Gifted school

There’s a bond among athletes at smaller schools that brings them out to support each other, even when the sport involved is not their forte.

“That’s one of the cool things about Freeman High School,” senior Greg Emtman said. “We’re a gifted school. If you’re an athlete, you turn out even if it’s not your first sport. Seems like everybody does at least one sport or another and a lot of people do multiple sports.

“Either that or you’re a really committed supporter.”

Emtman competes in two sports – cross country in the fall and track in the spring.

“Track is really my No. 1 sport,” he said. “I work on a farm over the summer so I don’t get much of a chance to run a whole lot.”

Not that he’s complaining about the hard work.

“Bucking hay bales is a really good upper-body workout,” he laughed. “By the time the summer is over, my upper body and my legs are in great shape. I’m just not in running shape, so I do cross country. I keep running over the winter to be ready for track in the spring.”

A four-year track and field athlete and three-time state meet participant for the Scotties, Emtman was pleased to find a few new, yet familiar, faces on this year’s squad.

“We have a couple seniors who are out for the first time this year,” he said. “Seniors like Christian Casto – he came out to support the team, and he’s a real contributor.”

Those new faces, along with senior veterans like sprinter Jimmy Lara and jumper Saegan Nieman make the Scotties solid as the Northeast A League heads into the heart of its season.

Freeman is loaded with sprinters – including four returners from a state-qualifying relay team a year ago: seniors Lara and Chris Davis and juniors Marc Soelberg and Justin Thomas.

Emtman, who specializes in the 800 meters and the 4x400 relay, is excited about his final high school season.

“Now is when you really start seeing the great times come out,” Emtman said. “Usually, up through spring break, you’re working on conditioning. Now you start to go fast.”

Emtman was the lone individual event winner for the Scotties at last weekend’s Freeman Invitational meet, turning in a 2:00.63 800 meters.

At last year’s state meet, Emtman ran 2:01.72 in his 800 preliminary heat, then broke the two-minute barrier in the finals, running a 1:59.45, taking third behind Jasen Brown of Brewster, Wash., despite turning in the exact same time. Will Mosely of Seattle Academy won the event with a 1:59.22 effort.

“Last year’s final was the closest race I can remember at state,” Emtman said. “Usually, even in the final, someone runs away with the race. This one was anyone’s race the whole way.”

Emtman said he misjudged the field a bit – a mistake he vowed to correct this year.

“That’s the thing about a state final,” he said. “It’s your last race, there’s a big crowd and everyone is just full of adrenalin. That’s why you see so many PRs at a state meet.

“You have to be careful. In most meets, when you see a guy go out early in a race, you know he’s not going to make it and you’ll catch him if you just run your won race. At state, it’s a different game. You never know when someone is going to run the race of his life.”

Emtman said he shares that hard-learned lesson with teammates qualifying for state for the first time.

Relays have been a hallmark of Freeman track – something Emtman credits to coach John Hays.

“We put a lot of emphasis on our relays during the season,” he said. “We do a lot of running off for our relays. We always try to get the best people on our relays. And we work quite a bit on our technique, especially our hand-offs. The hand-off is especially critical in the 4x100 relay.”

Emtman plans to walk-on with the track program at Washington State in the fall.

“If you are a track and field fan, you have to follow WSU,” he said. “That’s been a phenomenal program for a long time, and we have several athletes from Freeman who are on the team down there.”