Jim Triemplar’s coaching began with a team that did not even have a track to run on. As an assistant at Dinwiddie Junior High in 1977, Triemplar literally hit the ground running. “We had no track, just ran on the dirt,” he said.
  Thirty-four years later as the head coach at Atlee High School, Triemplar has become local legend among track coaches and he’s still running strong. Nearly three and one half decades have passed and Tiemplar is still as passionate about the job as when he first began. “Oh heck yeah,” he said. “I’m going to coach until they put me in a box.”

  Triemplar takes pride, not only in the accomplishments of his own team but track athletes throughout the region. Likewise, he is one of the region’s most respected and knowledgeable track historians, dishing out specific names, dates and times for given events without batting an eye.

  At the end of February, Triemplar’s career reached another highlight when the Atlee indoor boys team claimed the AAA state championship; the first state title in a boys sport at the school.  At the event, Chris Pillow and Cameron Overstreet each broke records in the boys and girls pole vault.

  Two weeks later, the Raiders were making waves on a much higher level at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Pillow finished 6th in the nation in the boys pole vault while Overstreet came in third among girls competition. Trevor Elie, Matt Combs, Michael Atkinson and Marques Atkinson took third in the 1600 Sprint Medley Relay while Andrew Catanese finished 9th in the 5000m.

  As the outdoor season gets underway, the Raiders have a goal of parlaying that success towards runs at more state titles.

  Triemplar has confidence in his deep and talented boys squad as long as they do not come down with a bad case of ‘senioritis’. “For our guys team, we are dependant upon a lot of seniors,” he said. “So I think the key for us is keeping them focused and not getting into a senior slump.

  But Triemplar does not see that as becoming a problem. “I think they understand how hard it was to get that (indoor title),” he said. “They also understand that over the years we’ve probably been a little bit better at indoor than outdoor.”

  For Triemplar the biggest challenge will come from how much opposing teams have changed due to in influx of basketball or football players and losses to soccer. “We still pretty much have the same cast of characters,” he said but noted that the team was boosted by the addition of Cole Stout on the discus as well as runners Ben Griffith and Justin Taylor.

  Overshadowed by Pillow’s accomplishments are Matt Thompson, Scott Ellwood and Trey Rydel who will give the Raiders the potential of taking the five top pole vault slots at every meet they compete in.

  Elie will be a solid challenger in sprints while Brandon Hunt and Thomas Franco take on middle distances. David Segovia will run hurdles while Adam O’Keefe, Kodi Page and Dre Bennett take on the jumps.

  When it comes to the Atlee girls, even Triemplar was surprised by their third place finish at last week’s Deep Run state qualifier, facing off against top local squads James River, Maggie Walker, Deep Run, John Marshall and Hanover . “They were third,” Triemplar said. “I didn’t think we had that big of a day and still we were third. So, maybe we’re better than I think we are because there were some pretty good teams there.”

  Besides Overstreet’s pole vault win, Atlee picked up solid performances from Katherine Leitch, who won the 800, Katie Bean, Meg Bowers, Samaco Claire and Kassidy Taylor, winning the 4x400, Paige Harrar, Katie Gardner, Dezi Bennett and Leitch taking the 4x800, and Kayla Page who took second in the high jump.

  The Lee-Davis girls will also be near the top of the region with a shot at the title. Led by all-around standout Montasia Golden, the Confederates have a supporting cast of youngsters that will make waves this season. Just as Golden burst onto the scene four years ago, freshman Shakiya Sheppard and sophomore Dallas Tennessee could develop into a pair of upcoming billboard names for the C-feds.  Kori Hughes has excelled at discus while middle distance runners Brie Jackson and Rachel Chudoba have had impressive starts to the season.

  Tiffany Reynolds, Hailey Warren and Jennifer Vieni will take on middle distances.

  Just as Golden stands as the role model for the girls, Cody Snyder will be a leader on the boys squad. The distance runner is coming off his best season of both cross country and indoor track and looking to close out his career with a bang. But Snyder is not the only superstar on this squad.

  Largely unheralded senior Wes Tuck took the region shot put title, had a sub-par performance at the state competition but bounced back to finish 12th nationally at New Balance.  Look for Tuck to continue as region leader in both shot and discus.

  Senior Brandon Woody looks to be in the running for each of the jumps while senior Michael Panton looks to break the Atlee stronghold on the pole vault.

  When it comes to sprints, look for a surprising performance from Lee-Davis quarterback Israel Vaughn as well as Woody. Marquette Hooker will take on the hurdles.

  Not to be outdone, Hanover has their own franchise runner in freshman Molly Breidenbaugh. Last week at Deep Run, Breidenbaugh breezed to a nearly six second win in the 1600 against top competition. The freshman will carry on the torch for senior distance runner Anna Gordon in her final season as a Hawk.

  Other Hawks to keep an eye on are middle distance runner Megan Fritz and junior Mackenzie Scott who took both hurdle wins at Deep Run.

  The strength of Hanover’s boys squad will rely on distance runners, Lucas Nachman, James Poyer, Michael Goolsby and Baylor Dickerson.

However, do not rule out where the Hawks football players work into the mix. Marzae Brooks, Tre Facison, Xavier Crocker and Usman Mahmood took third in the 4x100 at Deep Run. Likewise Brooks has already qualified for states in the discus and could do likewise in the shot put as coach Facison. But the most interest will be drawn by quarterback Sam Rogers and linebacker Donte Haynesworth in the sprints. They may not place this season in track, but just watching them compete will be daunting for the football competition next fall.