T-D names DeJarnette area’s top indoor track athlete

Atlee's Ben DeJarnette, who will attend Oregon, posted the best times in the 1,600 (4:14.16) and the 3,200 (9:12.83) this indoor season. He was The Times-Dispatch cross country runner of the year last fall.
For a high school distance runner, the University of Oregon is an ideal.

Steve Prefontaine put distance running and Oregon on the worldwide radar in the early 1970s before he died in a car wreck in 1975. The Ducks won the NCAA cross country championship and sent two runners to the Olympics in the past couple of years.

Oregon's history and tradition grabbed Atlee running standout Ben DeJarnette's attention as a freshman. When it came time to seriously consider colleges, DeJarnette and Atlee's veteran coach, Jim Triemplar, contacted the Ducks.

"Very few kids have the opportunity to go after their dream," Triemplar said. "We were hoping they would be honest. It seemed like a good match."

DeJarnette, a senior, is the Times-Dispatch All-Metro boys indoor track athlete of the year. All-Metro team members were selected based on the best time or distance recorded in their event during the indoor season. DeJarnette posted the best times in the 1,600 (4:14.16) and the 3,200 (9:12.83). He was the T-D's cross country runner of the year last fall.

During the fall and winter, DeJarnette visited Iona College, Columbia University, William and Mary and Oregon.

"After my William and Mary visit, I was really torn between there and Oregon," DeJarnette said. "I really struggled with the thought of being so far from home when I had such a great option in my backyard. After I visited Oregon, though, I really felt it was an opportunity I could not turn down. Calling Hayward Field home and training every day with the best in the country will only help me develop as an athlete."

DeJarnette won races at Virginia and St. Christopher's, then had to deal with nagging injuries in the indoor postseason. Still, he finished first in the Capital District 1,600. The Atlee boys won the Central Region team title with DeJarnette contributing victory points in the 3,200 relay and the 3,200.

His training, though, has been geared to performing well in the upcoming outdoor track postseason.

"Coach and I have discussed the importance of closing out my career strong and moving into the next chapter of my running career on a high note," DeJarnette said.

The possibility exists that DeJarnette could be the outdoor athlete of the year, too. Is he a three-sport star or is he a one-sport specialist, as so many high school athletes are, participating in three seasons?

"I would describe myself as a two-sport athlete. There is little difference between indoor and outdoor track, but cross country is mentally and physically a whole different ballgame," he said. "Physiologically, the training for the two seasons is completely different, and races challenge very different systems. I've also found that success on the track requires much different mental preparation than cross country."

Triemplar has observed, coached and guided DeJarnette's progress as a runner. He believes in DeJarnette establishing ultimate, but attainable, goals. Running at Oregon is part of that.

Said Triemplar, "I'm anxious to see if we've prepared him enough."

Contact Arthur Utley at (804) 649-6559 or .