Kaiserslautern High School middle-distance runner Jamal Anene gets in some roadwork Monday at the Vogelweh athletic field in preparation for the start of the DODDS track season this weekend. Anene finished fourth in the DODDS 800-meter final last season. (Rusty Bryan / S&S)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — When the 800-meter final rolls around in DODDS-Europe’s track championship in May, Kaiserslautern runner Jamal Anene plans to be first to the finish line.
His competitiveness will see to that.
“I don’t even want to be beat,” last season’s fourth-place finisher in the 800 said after practice Monday.
“I’ll be very mad if I lose.”
Anene ran last season’s 800 final in 2 minutes, 1.60 seconds — 1.60 seconds behind champion Kenny Grosselin of Ramstein, who has graduated, 1.20 behind Parker Cowles of Ramstein, who returns this season, and three-quarters of a second behind David Forte of SHAPE, who also has left Europe.
Anene figures he can improve, just as he did the season before.
“I’ll be pretty competitive,” he said. “Last year I cut my 800 time by 7 seconds.”
Improving half that much would put Anene under 2 minutes for the 800, breaking his personal best and the winning time of three of the past four European finals.
Anene, who also played forward on Kaiserslautern’s basketball team, doesn’t think it’s too early to think about the Europeans, even though his season doesn’t begin until Saturday’s meet in Brussels.
“I always have the championships on my mind,” he said. “Mentally, it keeps you more focused.”
Also helping Anene prepare effectively for each race this season is the lift he gets from his teammates, 1,500 specialist Steven Burnette and 400 ace Gregory Thompson.
“During practice, they keep me up there with them,” he said. “The competition factor really keeps me on track.”
Anene returns the favor, according to Kaiserslautern coach Marty Kollar.
“Jamal is the spiritual leader of the team,” Kollar said. “He never shows any anxiety before a race and digs very deep during the race to ensure the results he is able to accomplish.”
Anene, 17, who’s been at Kaiserslautern since eighth grade, also runs the 400 and 1,500 meters, as well as legs of the 4x800 and 4x400 relays. He finished fifth in the 1,500 at Europeans, running 4:14.92 to Grosselin’s winning 4:07.88. He said, however, that he prefers the 800.
“It’s my specialty,” he said. “It’s not really a sprint, but speed is important. The 1,500 is a little harder, but I can still use my speed.”
As a “tweener” between the distance runners and the sprinters, Anene said he runs hills with distance specialists and trains for his final kick in races with sprinters.
“I get the best of both worlds,” he said.
This year, however, Anene’s track world has changed. For the first time in his high school career, there won’t be a Division I meet this season to use as a steppingstone to Europeans, because all divisional championship tournaments were eliminated. The situation disappoints him.
“It is a big deal,” he said. “The divisionals were a big part of our preparation. They let you see where you were for Europeans.”
After Europeans, Anene, who said he’s interested in a career in business management, will have to make the adjustment most Europe-based athletes face — college in the States.
Anene said he’s talked to Angelo State in Texas and Davidson College in North Carolina about their athletic programs. He plans to decide on a school before Europeans, but admits to some trepidation.
“I’m a little bit nervous about it,” he said, “but I’ll just have to adapt.”
