Llano High School senior, Cole Hoffman, ran around the Javelina Stadium track in Kingsville a dozen times, April 25 and April 26, but his foes were the ones truly “running in circles,” as Hoffman raced off with a pair of gold medals at the Class-3A, Region IV track meet. The fastest young men from close to 40 schools had marvelous views of the back of Cole’s orange jersey.
“He definitely ran hard,” Jackets’ head track coach, Dan Hughes, said with pride, if not with (unnecessary) hyperbole. Hughes, a man Cole praises whenever there’s pencil and paper in front of him, adds, “He’s got a good chance to win a medal at state, but, of course, the competition will be tougher.”
Hoffman, the oftentimes uncatchable blur at 1,600 and 3,200 meters, will be Llano’s only representative at Mike Myers Stadium, May 9 and May 10, but Hughes notes: “We did pretty well, overall, in the regionals; we got more points than we got here last year.”
Cole was off and running in the 3200, Friday morning, April 25. In a field of a two dozen, he eased his way from the middle of the pack to gain a share of the lead at the end of four laps, the halfway point.
“My first mile was about four minutes and 55 seconds,” Hoffman related, “so my second mile was a bit faster, and that’s good. I can do better if someone is with me.”
The “someone” was Rudy Contreras of Luling, and he turned in a gutty show against his friend and rival, but he wasn’t “with” the winner when the curtain came down. Cole took the lead on the fifth lap, and the distance between them stretched to a remarkable 60 meters with 400 meters to go.
Hoffman asserts that Contreras, when the race was still a race, was tapping Cole's feet from behind--kicking him, “but it didn't bother me.” Apparently not. Hoffman turned in a time of nine minutes, 46.69 seconds to win region gold in the 32 for the second year in a row. He ran a 9-44 at state in 2007 and finished a most respectable fourth.
While Cole waited about 30 hours to compete in the 1600 at Texas A&M-Kingsville, his teammates went to work. Junior Kallie Johanson was an impressive third in both the discus and shot put.
“I’m excited,” Johanson stated. “I had never placed in region before.” Kallie tossed the shot 36 feet, 11 inches and the discus more than 121 feet. “When I see the competition do well, I try to do better; I think it helps me.”
Amber Wisdom was fourth in the shot while on the boys’ side, Andrew Ratliff was fifth in that event.
Junior Lauren Parker did a superb job of holding off Wimberley’s Eryn Barroso, and Parker took home a bronze medal in the 800-meter run. She was fifth in the 400, and freshman Shelbi King was fifth in the 3,200 meters. Only the top two in each event qualify for state.
A cool Saturday (“icy” by Kingsville standards!) turned warm Saturday afternoon, and Hoffman set out to match strides with Contreras, who had beaten him in the 1600 a year ago. There would be no repeat.
Cole tried a daring, unusual move on the second of the four-lap journey: he made a dash for the inside where there was easily enough room for the Nike swoosh. “There was a perfect opening there, so I took it.” It was like seeing a jockey at the Kentucky Derby take his thoroughbred to the rail, knowing it's no time to go wide and lose precious seconds.
Hoffman was in front on the backstretch of the third lap, and the game Contreras had no more chance to catch the leader than he would have had to catch Leonel Manzano. Cole ran a personal-best 4 minutes, 25.12 seconds, and he probably could have run all the way to Austin.
So, this extraordinary middle-distance champion eyes the greatest stage in his final exams as a high school athlete. He’ll be no stranger at Mike Myers--he was fourth in both of his Class-3A races in 2007. The fields will be sensational: a Super 8 crowd of Cole Hoffmans, ignoring the pain of the endurance challenge to put on a triumphant show of speed.