Brewer sprinter, long jumper proved to be tough act to follow

After the winter season that Brewer High School’s Dave Gregory has had, his biggest problem is what to do for an encore next year.

Gregory burned up the track in the Eastern Maine Indoor Track League this winter, winning all of his regular-season races in the 60-meter dash and 300. He also won all but one of his long jump events.

His impressive regular-season efforts plus two first-place finishes and one second in the EMITL championships on Feb. 8 have earned him Midweek’s Athlete of the Month honors for February. He won the 60 and 300 at the EMITL finals and finished second in the long jump.

“He was the leader of our team this year,” said Brewer coach Dave Jeffrey. “Even as a junior, there’s no question he’s got leadership ability.”

The quiet junior sprinter has broken or tied all of his school’s records for freshmen and sophomores in the 60 and 300. He was part of the school’s record-breaking 800-meter relay team last spring, and he is among the school’s all-time top five per formers in the 60 and long jump.

So what can he do for an encore his senior year?

“My goal is to run a 6.5 in the 60 next year and improve on my 300 time,” Gregory explained. “I’d also like to break the school record (32.5 seconds) in the 300 and jump at least 20 feet.”

Gregory’s best time in the 300 was 33.8 this year. He jumped 19 feet, 11 inches in his first long jump, but he never hit that mark again.

Despite that frustration, Gregory is happy with his performance in the long jump. He should be. He had never long jumped before this winter.

The honor roll student only competes for Brewer’s indoor track team. He plays baseball in the spring.

Gregory made an impact on the track team as early as his freshman year. “He immediately helped us,” said Jeffrey. “He scored meet points, and that’s very rare for a freshman to do on our team.”

This season ended on a sour note for Gregory. He was disappointed with his performance in Saturday’s Class A state meet at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

“I really had a bad meet,” he said. “I got some bad starts and didn’t really score as highly as I could have. That’s my big goal for next year. I really want to have a great meet.”

Gregory’s idea of a bad meet would not seem so bad to many other athletes. He finished third in the 60 and fifth in the 300.

“That’s what’s good about David. He knows his abilities and he runs to the best of them,” said Jeffrey. “He’s intense, but very quiet. He just goes out and does his thing.”

Track and field is not Gregory’s favorite sport. Soccer holds that distinction.

“He wants to play Division I soccer and probably will,” Jeffrey said. “I know he could run Division I track in college if he worked on it. He’s definitely a college long jumper.”