Tyson Tamez Looks to Keep His Rapid Improvement Rate Going

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Everyone in this sport knows that runner who they compete against often that is just the one where no lead is safe with them around. Everytime you line up with them, they are going to push things to the limit. For many in Central Texas, that runner is Temple's Tyson Tamez.

By his own admission, Tamez likes the painful races the most, "I love trying to hang on for the ride the whole race and the end is my favorite part to see who I can catch and who can't catch me." Over time, he has grown into one of the more impressive runners in the state of Texas, but is still relatively overlooked when it comes to consideration for the top or for recruitment.

That hasn't deterred Tamez as he is still optimistic about his senior year in high school and the last prep running he has left ahead of him. "I'm excited, I'm ready to break some records and put some good times on the board," he admitted when we spoke to him last week at the Temple Invitational.

 "I love trying to hang on for the ride the whole race and the end is my favorite part to see who I can catch and who can't catch me." 

Tyson Tamez, Temple HS senior

If you look at the rankings or at Tamez' profile, you'll notice three things really stand out. One, has range; he has times on his profile from the 400m all of the way through the 5K in cross country. Two, he is fast. Tamez doesn't just participate in the various events, he does them and he does them well. The third standout is that despite how fast he is, he hasn't qualified for state once -- yet.

To the first two points, Tamez has run 51 seconds in the 400m and 15:49 in the 5K. That is some serious range and solid marks for the top and the bottom of the distance ranges for anyone who does them.

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He also excels in the middle distances. As a sophomore, the Temple star ran 2:00 and 4:40 for PRs in the 800m and 1600m. Last season, as a junior he dropped his bests tremendously to the tune of 1:53.36 and 4:22.33. "Compared to my sophomore year, I just didn't feel my pace, then hitting my junior year, I felt like I could just run those suckers forever, he said pertaining the middle distance races.

Going back to Tamez' acknowledging his love for competing and racing in the latter stages of races, things really picked up as he found the events he really liked. "I enjoy the 1600, but I really like the 800." Dropping seven seconds over one year is a huge disparity from year to year. "I just love the speed and that pace, getting out that first lap and then trying to hold on the second lap it's crazy what you can prove yourself to do. You're one of the toughest runners out there beaue it's one of the toughest races on the track.

Now, in his senior year, Tamez knows it's all about opportunity. With the important space of recruiting being in the here and now and upcoming over the next months, time is of the essences as the next track season is pushing towards a late space and money could dry up before too long. Cross country season will be a big part of getting the attention he desires earlier than later and Tamez is ready for the challenge. 

This cross country season, Tamez will work on building up his stamina and putting in more mileage to run some fast 5,000m races. The Central Texas region runs more three mile races versus 5Ks, so Tamez' opportunities to pop up in the 5K rankings haven't been plentiful, but this year he still plans on being able to run with the best runners in the state.

To the final point that stands out on his profile, even though Tamez hasn't qualified for the state meet yet, one can clearly see that it's only a matter of time. It's hard to see how an athlete with the tools he posses hasn't accomplished it yet, but you can only keep a kid like this away for so long.