Four people running 100 meters on the track creates a fast-paced race which

happens to be varsity sprinter Torrion Robinson’s favorite to race in. Robinson,

junior Jimmy Gianopulos, junior Sam Vinnik, and senior Antwon Garner are the four

people that usually run this race. Recently, however, a pulled quad muscle from

soccer has been holding Robinson back, and he was not able to run for two weeks.

He is excited now to be back with the team and preparing for the rest of the year.

“My favorite [race] would definitely be the 4×100,” Robinson said. “It’s my favorite

because my best friend Jimmy is on there and I love running as a team; It just

makes me smile when we win.”

Torrion is someone who loves to goof around, but he is serious about running

and he’s a hard worker, as Gianopulos described him. Head coach and PE teacher

Jenelle Louis described Robinson as a great team player and someone who is

constantly working to improve himself.

“He is definitely a leader, he wants the whole team to get better and he shows

that through his dedication and his performance,” Louis said. “He never slacks. He

never makes excuses. He goes out and he [runs well] and the best thing about that

is that he expects the rest of the team to do it. When it comes to meets, Torrion is

on his own, he knows what he wants to do and he gets it done.”

Louis is a coach that loves to watch athletes perform; her favorite part about

being a coach is watching the excitement of an athlete after getting a personal

record in a race. She said that Robinson has the potential to go to state, he

deserves that and she’d love to see him get there.

“This year I think I could definitely make it to sectionals, hopefully state, but we’ll

see,” Robinson said. “It’ll be interesting.”

Robinson’s favorite part about track meets is running races and seeing his team

race well. One thing that can be hard for racers that run relays can be handing

off the baton in the race. Handing off the baton is a big part of any relay, but

especially the 4×100 since they go a short distance before handing it off again. A

big part of their training this season, along with running short sprints and doing

core strengthening, is working on handing off the baton.

“All the boys do is perfect those handoffs,” Louis said. “We may not be the fastest

four by one but because of our handoffs we continue to win. I think the guys like

the four by one because of the excitement. I’ll be honest, Torrion is better in the

400, but because of those handoffs and the excitement of it, it always tends to be

the boys’ favorite relay by far.”