DeMers makes his mark
Sandpoint senior Eric DeMers is smart enough to know that breaking school records and winning state titles in the triple jump and long jump this year are within his reach.
He’s actually smart enough to know a whole lot of other things, too.
DeMers, who has built a skyscraping 4.1 GPA and exudes mental toughness, will attend Boise State this fall, the alma mater of his dad, Dave, who is also the Sandpoint track coach.
But before he goes, there’s this business of making his mark as a Bulldog – and that pair of oh-so-attractive state gold medals.
To that end, DeMers, who quarterbacked Sandpoint to a co-Inland Empire League championship in football last fall, decided to forego basketball over the winter to instead focus on track.
Focus he did, on intense weight lifting and all of the painstaking details of going the extra few inches that separate champions from also-rans.
“I’ve been doing really well this year,” said DeMers, third at state a year ago in the triple jump after failing to qualify for the long jump. “I kept lifting all year and after doing it for so many years I’ve improved my technique and kept getting stronger.
“I’ve been focusing a lot more on the little things and trying to pick out small details that a lot of people overlook. Little things that make a big difference.”
Where all the hard work has put him is just 8 inches away from both the long- and triple-jump records at SHS.
“I’ve already come really close (to the records) in competition, but I’ve scratched,” said DeMers, who needs to surpass 21 feet, 6 inches in the long and 43-9 in the triple. “My confidence level is pretty high and I’m planning on doing it, almost 100 percent.
“It would be a really big deal – I’ve been looking at those records ever since I was a freshman and sophomore, hoping that someday I’d get ‘em and somehow figure out what I needed to do.”
DeMers, though intense about his personal goals, is just as enthusiastic about the Bulldogs’ success as a team.
“If everyone stays healthy, we should be in the running for a state championship,” DeMers said. “We’ve got a lot of the field events covered – we have every field event covered; potential to get first or second in every field event.
“It’s really exciting here right now – everyone is pushing for that team title because we had it two years ago and we should have had it last year if it hadn’t been for some suspensions and some of our key people quitting.”