- November 5, 2024
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What did it take for FPC sprinter Jimmie Robinson to morph himself from a role player into a core member of the Bulldogs squad? It’s all about those abs, baby.
Robinson — a veritable Swiss army knife for FPC’s football team — routinely ran the 100 in the 11.5-second range as sophomore. At the district meet on April 16, he blazed a 10.8 in the finals, helping the FPC boys win their first title since 2010 after three consecutive runner-up finishes.
Hip flexor issues dogged Robinson during his first two years at FPC. Doctors advised him to shore up the surrounding muscles — including his core. What followed was a year of squats, ab planks, and medicine ball training.
“I got in the weight room, got my legs stronger and got my start better,” Robinson said.
The junior’s development is even more impressive considering FPC track coach Dave Halliday viewed short sprints as a potential weakness for the Bulldogs heading into the season.
“I was expecting him to improve, but not that much,” Halliday said. “He showed a lot of leadership during football, and that’s carried over to track. He’s been a huge leader to step up and do a lot of stuff there.”
FPC’s Timothy Patrick won the boys’ pole vault with a height of 13 feet even, while Marcel Williams was runner-up in the 200-yard dash with a time of 22.30. Justin Pacifico finished second in the 400, crossing the line just four-tenths of a second after Fleming Island’s Haden Speer.
FPC’s girls team finished fifth, 11 points behind third place Mandarin.
Halliday’s approach to the high school track season is more akin to a marathon than a sprint.
“I have the luxury in track of, it doesn’t matter what the heck we did March 1, it’s really all about what we do the last three weeks of districts and regionals,” he said.
The Bulldogs’ next hurdle is the 4A-1 regional meet on Thursday in Palm Coast. FPC will return roughly 90% of its runners and could contend for a state title in 2015, a plateau the Bulldogs last reached in 2009. But Robinson and his teammates aren’t running for next year, yet.
“We all need to stay positive, do what we’ve been doing all season, and just run,” Robinson said.
