's working with Kevin and Demond Beasley on the high jump, but it's a difficult task without a high jump pit.

The team recently acquired Josh Ursury from Lake Hamilton, where he was a pole vaulter. Because Gurdon has no track, and, therefore, no pole vault pit, Ursury gets little practice and has had to borrow a pole from a competitor.

The Devils are also working to improve the field events, such as discus and shot put. Flint King can heave the shot 43 feet, which is good for some points, but not strong enough to win many meets.

However, a junior high student, Eddie Forte, is tossing the shot in the 49-foot range and could be a valuable asset in the not-to-distant future for the program.

Thursday, the team will be in Prescott for the annual Merchant Relays. This is a qualifying meet for the state track meet.

Shelton said while it's important to score as many points as possible in a meet, his philosophy is somewhat different.

The Devils pick and choose which meets they want to set qualifying times in and which they want to win outright.

In building a track program, and hopefully a dynasty, Shelton said, it is important for the students to want to run track and have fun doing it.

Getting a new track at Gurdon High School will be a big shot in the arm, he said, as will the creation of a new record book for thinclads.

"We're trying to get the program going," he said. "The timing of the new track can help with the explosion of making Gurdon a track power. We have great athletes this year, and with success may be able to get other students out."

With the senior team being young, and the junior high program being solid in most events, the Devils could very easily be a force to be reckoned with on the cinders in the very near future.