NEW PORT RICHEY - It happens all the time. In the 100, the 400, the 1,600, you name it. An athlete lines up at the start with all the promise in the world. It's a letdown before the finish.
Maybe he wasn't as ready as he thought. Maybe he didn't train as hard as he should have. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.
It's bad enough for a singular athlete with no one to answer to but himself in the minutes and hours and days after the race.
But imagine having to explain it to three teammates. On every relay team the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory are multiplied by four. At River Ridge the boy's 4x800-meter relay squad knows both feelings well.
Weeks ago at the Sunshine Athletic Conference meet, the Royal Knights missed all-conference honors, finishing third with a time of 8:39.96. Ouch.
It was an embarrassing loss for River Ridge, and a motivating one.
At today's Class 3A state meet at Percy Beard Stadium in Gainesville, Knights Danny Ayres, William Gonzalez, Justin Coile and Stephen Jacobsen enter with a school-record time of 8:17.62 and high hopes of medaling.
"If one person does bad then everybody does," Gonzalez said. "It makes me push harder. That's why we like to run together."
Together, they've gone from third best in Pasco County to hopes of the top eight in 3A in a matter of weeks.
"I think after conference they all had a wakeup call," coach Erik Hermansen said. "They didn't do as well as they thought, and they started working harder, they started running harder for each other.
"They finished third behind Mitchell and Land O'Lakes. Their time was horrible. Three legs ran horribly and the final leg ran the best race he's ever run in his life."
That was Jacobsen, the senior. The team knew it owed him. But he still was there for it.
"They kind of let him down," Hermansen said, "and he pulled them back to where they were almost in second place (at the region.)"
The pressure not to let each other down was strong for the Knights. It motivated them and alternate Brett Litak to tackle practice, and their timing splits, with a new vigor.
They've spent the days since the SAC meet working more on speed drills, running 200s and 400s. But then, they have the added incentive to do so.
"The pressure not to be embarrassed in front of your teammates is tremendous," Hermansen said, "and they don't want to be embarrassed, and each of them works hard enough not to be embarrassed."
But that can lead to more pressure. That's the last thing the coach wants. Practices are more focused but lighthearted. The team is relaxed.
"You can tell," Ayres said, pointing to his teammates laughing while stretching Wednesday, "that we're all business.
"At conference we all choked, we were flat. It was a wakeup call. That's why we now have faster splits in the 4x800. When you have a team that depends on you, you push a little harder.
"When someone is waiting for the baton, you push yourself even harder."
Now River Ridge shoots for new territory: breaking 8:10. On Percy Beard's fast rubber track, if each runner takes it upon himself to shed a couple seconds apiece, it could be accomplished.
"I'm hoping for another school record, and I'm hoping for the top eight," Hermansen said. "I think they have it in them to medal this year.
"The way they run and the camaraderie between the boys, they seem to be clicking at the right time of year."
