Yesterday, I mentioned that there are two young men who I am chomping at the bit to get a glimpse of this fall. I wrote about Wells Peterson (San Antonio TMI Episcopal) and the other young man is his fellow TAPPS compadre, Ethan Locke out of Valor Preparatory Academy in Waco. I'm not going to lie, sugar coat it, or embellish anything--I had no clue who he was this past track season until the moment I did.
At the
Texas Distance Festival this past March, I watched him race for the first time. He started off at a controlled pace, but then unleashed a powerful surge, pulling away from the field with authority. As I began calling out splits, I found myself wondering-who is this kid, and where is he from? Seeing "Valor" on his jersey, I assumed he was with Colorado's Valor Prep. At the time, I had no idea just how talented Locke was-but ever since that day, he's had my full attention.
In that TDF race, Locke would run a huge personal best of 9:09 in a non-elite level race. He won by a large margin and eventually added TAPPS 2A 1,600m and 3,200m championships. The reason I believe we should expect him to ascend to an elite level is because he ran 4:18.82 and 8:55.99 in those races.
Locke doubled down on his sub 9:00 running as he went on to run 8:56.10 at the RunningLane Track Championships against an elite field. Even more optimistically, Locke dropped a 14:05.06 to finish second in the 5,000m at the Nike Outdoor Nationals again versus an elite level of competition.
With two TAPPS state cross country championships under his belt, Locke will look to win a third to close out his high school career, but he appears capable of accomplishing a lot more this fall based on what he has shown in the last calendar year.
Before Locke's breakaway track season, he improved on grass from 17:49 and 16:55 in his first two high school seasons, to 15:47 at the NXR South Regional Championships last fall.
Following a really, really good track season, I think the commitment shown to improving that he has shown from sophomore to junior season is why Locke will make some noise at the top of the state level as well as nationally.
I am eagerly anticipating his senior season and you should be too.
High School
| Outdoor |
| 800 Meter Run | 2:03.79 |
| 1600 Meter Run | 4:18.82 |
| 3200 Meter Run | 8:55.99 |
| 5000 Meter Run | 14:05.06 |
| CC |
| 2.x Mile Run (CC Short Course) | 17:27.00 |
| Three Mile Run | 15:03.50 |
| 5000 Meter Run | 15:47.80 |
Yesterday, I mentioned that there are two young men who I am chomping at the bit to get a glimpse of this fall. I wrote about Wells Peterson (San Antonio TMI Episcopal) and the other young man is his fellow TAPPS compadre, Ethan Locke out of Valor Preparatory Academy in Waco. I'm not going to lie, sugar coat it, or embellish anything--I had no clue who he was this past track season until the moment I did.
At the
Texas Distance Festival this past March, I watched him race for the first time. He started off at a controlled pace, but then unleashed a powerful surge, pulling away from the field with authority. As I began calling out splits, I found myself wondering-who is this kid, and where is he from? Seeing "Valor" on his jersey, I assumed he was with Colorado's Valor Prep. At the time, I had no idea just how talented Locke was-but ever since that day, he's had my full attention.
In that TDF race, Locke would run a huge personal best of 9:09 in a non-elite level race. He won by a large margin and eventually added TAPPS 2A 1,600m and 3,200m championships. The reason I believe we should expect him to ascend to an elite level is because he ran 4:18.82 and 8:55.99 in those races.
Locke doubled down on his sub 9:00 running as he went on to run 8:56.10 at the RunningLane Track Championships against an elite field. Even more optimistically, Locke dropped a 14:05.06 to finish second in the 5,000m at the Nike Outdoor Nationals again versus an elite level of competition.