Adidas410s
05-09-2007, 09:42 AM
(Written April 24th)
More than 200 area track athletes will participate in regional meets this weekend, with the hope of Austin only one terrific throw or time away.
Hirschi's Dorian Dargan won't be one of them.
Dargan, who qualified last year for the Class 3A state meet in the triple and long jumps, skipped out on the district meet a couple of weeks ago.
His academic future, he rightly deemed, was more important than his athletic present.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of Dargan's two college choices, was playing host to its "Campus Preview Weekend" for prospective students the same time District 6-3A was having its meet.
At first, Dargan hoped to jump in Graham and then hop a plane to Boston. But the logistics wouldn't work out.
Just like that, the area's best jumper was finished.
"It's my life. I'm not going to please everyone," Dargan said from Boston last weekend, where he returned for a visit to Harvard, his other choice. "It was unfortunate. But I felt like this was a life decision I needed to make."
Dargan was as much a shoo-in for state as anyone who will compete this weekend. His best distance in the triple jump - a 46-4 from the Killeen Invitational - would have won him a bronze medal in 2006.
He may always wonder what could have been, but don't feel too sorry for him.
Dargan's a smart young man with a bright future who keeps his priorities in line. Whether it's MIT or Harvard, he'll make the right choice.
More than 200 area track athletes will participate in regional meets this weekend, with the hope of Austin only one terrific throw or time away.
Hirschi's Dorian Dargan won't be one of them.
Dargan, who qualified last year for the Class 3A state meet in the triple and long jumps, skipped out on the district meet a couple of weeks ago.
His academic future, he rightly deemed, was more important than his athletic present.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of Dargan's two college choices, was playing host to its "Campus Preview Weekend" for prospective students the same time District 6-3A was having its meet.
At first, Dargan hoped to jump in Graham and then hop a plane to Boston. But the logistics wouldn't work out.
Just like that, the area's best jumper was finished.
"It's my life. I'm not going to please everyone," Dargan said from Boston last weekend, where he returned for a visit to Harvard, his other choice. "It was unfortunate. But I felt like this was a life decision I needed to make."
Dargan was as much a shoo-in for state as anyone who will compete this weekend. His best distance in the triple jump - a 46-4 from the Killeen Invitational - would have won him a bronze medal in 2006.
He may always wonder what could have been, but don't feel too sorry for him.
Dargan's a smart young man with a bright future who keeps his priorities in line. Whether it's MIT or Harvard, he'll make the right choice.