No doubting Thomas
Samacki Thomas is a natural.
Despite not joining a track club until shortly before the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championships, the Grade 9 student at Saint Paul returned from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations track and field meet last week with silver medals in the novice boys 200 metres and long jump and a bronze medal in the 100 metres.
Thomas competed in track and field in elementary school in May and June and always came home with a chest full of ribbons.
“I remember Grade 4 when I started track. I had ribbons for 100, 200, long jump, shot put, everything,” the six foot, 175-pounder said.
His success didn’t prompt him to join a track club until three weeks ago.
“Around the time of SOSSA, I decided I should probably try and get serious about it,” the 15-year-old said.
The triple champion at SOSSA and South Regionals wasn’t expecting to have a trio of OFSAA medals around his neck at the end of the season.
“I was thinking I could maybe get a second, third or fourth at South Regionals and I wasn’t expecting to win there because of the competition from Brampton and Mississauga too. Obviously they had probably been training for longer and there’s more gifted people in that area and it was kind of surprising when I won. For OFSAA, I had no idea I was going to make it that far.”
He was thrilled to compete at his first OFSAA championships.
“Just going was a great experience and getting to run against great competition, I feel that up until OFSAA no one came close to beating me. It wasn’t shock but getting second and third was a surprise for me. It was fun to run against faster and more athletic people,” he said. “It is motivation to do better now. I am going to train harder now and do as much as I can to get faster.”
Thomas attributes his success to staying healthy, eating properly, taking care of his body and getting tons of encouragement and support from his parents, Lydia and Lawrence Thomas.
“They have shown up to all my track meets so far and they have driven me everywhere. I think I had to take the bus once for the zone meet and then they drove me back home because they were there. They have been with me through it all.”
Joining Athletics Niagara has also helped.
“The three weeks that I have been with my track club has really helped me with starts and actual running techniques.”
Saint Paul coach Nick Oreskovich is a big fan of Thomas.
“As an athlete, he is very determined and competitive. He is well prepared and just started getting into track and field this year. It’s insane,” he said. “He has found a coach, his parents are immensely supportive, he is trying to find the time to better himself and the fact that he won three medals in a more serious track and field environment is truly amazing.”
Oreskovich saw multiple OFSAA medal potential in Thomas the moment he showed up at track practice.
“Physically he is very gifted, he takes care of himself and he has a lot of attributes of somebody who’s built himself up over time. He gives that persona, he has that aura and he is that kind of guy.”
Thomas also suited up for the school’s basketball and football team where he was described as coachable, always at practice and a difference maker on the field or court.
“He’s a multi-sport athlete who is dedicated to the practices as well as his school work which is immensely important. We are hoping he can carry it forward to next year as well,” Oreskovich said.
And how good could Thomas become?
“With regards to track and field, he can be a consistent medal winner every year at OFSAA as long as he continues to train. For football, he has a very bright future ahead of him.”
Thomas’ results this spring have pushed track to the top of his sporting pyramid.
“I am definitely going to stick with track now because I have really enjoyed it and I am winning without having much training. I could actually go farther if I do the training and go to the meets prepared,” he said. “But I really enjoy playing basketball and football too. Those three are my favourite sports and I enjoy watching and playing them.”
He likes the immediacy of track and field.
“With basketball and football, you spent a lot of time running around and it is a lot longer pace. Basketball is more than an hour with halftime and the same with football. Track is you practise, practise, practise and then you do one or two runs and a couple of jumps as well. It’s more fast paced.”
