DLN ALL-AREA: Whippets’ McLemore sprints to landmark year
On a sweltering May Saturday, Downingtown West’s Josh McLemore turned in a performance for the ages at the PIAA Class AAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University.
The senior won three gold medals, including prevailing in a scintillating 200-meter race with Coatesville’s Terrance Laird, to become the indidual performer of the meet.
Those three medals were not the final honors of McLemore’s final season as a Whippet. The Downingtown star is also the 2016 Daily Local News All-Area Boys Track Athlete of the Year.
“It was a great meet,” said McLemore. “I was progressing from meet to meet and it all came together at states.”
The heat and humdiity were stifling, but McLemore was able to keep his cool.
“My multiple workouts helped me prepare for the races,” he said. “And they had an area where we could escape the sun.”
He won the 400 and also anchored the winning 4 x 400 relay team.
Of the three victories the one that caught him by surprise was the 400 — not the result necssarily — but the time.
“I was surprised by how fast the 400 was,” he said. “it ended up being the fastest I’ve run all season.”
The race of the meet, however, came in the 200, where he and Laird battled through the stretch, to the wire. The two hit the finish line together, stopping the clock together in 21.41.
A photo determined that McLemore won by inches.
“I had no idea who won,” he said. “I thought he won. I would’ve been proud no matter who won the race. We both did our best.”
The three golds helped the Whippets to a second-place finish in the team chase, and culminated an amazing season that stretched back from the winter.
He doubled up at the state indoor championships, capturing the 200 and the 400. A short time later, he took on national competition at the New Balance Indoor, placing fifth in the 400 and sixth in the 200.
The good times kept on rolling when they went outdoors as he won the 300-meter hurdles by almost three seconds.
Next up came the District 1 Championships. McLemore tripled up again with a relay title sandwiched in between the individual golds.
“In the 200, I got a P.R. (personal record) in the prelims,” said McLemore. “The final was a decent race considering the race was only 30 minutes after I ran the finals in the 400.”
“We were excited to win,” he said of the team crown. “We thought we were the team to beat, and everybody did a great job.”
Though almost two months have past since his day of days, the glow of his accomplishments have not faded for McLemore.
“I was totally estatic,” he said. “It was better than you can expect. I have to thank my coaches who helped me get to where I am.”
Like a lot of kids, McLemore played multiple sports growing up.
“I started track in the seventh grade, and became really dedicated to it in the summer of 10th grade,” he said. “Now, I love the sport.”
His excellence has won him a scholarship to the University of Tennessee in the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference.
The Vols have three athletes on the United States Olympic team going to Rio de Janiero for the Olympics next month, including 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin. They also have Kelli Davis-White representing Jamaica.
The UT men placed sixth in the most recent NCAA outdoor championships.
“Tennessee has a great history in track. I’m very excited. I can’t wait,” he said.
