The Merritt College Track and Field team is off and running in the 2025 season with a great story developing for sophomore Adam Moore who has been accepted academically at Sacramento State and may have more opportunities as the season progresses. As a freshman, Adam long-jumped and triple-jumped with a modicum of success but was left with an unsatisfied feeling. Academically, he struggled as well. Adam approached me at the end of the spring 2024 semester and said he wanted to be a decathlete. A decathlete! That's 10 events (100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110 hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500m) and he had only trained and competed in one (long jump) his first college season and in the 2 years in high school track and field. He had reflected on his season and academics and decided that he was underperforming his potential. He wanted to excel and that's exactly the trajectory he put himself on.
Adam became a stellar student beginning that summer and into the fall and he is now competing as a decathlete in track and field – a rather incredible feat. Adam finished 5th overall in his first decathlon and will have one more in March before competing in the Norcal championship that he qualified for already. In between decathlons, Adam competes with the rest of the team in individual events attempting to develop and perfect his craft. It's early and who knows what may happen but he has put himself in a whole new space with a completely different vision of and for himself with new hope and big aspirations. The high jump video below is a sort of tribute to the chancellor and her JFK-like challenge for the District.
The second video is of our 4x100m relay team that opened with a win with two sophomores and two freshmen on the team. The relay is currently ranked 3rd in Northern California. Our first leg, Sebastian Guinther (sophomore), has been accepted to San Jose State, Northridge, and CSU Long Beach, and is waiting on CSU Fullerton. Our third leg, Kobe Goh, has been accepted to Northridge, CSU Long Beach, and CSU Fullerton. Our second leg, Finn Gohlke (freshman), is in the third video in the open 200m race where he set a great season-opening time of 21.67, good enough for 2nd currently in Northern California. Our next meet is at American River College for the Beaver Invitational this coming Saturday.
To close the loop on last season, I have been following our 2024 graduate transfers as they compete for their new 4-year universities. They join several other grads from 2022 and 2023 around the state making for an exciting year as we get to follow the challenges and success of our former students. A few out there are high jumper Shamar Cook is at UCLA https://uclabruins.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/shamar-cook/14936, discus and hammer thrower Bianca Townsend at Cal Poly Pomona https://broncoathletics.com/sports/womens-track-and-field/roster/bianca-townsend/4695 and Erik Eridakoff (400m/200m) at UC Davis https://ucdavisaggies.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/erik-erdiakoff/19225.
I'm so deeply appreciative of the efforts of so many people district-wide who made and continue to make this happen for our students. We do, indeed, really and truly change lives. To continue doing my part, I took a group of track and field high school students and their coach from Oakland Military Institute (OMI) on a tour of Merritt's campus last Wednesday. We happened to wander into a radiology class taught by Jerry Holister and he was so inviting and energetic that he made a distinct impact on the students. They interacted with Merritt students in the program and were able to ask questions to their heart's content. Among others, we also spoke with Basic Needs Coordinator, Susana Abdurahman, who explained the program and available support on campus and also had extra tickets for them to the food truck on site!
This past Saturday, I spent the day at Skyline High School for the Skyline Invitational, a huge high school track meet, meeting students, coaches, and parents while pitching Merritt College and the Peralta District as the college of choice for high school seniors. I keep a steady mantra of "recruit, recruit, recruit!" in my head and I will not stop until next fall semester begins because it is a very competitive environment for student enrollment out there and, I must say, I beat a lot of our local community colleges to the punch (hello DVC and Chabot). Because of my summer work with Margaret Dixon and our Oakland PAL summer high school track program (2nd year was summer 2024), we have nice visibility in the track and field community and that is going to start paying bigger dividends this Fall.
Lastly, I want to shout out our classified staff. After the difficult board meeting, I reflected on just how many people all over Merritt and the district offices help support our program with their dedication and efforts. There are innumerable experts in their areas helping our student-athletes and me succeed. Classified staff have their ears to the grapevine, know what's happening on the ground on a daily basis, and provide an expertise that makes the whole operation fly!
None of us know what the future holds but we can work in the present moment with purpose and determination seeking the best possible outcomes. We prove every day that it isn't done alone and it can't be done by only a few. Here's to a future of infinite possibilities and unexpected surprises.
