EHT 400 runner Alvin Abraham has sights set on state championships in 2015

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher A few years ago, a freshman named Alvin Abraham joined the Egg Harbor Township spring track team. Coach Joseph Lucchio didn’t think much of him. He was tall and thin. And actually kind of slow. Three years later, Abraham has developed into one of the best 400-meter sprinters in the state, and has his sights set on capturing state championships this winter and spring. It’s been a journey of hard work, commitment and a body that finally caught up to the athleticism that was trapped inside. Abraham’s freshman season was rather uneventful, but after having some success as a sophomore, he dedicated himself fully to the sport and that decision has paid big dividends. “His junior year he became really dedicated. He joined the cross country team and ran all summer with them, then he did winter and spring track and the rest is history. He won the sectional championship, the Group 4 championship and is one of the top returning 400 and 200 runners in the state this year,” Lucchio said. “He was always tall, so we thought maybe we could make a jumper out of him. He wasn’t very impressive at first. He was growing into his body and ran very awkwardly. He was almost slow. He really wasn’t that fast at all. I think physically he matured, and mentally he matured, too. He became much more dedicated to the sport. “Once that happened, he became one of the hardest working kids we have. His freshman year he did everything he had to, but his sophomore year, after he saw some success, he really started to work hard at it.” Egg Harbor Township track coach Joseph Lucchio said Alvin Abraham wasn’t much of a track athlete when he was a freshman, but last spring, as a junior, Abraham developed into on of the best 400 meters runners in the state, winning the Group 4 championship and finishing in the top 10 at the Meet of Champions. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Abraham admits he wasn’t much of a track specimen during his first year of high school, but he has learned a lot, not only in terms of how to prepare his body to be a sprinter, but also how to come up with a strategy for running extended sprints such as the 200 and 400 meters. “I’m more comfortable in my body. I used to hurt a lot when I was younger, but now I know how to do what I have to do to carry out my strategy,” Abraham said. “Now I know my potential and I’m ready for (my senior) seasons. I’m trying to show that I can do indoor, too, and that will get me ready to defend my titles in the spring. I did indoor last year, but I wasn’t really that great. I really broke out in the spring season.” To say Abraham “broke out” last spring might be understating it a bit. On May 1, Abraham clocked a 48.98 to win the 400 meters at the South Jersey Open. That began a month-long hot streak that not only put him on the map as far as South Jersey track is concerned, but also helped land him a Division I offer from Rider University, where he plans to continue his track career in the fall of 2015. One week later he won the Atlantic County championship in the 400, then followed that up with a victory at the Cape-Atlantic League championships. He won the sectional championship, then took home the overall Group 4 title with a 48.63, his best time of the month. Abraham went on to finish eighth at the Meet of Champions, two spots behind the medal winners. “I was surprised that I came out and did what I did. I didn’t expect that at all. I trained really hard, but I didn’t think I would get to that level of winning states,” Abraham said. Abraham said the Group 4 championship was the highlight of his high school career so far. “When I crossed the line I was like, ‘oh, wow, I really won states,'” Abraham said. “I expected to finish in the top six, but I didn’t expect to win. I do research on the people I’m racing to see what I’m up against.” Lucchio said early in the spring season he lost to Vineland’s Jeremiah Atoki, but rebounded to beat the Fighting Clan speedster later in the season. Lucchio said that showed the progress Abraham has been making in perfecting his approach to running the 400 meters. “His technique is very good, and his endurance is very good because even though he is a sprinter he ran cross country. In the 400 you have to have speed and endurance. He had the speed and now he has really good endurance for a sprinter,” Lucchio said. “He perfected the race. He perfected his technique, the strategy, his finish. You just saw it in his workouts that he was ready to become one of the best runners in the state. We have fast kids on the team and he was always in the front in the workouts. You could just see it in his determination.” Finding good 400 runners isn’t easy, Lucchio said. It’s just not the high profile event that the 100 and 200 meters are. It’s easy to find guys who want to run the 100, or the mile, but those middle sprints like the 400 and short distance such as the half mile aren’t easy slots to fill on a track team. “That’s something that’s so cool about Alvin. He’s one of those sprinters who wants to run the 400. A lot of sprinters want to run the 100 or the 200, but the 400 is really the guts event for sprinters. You have to have guts, you have to be mentally tough,” Lucchio siad. “We had a lot of great 400 runners at EHT about four or five years ago. We won back-to-back state championships in the 4×4, then we went through a little bit of a dry spell with the event but Alvin has really brought it back. He loves the 400 and it’s really inspired some of the younger kids on the team. Now we have a bunch of 400 runners and that has really turned the whole program around.” What has made Abraham so successful, Lucchio said, is his willingness to put in the work. He has run cross country the past two years to build up his endurance. He has studied and learned the proper technique, he does research on other runners to see what makes them successful. That is the mark of a sprinter who wants to be great. “I start out kind of fast and then build up, and I couldn’t do that sophomore or freshman year. I looked at a lot of people who were winning meets in high school and how they ran it, and tried to do what they were doing and use the same strategy of going out and hanging on until the kick,” Abraham said. “I’ve just been really focusing on track, eating differently, drinking a lot of water, stretching constantly. I want to win as many meets as I can and try to qualify for nationals.” Lucchio said he doesn’t worry about Abraham now being the hunted instead of the hunter. He believes that Abraham is more focused than ever, and that as a track athlete you’re never really the hunted. There’s always somebody better out there you are chasing, the coach said. “That’s what’s fun about it. Everybody knows about him now, he’s committed to a Division I school. What’s great about it is, while other seniors might start going on cruise control, he’s working harder than ever. He trained even harder in the summer and in cross country, he works hard in the weight room. Really, every season he keeps working harder and harder,” Lucchio said. “I think he has the mindset because he has the winning mentality. He really perfected his technique and his strategy. And the beautiful thing about track is, there’s always someone else to chase. He was a county, CAL, sectional and group champion, now he wants that Meet of Champions title and to be able to compete at the national level. There’s always somebody else out there if you travel far enough. “Now he’s setting his sights even higher. It’s like, OK, I’m a group champion. Now I want to be a state champion. It’s like the Ocean City gi
rl (Devon Grisbaum), she won the sectionals and the groups (in cross country), then she won the Meet of Champions and that’s the most prestigious, and that’s what we’re trying to get Alvin to.” Abraham has a quiet confidence, and believes he has a legitimate shot to become a state champion, in both winter and spring track. “I’m trying to end (senior year) with a bang and defend all my titles and grab some new titles this winter. I broke out in the spring last year,” Abraham said. “There’s pressure, but I think I’ll compete and do well.” Lucchio said that while some schools don’t put a great deal of emphasis on the winter season, he knows the indoor circuit will be crucial for Abraham’s chances of reaching his ultimate goal in the spring. “We put a good deal of emphasis on it. Everything is a build-up to spring track. We know that spring is the more prestigious season, but we do take winter track seriously because of kids like Alvin,” Lucchio said. “He wants to go out and win a state championship. As a team, two years ago, we won sectionals and groups (in winter track) and we want to get back to that level. And Alvin wants that, too. He wants to help us win as a team.” Lucchio said he likes the example Abraham is setting and believes that example will have a big impact on the success of his track team in the coming years. “It’s great to have a kid who has not only the talent, but the work ethic. That’s rare. He has top talent and top work ethic, and that’s what makes a champion. You have to be talented and you have to work hard,” Lucchio said. “And not only that, he’s great with the younger kids on the team. They look up to him and they see that if they want to be a state champion they are going to have to work hard for it.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]