Concord High School track and field athlete Vincent Giuliano won the 100-meter dash Wednesday at home against Homer and Jonesville
By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
Concord High School junior Vincent Giuliano said he was “pushed” into track and field in sixth grade.
Somewhere along the line he fell in love with the sport and what it could do for his body.
Built like a linebacker, Giuliano has run a sub 11-second 100 this season, excels in the 200, and has vastly improved in the 400-meter dash.
Giuliano has helped the Yellow Jackets all but wrap up a Big Eight Conference title in track. Concord earned a pair of wins Wednesday to finish the conference season with an undefeated record.
Concord defeated Jonesville 84-49, and Homer 107-26, finishing the conference season at 7-0.
Coach Mike Jurasek said the Big Eight Conference meet counts only one-third toward the final result. He noted the Yellow Jackets could finish as low as fifth, but still claim first place.
That is exactly what Giuliano was doing Wednesday – winning the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, the 400 and was a member of a winning relay team. He ran the 100 in 11.5 seconds, the 200 in 23.32, won the 400 with a personal-best time of 52.71, and joined Chuckie King, Zeavion Jones, and C.J. Glaspie to win the 800-meter relay in 1:37.
Giuliano finished fifth in the state in Division 4 last year in the 200-meter dash in 23.06. He was also third in the state as a freshman in D-4 with a time of 22.62.
“I plan to focus on the 200 at the state meet,” Giuliano said.
But Jurasek said the junior will help a number of the school’s relay teams.
“It is just a matter of where we want to put him,” Jurasek said. “He is one of the student-athletes who loves to work out.”
Giuliano said track and field has allowed him the opportunity to push himself.
“I love working out and finding out how fact the human body can go,” Giuliano said. “Track and field forces you to push through tough things.
“It is all mental.”
Both Jurasek and Giuliano share the passion of watching and predicting how good this Yellow Jacket team could be. The coach said Concord has some of the highest rated relays teams, can score points in the middle-distance events and has some field athletes who could score points at the state meet.
“Coach loves to estimate what we could do at the state meet,” Giuliano said. “We are both like that – looking at times and being technical about what could happen.”
Giuliano attended Jackson Christian High School as a freshman, but lives near Concord. He decided to attend Concord beginning his sophomore year.
“There is more than 80 years of coaching experience combined between our coaches,” Giuliano said. “Nothing compares to be here (Concord).”
The Yellow Jackets will have some important dates coming up. The Division 4 regionals at Webberville will be held May 18, the Big Eight Conference meet at Quincy on May 22, and the state meet Saturday, June 1, at Hudsonville.