Rougher junior Adrian Billingsley is looking to make his mark in track this spring and in football next fall. Adrian has played on both sides of the ball in football but prefers playing cornerback, which he considers one of the hardest positions to play. But he was hurt most of last year and really didn’t get a chance to show his stuff. In track he placed fifth at state last year in the 110-meter hurdles and just missed making the finals in the 300-meter hurdles and he says he learned a valuable lesson that should help him this spring.
“I didn’t perform as well as I could have at state, and I think one of the lessons I learned was about taking it seriously. At the start of last season, I didn’t really focus on track. I was more focused on football, and I was just doing track to stay in shape. I think that approach cost me making the finals in the 300, so this year I’m going to start off seriously and even though we’re moving back up to Class 6A this year, I want to show that I can compete at that level.”
Track coach Craig Perry feels that Adriam has what it takes to do just that.
“Adrian showed a big improvement between his freshman and sophomore years. When we put him into hurdles last year, he went from being just another guy on the track to a state competitor and even though we’re moving up this year I still feel he has a chance to be on the podium again.”
Another reason that Adrian improved so much was the work with hurdles coach Mikeus Moore (shown in photo).
“I love coach Mike. He’s been my coach since ninth grade, and he’s taught me all about running hurdles. On my first day he had me kick the hurdle and worked on getting the lead leg over the hurdle then the trailing leg over. I think a lot of guys are scared to try hurdles because they don’t want to trip on a hurdle, but coach Mike helped me get the hang of it and it became easier.”
Adrian says that his coaches and upperclassmen have all been good role models for him, particularly Edward “EJ” James.
“He’s a year older than me and we’ve always competed against one another, and he’s taught me a lot about playing defensive back.”
