A look before they leap
After this weekend’s state track and field meet, Samuel Wright is off to Harvard; Greg Wright is stepping back from coaching
Samuel Wright has made giant leaps that continue today.
Greg Wright is giving up one part of his life to enjoy some traveling — and still work at the same time.
Today, the father and son will join members of the Lodi High track and field program in Clovis for the 101st annual California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the Buchanan High campus.
At the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters at Davis High on May 17, Samuel Wright punched his ticket to the state meet, as he captured the title in the boys pole vault at 15 feet, 6 inches. His personal best this season, 16-8, was set more than three months ago.
Joining Wright are Emily DuBois, who won the Masters’ title with Bella Vista’s Isabella Chilcutt in the girls high jump at 5 feet, 6 inches.
Paige Sefried is advancing in two events for the Flames; the girls 400-meter race and as a member of the girls 4-by400 relay team with Amelia Ellison, Brooke Aberle and Jackie Westerterp. The alternates are senior Lyneth Alacar and freshman Ashlyn Jory. In last weekend’s Masters, Sefried took third place in the 400 with a time of 57.25 seconds. Anchoring the final leg of the 4-by-400, Sefried and company took second place at 3 minutes, 59.75 seconds.
Wright has his eyes placing at the state meet. But he knows that he’ll receive competition from Oak Ridge’s Tyler Burns, who took second behind Wright at the Masters and the section’s Division I meet at Tokay High’s Hubbard Field earlier this month. There’s also Turlock’s Silas Fredeen and Jacob Rice of Rancho Bernardo High of the San Diego Section. “He’s been consistent in the 16s,” said Samuel Wright of Rice. “I think he will be a good challenge this weekend.”
Practices this week for Wright, a senior, and the girls have been light.
“There’s no point in going harder, especially at this point,” Samuel said. “I vaulted on Monday. Since then, I have been warming up and stretching, but that’s all practices. We’ve done all the work that we need to.”
At this time last year, Samuel Wright wasn’t sure he’d be preparing for the state meet. He was nursing a hip injury suffered his sophomore year that continued to bother him entering his jun
ior year. He had surgery last summer.
“I’m really grateful that I’ve been able to come back from my injury this season, get to where I’m at right now,” Wright said. “I’m really happy that I decided to stay with track, and continue through college. I don’t think it could’ve gotten any better. I don’t have any regrets this season.”
Part of his recovery leading up to the start of the track and field season was bicycle riding, running and swimming.
“I started off running really easily,” said Wright about one-third of his rehabilitation. “They were my main things to get back on the horse.”
Both of the Wrights are glad that this year’s state meet is not being held the same day as Lodi High’s graduation. The Class of 2019 will don their cap and gowns and receive their diplomas at the University of the Pacific a week from Friday. Over the years, high school track and field participants in the section have debated on making one of two trips: Picking up their diploma or competing at the state meet.
But the question was asked: If this year’s Lodi High graduation and state meet were held on the same day, which one would Samuel Wright attend?
“I would decide to go to the state meet,” Wright said.
Wright will be packing his bags and moving East this summer to attend Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. He plans to major in engineering and will be on the school’s men track and field team.
This will be the last trek to the prep state track and field meet as a head coach for Greg Wright, who is stepping down as the school’s track and field head coach and the Flames’ cross-country coach. Greg, who has been teaching social studies at Lodi High since 2000 and working in the Lodi Unified School District since 1988, will continue to teach the same subject at Lodi High next school year.
“It’s something that the younger coaches and I have been talking for quite some time,” said Greg Wright.
He’s planning to help develop the youth running programs at the elementary and middle schools in Lodi.
“The plan is to go over every day to one of those schools and catch up to the kids at the second half of the practice,” Wright said. “One thing that I feel has kind of fallen off is the stretching and the core workouts at the end of practice. I just want to get back to the fundamentals, reaching to the younger kids and working on the strengthening of our younger athletes.”
Wright and his wife, Suzanne, who is a cancer survivor, want to travel on weekends. That includes trips to the East Coast to visit Samuel and their older son Nathan, who is a sophomore at UC Davis.
“If I’m just a grandpa coach, I won’t feel bad in ‘hey guys, I’ll see you on Monday,’” Wright said.
Wright has been coaching for 33 years. That includes track and field, cross-country and football. He was also the Bear Creek High athletic director from the time the school opened its doors in 1991 until 2000.
The stadium gates at Veterans Memorial Stadium will open at 2 p.m. today. The field qualifying events begin at 3 p.m. and the running events at 5 p.m.
On Saturday, the gates at the stadium open at 3:30 p.m. The field events begin at 4:30 p.m. and the running events at 6 p.m.
For more information about the state meet, visit cifstate.org.