PORT TOWNSEND — Seren Dances might just be getting started building his track and field resume.
Dances capped a steady and successful track and field season with a spectacular performance at the 1A state track meet at Eastern Washington University at the end of May, winning the state title in three events — the 110-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles and the long jump.
He also finished a close second in the triple jump.
For his successes, Dances has been selected as the All-Peninsula Boys Track and Field MVP by the sports staff of the Peninsula Daily News.
Dances’ standards are so high that he said he was actually mildly annoyed after the meet that he didn’t win the triple jump, but that as time has moved on, he’s come to appreciate what he was able to accomplish at state.
“Looking back at it, I’m really proud of what I accomplished,” he said. “I’m headed off to college. I have more opportunities to win.”
Dances pretty much set the pace in the hurdles, long jump and triple jump all season, vaulting to the top times and distances at the 1A level early in the season.
He consistently maintained that level of success all year (In fact, his long jump of 23 feet, 1 inch came early in the season and no one came within nine inches of that all year). All of Dances’ times and distances at state were right near his season bests and it took a triple jump from Ryan Slack of Zillah that shattered Dances’ best triple jump of the year (ranked No. 1 in the state) by two feet for someone to beat him.
“He put in a lot of work. He planned it out pretty well and had no bad luck,” said Port Townsend track coach Ian Fraser.
“He was a good kid to coach. Very thoughtful in his approach. And a fan of track and field in addition to being an athlete,” Fraser said. “I’m going to miss having him.”
Dances spoke to the luck issue. Hurdles are a bit of a high-wire act event in that one slight miscalculation on a hurdle can cause a brutal spill and ruin dreams of state titles. “I watched at least 20 or 30 people fall this year,” Dances said. But, he also said that at a certain point, you simply can’t worry about crashing. It just becomes about repetition without thinking about it.
“It’s similar to a cook chopping with a knife,” he said.
Fraser said that he could see Dances had a ton of talent back when he was was a sophomore, but in this year particularly, he benefited from growing both physically and mentally.
It’s not terribly unusual for a dominant track athlete to win multiple events as a relay team member and as an individual, but keep in mind, Dances’ three state titles (and nearly four) were all for individual events.
Dances had run in the relays for Port Townsend in past years, but for the most part, dropped relays this season.
Fraser said that was a bit of a sacrifice on Dances’ part to help the team possibly place at state. He could have easily run on either the Redhawks’ 4×100 or 4×400 relays teams, but Fraser said Port Townsend’s 4×100 team was doing well enough without Dances that he thought they would make state. They did and they finished sixth, tacking on a couple of points to Dances’ personal 38 points at the state meet.
“He loved the 4×100, but dropped it in order to help the team,” Fraser said.
Dances’ first-place finishes were the 23rd, 24th and 25th first-places he garnered all season. All as an individual athlete, none as a member of a relay team. He did so well individually that the Port Townsend boys’ track team finished third at state as a team (the Redhawks’ 4×100 relay also placed and scored some points for the team).
Dances has now earned a track scholarship to Western Washington University, an NCAA Division II program in Bellingham.
Fraser said the scary thing about Dances is his potential in track and field is just being tapped. Depreciating his own small-town coaching skills, Fraser said Dances will be coached by an excellent staff at Western that will improve his hurdling technique, if he chooses to stay in the hurdles.
“He has a lot of room for technical improvement,” Fraser said. He also said Dances is getting more serious about weight lifting and building up his muscle mass.
“He’s still in the process of growing,” he said. Fraser would not be surprised if Dances ends up becoming a collegiate national qualifier and All-American in track.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
