Dreaming - in fast lane

Littleton's Scheuerman finally healthy, ready to burn in 5A meet

Scott Stocker, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Littleton's J.T. Scheuerman will be living his dream at the Class 5A state track meet this weekend at Jefferson County Stadium.

For the past three seasons, Scheuerman has been among the state's and nation's elite sprinters. The only drawback during the span: He has not been healthy enough to participate at state.

Scheuerman enters the state meet as the reigning Junior Olympic national champion in the 400 meters and will be the heavy favorite in the event this weekend. He also will be favored to win the 100- meter and 200-meter sprints.

Scheuerman, ranked No. 4 in the country in the 400, already has clocked 46.24 seconds in the event. That particular run came at a lower altitude, at Arcadia, Calif., but he ran 46.70 at regionals last week. This season, he also has turned in a wind-aided 10.39 in the 100 and a non-wind-aided 20.74 in the 200.

"I'm excited," Scheuerman said. "The dream to run in state is finally here. Obviously, I want to make it through the qualifying rounds on Friday and get to the finals. My personal focus this year has been on the 400, but the 100 could determine my day.

"It is a difficult triple," said Scheuerman, who has a track scholarship at Baylor. "I am pretty close to records on all three. To break three records would be really hard. If the records come, that would be fine, of course."

While Scheuerman will be in his first state meet, Denver South's Mohamud Ige is looking at an entirely different situation. Denver South's graduation ceremony is Friday at the Denver Convention Center. At the beginning of this week, Ige thought he would not be able to participate in the 3,200-meter final that day.

Because the race is scheduled to begin at 5:10 p.m., Ige, who is the defending champion in the 1,600 and the runner-up in the 800, had decided not to run because of the conflict.

"It is a difficult decision, but graduation takes first instead of track," said Ige, who has a scholarship to Arizona. "But I made it."

It was a decision Denver South athletic director Jamie Lofaro admired. She would like to see the Rebels' nationally ranked runner do both, though.

"If Mohamud wants to run, he should go ahead and run," Lofaro said. "I think we can work with him. We have a door at the (Convention) center to get him in and a way to get him down to the floor without being a distraction. He is his own man and never seems to make a bad decision. He is the most phenomenal kid. He is just great."

Ige, the Rocky Mountain News cross-country runner of the year and Class 4A champion, will have the opportunity to run the 3,200 if he wants. Athletes are allowed four events at the state meet. He also will participate in the 3,200-meter relay with teammates Abiud Mojica, Hassan Abdufatah and Abdurahman Faki.

Individually, Ige knows he is not going to have an easy time, because the field is loaded with top distance runners. Most notably ready to challenge the Rebels standout in the 1,600 and 3,200 will be Steven Weeks of Arvada, Richard Medina of Grand Junction and Noah Shannon of Fort Collins.

Weeks, the Class 5A state cross- country champion, was second in the 3,200 last season, Medina was third and Shannon fourth.

Wasson's Carl Arnold, fourth last year, Arapahoe's Adam Glenn (sixth) and Chris Sweeney of ThunderRidge should challenge Ige in the 800.

The only other returning champion is Smoky Hill's Kirk Cooper, in the pole vault. Two weeks ago, he vaulted 16 feet, 5 inches in the Centennial League championships, placing him No. 2 on the all-time list behind Pat Manson of Aurora Central (17-7 1/2).

Smoky Hill and Littleton finished 1-2 in the team race last season, followed by Wasson and Fort Collins. Even with Scheuerman healthy, Littleton might not have the numbers to compete, though.

"We've had some late-season adversity and injuries that could take us out of the mix," Littleton coach Brian Kula said. "I think we can still have a strong showing, but I would think it will come down to Smoky Hill and Fort Collins this time. They've got the depth and some fine individuals."