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LaMonica finds her Stride

Jack Thornton saw the progress of John F. Kennedy junior Antonella LaMonica and wanted to put her on the fast track to success – literally.

LaMonica made the Division III state track and field meet as a sophomore in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, placing in the top eight in the state in both events.

Thornton, who is John F. Kennedy’s coach, wanted more for his athlete.

So he got her involved in the Warren Striders Track Club, a program the JFK coach has been in charge of for numerous years. It’s paid off for LaMonica since she, Ciann Walker and Dynesty Ervin are all headed to the AAU National Junior Olympic Games in track and field at Norfolk State University from Aug. 1-8 in Norfolk, Va.

Walker will be a seventh grader at Howland Middle School, while Ervin will be a freshman at LaBrae High School. LaMonica and Ervin will both run the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while Walker will compete in the 100.

Thornton has high expectiations for LaMonica.

She was on a JFK team with Youngstown State recruit Chad Zallow (who won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, and the 100-meter dash) at this year’s Division III state meet. Zallow clocked 13.19 seconds to win this year’s New Balance Nationals in the 110 hurdles.

Zallow, and his older brother, Carl, who is a sophomore at YSU, were both part of the Striders program.

“Talking to her about getting exposed, getting a chance to run with higher-caliber kids – intensity of going to a national competition just as Chad did,” Thornton said. “I told her she would be my female Chad.”

LaMonica knew this would help her better her times.

“I knew I needed to keep training to get better for next season so my track coach from school, who also is my coach for the Striders, encouraged me to do it and so I decided to give it a shot,” she said.

This is the 16th straight year the Striders have qualified competitors for the national competition, but the 14th consecutive time the program has taken people there. Athletes can qualify for nationals, but they don’t have to run there.

Thornton said this experience will help LaMonica, Walker and Ervin grow as athletes.

“One, the kids are exposed to a much higher level of competition at a young age,” Thornton said. “The Junior Olympics basically, AAU and USATF (USA Track and Field) are the two organizations that run the Junior Olympic program in the summer time. It gives the young people an opportunity to go to, if their talent takes them, to a national competition, which is competing against kids from all over the U.S.

“It carries over in the school programs in that they are getting the extra extension of their middle school and high school programs in a summer program.”

This is the fifth time Ervin has qualified for nationals. She credits the Striders as helping her excel.

“It is really amazing,” she said. “It helps me with school track, too. Now that I keep on running with summer track, it helps me with my endurance during school track, basketball and everything.”

LaMonica is appreciative of the time she’s spending competing against runners that would normally be Division I or II at the high school level.

“I definitely want to improve my time to know that my hard work really paid off, but if it doesn’t I know that I just have to keep working harder,” LaMonica said.

Thornton is mindful to not overwork his athletes. He knows a tired runner is not a good runner.

“You want them to be fresh when they do things as opposed to burning out and hating to do it and so forth,” Thornton said. “That’s how I manage to get through and the kids have fun. That’s the way I look at it too. Even though it’s work, we have fun in doing it.”

He wants LaMonica, Ervin and Walker to have a good experience at nationals and observe along the way.

“The experience is seeing how others prepare and train compared to what they are doing in their training and preparation,” Thornton said. “Trusting what we have them do and have them competitive and doing the best we can under the circumstances. We take it one practice at a time, one day at a time, one meet or part of a meet.”

Ervin is looking forward to the experience.

“Just to go out there and do my best, pretty much,” she said. “I’m excited.”

When the 2016 outdoor track and field season comes around, LaMonica feels she’ll be quite prepared.

“This will help me because I’m competing against athletes from different divisions and from different states,” she said. “So I won’t be competing against them during the season, so running against them will help make the season feel a little easier and hopefully I’ll be faster than I am now.”

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