Randolph already having stellar freshman season
Baldwin grad set to compete for ONU at NAIA indoor championships
It was less than 10 months ago that Joseph Randolph ran a 21.35-second 200-meter dash to win the Island Movers/HHSAA state crown in his final act as a Baldwin High School student-athlete.
That lightning-quick race was just a stone’s throw away from Baldwin at Yamamoto Track & Field Facility inside War Memorial Stadium and was the second-fastest 200 ever run by a Hawaii high schooler, wind-aided or not.
It was less than three months ago that Randolph ran the first indoor track meet of his life, for Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.
Today in the preliminaries of the NAIA Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championships in Brookings, S.D., Randolph will run a leg on the ONU 1,600-meter relay team in a preliminary heat.
On Friday, Randolph will toe the line in the 200 as the No. 3-seeded qualifier — his 21.20 time is just 0.24 seconds behind ONU teammate and top qualifier Vincent Giuliano. Finals for both of his events are Saturday.
“I’m very excited, it’s going to be one of the biggest highlights of the year and it’s only started, the year’s only started,” Randolph said via phone from South Dakota on Tuesday.
Randolph has adapted quite well to running on 200-meter banked indoor tracks, which are drastically different than the flat 400-meter outdoor tracks.
“It’s definitely different, just on like how it feels,” Randolph said. “You’re running two curves instead of one for an original 200. So, it’s a different way kind of … you like sprint it, so it took a minute to kind of get the flow. I would say I got a good time, 21.58, and the time frame from the first meet to that was maybe about two months to get the feel of like, ‘OK, this is how you run it on a 200-meter track.’
“And then after that, piecing it together, it’s kind of like now I can really understand the feel to it.”
ONU head track and field coach Kyle Rago is glad to have
his impressive freshman and quick learner on the roster. Rago was not surprised that Randolph was The Maui News Maui Interscholastic League Boy Athlete of the Year for 2022-23.
“He set our freshman record in the 200 and the 400, so he’s having himself quite the season, especially considering this is his first time running indoors,” Rago said Tuesday.
When asked how much potential Randolph carries, Rago nearly answered before the question was finished.
“A lot, and that’s the thing, we’re just scratching the surface,” Rago said. “The youth, he’s young like you said, and once he’s had time to acclimate to our sprint coach, Zontavious Johnson, his training, gets in the weight room a bit, yeah, the sky’s the limit. He’s already top five in the nation in the 200 indoors, running against guys who are much older and (more) seasoned than he is.”
Giuliano is also seeded No. 1 in the 400 at 47.18.
“So, yeah, you know, I couldn’t even tell you what (Randolph’s) potential is because if he’s running 21.2 indoors as a freshman what is he going to be running as a senior?” Rago said. “The guy we have ranked No. 1 in the 200 in front of him, he was not running anywhere
poses with his medal from the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference indoor championships earlier this month. near this fast as a freshman and now he’s No. 1 in the country. So, we’re very excited with what Joseph can do potentially in the future.”
Before the end of March, Randolph is scheduled to be running outdoors again at the Texas Relays.
“(Indoors), it’s fun, but I’m really ready for outdoors as well,” Randolph said. “It’s been a long indoor season. No matter how this national meet turns out, I know I’m going to look at this first season and be happy.”
Needless to say, life is moving fast for Randolph, who turned 19 years old in December. He was on the Chicagoland Athletic Conference championship 1,600 relay team and finished second in both the 200 and 400 at the conference meet.
“I’m going to be geeking that first meet when outdoor happens,” Randolph said.
Randolph is a bio-chemistry major with an eye on the pharmaceutical field when he is done with track and football, in which he plans to play his first college season in the fall.
“The school, it’s definitely been a challenge class-wise, just because of the major I’m in,” Randolph said. “But Olivet Nazarene University, they have a lot of resources and counselors that help with academics, like tutoring, there’s help sessions, even student tutors as well.
“That really helped me this last (quarter). The first (quarter) I had was a really big bump. Everyone was so helpful. They’re here to help you, they’re not here to fail you. They’re here to build you up.”
He laughs a little bit when reminded he is seeded third in the nation in the 200. He said he is confident and nervous at the same time. Randolph will draw on his experience in state meets here; he won the 100 state title as a junior and was second in that race as a senior.
“It’s a share of both, I’m most definitely nervous, I know that because I have got to win my heat and I try my best to not to go all athletic down there and start stalking every dude that I’m going to be running against,” Randolph said. “I think the confidence is just coming from … of course this is nationals, but I’m not unfamiliar with challenges or a big environment or a big stage. It’s just like, I’ve been here before.”
He has run some 60-meter dashes indoors in preparation for the outdoor 100, though the grueling 400 may end up being his longterm specialty.
“I really feel that it is very different, the open 400 and the 4 by 4 (relay) — I did a few of those in high school,” Randolph said. “The first (400) I ran was a home meet and I went out too fast, like a second off one of my 200 PRs. Then the second time we ran it, we perfected it. I’m probably going to transition next year to more of a 200-meter, 400-meter guy.
“I will maybe sometimes do the 60, but I agree with my coach, I see the potential and the strength I have in the 4(00) as well. So, as much as the pain is, it’s something that I’m looking forward to.”
Randolph is proud to be one of the few college track and field athletes from the MIL currently competing collegiately.
“Oh, the highest pride, it’s my biggest honor to represent Hawaii and Maui and my hometown,” Randolph said. “I have no words to say — it’s my highest honor to do, it’s my biggest honor. I wouldn’t trade it to represent anything else, honestly.”
Robert Collias is at rcollias @mauinews.com