By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher You can’t have a 400-meter relay team with just three guys. The graduation of Alvin Abraham left a void in Egg Harbor Township’s 4×400-meter relay team, and the Eagles tried out a few new runners to join the Dessoye twins, Alex and Robert, and anchor Amir Brock. When those three started running with senior Aidin Hendriks, they knew they had found the missing piece of the puzzle. Plugging Hendriks into the No. 3 spot on the team solidified the group and allowed it to be perhaps even better than it was last year, when EHT turned in the fastest South Jersey time at the Penn Relays and also won a South Jersey Group 4 sectional championship. This winter, the team of the Dessoye twins, Hendriks and Brock surprised the state by winning the Meet of Champions title despite having not won either the sectional or state championship. “Aidan just joined the relay team this year. He’s just one of those guys who has flown under the radar until this year. He ran cross country this year, and he was running with Eric Barnes. We threw him into the 400 in practice and he did great. What he did at the Meet of Champions was impressive,” boys track coach Ryan Smith said. “We weren’t the top seed, so we were iffy if we were going to be in that final heat. I knew if we could get into that final heat, with these kids’ competitiveness, I knew there had to be a chance. That was definitely a big thing. The Dessoye twins, while they may not be as athletically gifted as Amir, it’s incredible how much they want to win.” “We lost one of our major legs in Alvin (Abraham) who ended up going to Rider. We knew we had three good people, but Aidan came out of nowhere. He ran very well for us at sectionals, and since then he’s been there,” said Alex Dessoye, a junior who runs the leadoff leg of the relay. “We tried a couple of guys and we ran well, but we knew we could do better. We were missing that chemistry, but when we found Aidan we knew we had the right guy. Almost instantly we could tell we were going to do well.” And now, brimming with confidence and with a winter MOC title to their credit, the relay team is going after some lofty goals this spring. Alex Dessoye said the team wants to take down the school record of 3:17 as well as compete for sectional and state titles. They are close, too. They clocked in at 3:22.75 at the winter MOC. 
Amir Brock anchors a 4×400-meter relay team that won an indoor Meet of Champions title and has aspirations of winning more gold medals this spring. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “They have their goals set high. Outdoor track is a whole different ball game because you have a lot more kids competing, and the weather gets better so some kids really improve drastically. They know what they have ahead of them, but we have the Meet of Champions in mind,” Smith said. “Some people peak early in the season, but their goal is the Meet of Champions. We trained hard throughout the winter and we didn’t really change anything. We gave them a week off after nationals then we kick-started it again, and our training program goes right through late May.” “We’re confident. We’re not trying to let anything get to our heads or anything, but we want to make EHT known, and I think this will be one of our best chances,” Alex said. “We work out together and the chemistry is there. We just need to get better at our handoffs, and we usually work on that for about 20 minutes after practice.” Ironically, Alex said he’s not a huge fan of leading off. But he knows the lineup, which features he and his brother taking the first two legs, followed by Hendriks and Brock, is the best combination. “I always hate leading off, because I feel like I’m not the best leadoff guy,” Alex said. “But coach believes in me, so I’m working to get better at it. I just try to get us the lead so the other guys can keep it. There’s a lot of pressure, but I did it last year so I’m getting used to it.” The team has been concentrating on a lot of distance running to build up their strength and endurance. They’ll occasionally run the 4×400 in dual meets, but mostly they are concentrating on their individual events until the bigger meets come along in May. Still, they always have the 4×400 on their mind in their preparation work. “We do a lot of workouts and we’re doing a lot of distance running. Me, Rob and Aidan aren’t naturally fast like Amir, so we need to get there and we need to work hard. We want to beat the school record,” Alex said. “It’s a lot of stretching, a lot of ice. You have to take care of your body, you don’t want to eat junk food. You want to make sure you are well hydrated. Coming down to the end of the season, your legs are tired and cramping up. And in the 400, you’re going to feel it in the last 100 meters. You have to stay healthy.” Smith said what he loves about the guys on the relay team is they are willing to do whatever is asked of them. They even try to run in the relay right after an individual event. Smith sometimes has to force them to sit out of the relay during dual meets, knowing the spring season is a grind and he wants them to be fresh for the bigger meets in a few weeks. “The great thing is, these guys never say no. At the Woodbury Relays, Aidan ran an awesome time in the 800 in the sprint medley, and the 4×4 was right after that and he offered to run in that, too. They want to do what’s best for each other and the team, and it’s neat to see that in a sport like track and field that is mostly individual,” Smith said. “To me, that team aspect is awesome. I’m a football coach, too, so I like it to be about the team atmosphere. You have different talents and different abilities, but they are all competing for each other and they are placed strategically. “Alex is an unbelievable starter who is determined to get that baton handed off in first place. He hands off to Rob, and Rob fights his butt off to keep it there. And with Aidan as a third leg, he shows this kick in the last 200 meters where he just refuses to be passed by anyone. And having Amir as the anchor, he has the ability if he’s down by 10 meters to hunt that guy down, or if he’s up by 10 meters he won’t lose that lead.” Alex said the key to Egg Harbor Township’s success is putting the relay team ahead of the individual, and that attitude is what will take this team far come playoff time. “We’re all very close,” he said. “We cheer for each other individually, and we all want the best for one another.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Boys track: Egg Harbor Township relay team has found the right combination
