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Wildcat's state titles left critics speechless

Wharton sprinter Dwight Ellick put an end to his dominant season with Class 4A titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

By SCOTT PURKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2001

TAMPA -- Once and for all, Dwight Ellick was going to stop the river of trash talking.

He told himself that winning Class 4A state titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes would finally end the chatter.

And did he ever want to shut his critics up by the time he got in the blocks at the state meet on May 12 at Coral Springs High. Because that night, the trash talkers from south Florida were out in droves.

"They kept yelling to me from the stands, "You're in Miami now and you haven't seen speed like this before,"' Ellick said. "They kept saying, "You're going to go back to Tampa crying.'

"But I never said anything back. I figured I'd just let my talking be done on the track."

He did.

Ellick, whose only worry was getting a solid start, won the 100 in 10.60 seconds, nearly two-tenths of a second faster than the Class 3A state champion.

A few minutes later he returned for the 200 -- a race he said, "I was completely relaxed for," -- and broke the tape in 21.35, or four-tenths of a second faster than the best time in 3A.

To cap off his high school career he ran the final leg of the 4x400 relay, taking the baton in a distant seventh and rushing up to finish third. His 400 split was 46.7. Ellick's efforts helped propel Wharton to fifth place in the team standings with 40 points, just 14 behind winner Lauderdale Lake Boyd Anderson.

Looking back, it seems a mystery why anyone ever questioned Ellick's ability to win, especially because he was the defending New York state champion in the 100 and 200.

"But that was in New York," Ellick said. "People down here would say, "Yeah, but let's see what you can do in Florida. If you can win in Florida, then you're really doing something."'

Ellick ended up winning every 200 and all but one 100 he entered in Florida. His only loss was at the Florida Relays, where after a long week of competition in other meets, he placed second.

Wharton coach David Watson said his star sprinter wasn't a surprise to him because once you get to know Ellick he's easy to understand.

"Sometimes you'll find some (talented) kids like that, but as far as good kids like he was, you don't find that too often," Watson said. "From the moment he came here last summer he was training.

"He just came in and kind of jumped in front of everyone and let everyone grab his shirttail. And then he dragged everyone along. He was a great leader."

Ellick's superlative individual performances made him the class of the county. A high honor considering Berkeley Prep junior Rolf Steier won Class A state titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 and was nationally ranked in the 3,200. And Tampa Baptist's Garrett Johnson had a state-best and nationally-ranked toss of 184 feet, 1 inch in the discus and a state-best throw of 62 feet, 1/4 inch in the shot put.

This year, however, there was no denying Ellick.

"I love it," Ellick said. "I loved showing everyone that I could win state titles in Florida."

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