Captain steers team to long-term success
By Jennifer Saunders |
April 30, 2020 at 10:37 a.m.
FORT BRAGG — In the last few years, the track and field team at Fort Bragg High School has consistently had a roster of more than 50 athletes.
Most of these athletes do running events, but a few solely concentrate on the field events. The field events are high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, discus and shot put. Often, the field events take place at the same time as the more popular track races. However, the intensity of the throwing events is really something spectacular to watch.
Senior Timberwolf, Gian Cresci, is one of the top three discus and shot-put athletes on the team. Cresci, who has been on the high school track and field roster for three years, said he only joined the track team because his friends did.
"I didn't want to walk home by myself," Cresci said. But team sports soon grabbed Cresci and a new life began.
Cresci practiced every day, with the help of inspirational coaches like Josue Manzano and Will Griggs.
"These were the two people who taught me everything I know about throwing," Cresci said. "Manzano consistently supported me in all that I've wanted to do, because he just wanted me to do my best."
Doing his "best" led to dedication to the sport: Cresci won the "Mr. Dedicated" award in 2019 and in 2020, he was chosen to be a captain for the entire team, more than 60 total of his fellow athletes.
As captain, Cresci also identifies new talent on the FBHS track team: He was the one to point out rising star, Victor Hernandez. Cresci saw a lot of dedication in the young athlete, and encouraged him to continue with the team.
"He has a lot of potential and I can't wait to see how good he can be," Cresci said.
According to coach Tara Larson, "Cresci is helpful, humble and hard-working. He is dependable and strives for self-improvement on a daily basis while pushing himself to be the best he can be."
Even though he was competing at a very popular meet in Santa Rosa in 2019, The Twilight Meet, Cresci placed second in his heat in the discus event, with a distance of 105'.
The Twilight Meet boasts some of the best athletes in four counties of Northern California with a mix of DI-D6 high school teams. In track, athletes are challenged by their own times, which turns the competition internal –the quest to beat your own best record is paramount.
"Before I enter (the pit), I try and stretch and clear my mind because stress from life can definitely affect how the throw will go," he said.
In any event, but particularly, in the throwing events, surrounding athletes shout and cheer to push each other on to achieve. With much time in between each event, there is a lot of group gathering time, social time and in the pit of the throwing events, and Cresci said meeting new people is one of the highlights of the sport.
Cresci, like all of the other senior athletes this year, will not get to fulfill his discus and shot put goals, but his dedication, work ethic and drive makes him a great choice for Athlete of the Week.
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