Tribe’s Spencer enjoys an amazing year

It wouldn’t be hard to put together a highlight reel of Tahmir Spencer’s achievements on the track this season.

After all, the Lehighton sprinter earned numerous medals at invitationals, leagues, districts and even states.

Missing from that clip, though, would probably be the moment that his sprint coach, Darren Frehulfer, treasures the most.

It came at the Schuylkill League meet — just after his star athlete was disqualified from a race he was favored to win.

“My favorite moment of the year wasn’t him medaling at states,” said Frehulfer. “It was when he went over and hugged our 400 runner at leagues. (Tahmir) was devastated when he jumped the 100 (and was DQ’d). He was so upset. Talking to him was like watching rain bounce off an umbrella. You could see the words hitting him ... and nothing connecting.

“But then our 400 runner ran the best race of his life and only got fourth. He was crushed by it. And Tahmir, for an instance, just stopped thinking about how upset he was ... and ran over and gave him a hug in the middle of the field. That’s when I saw ... he was maturing as a person. It was very cool.”

Running against the state’s best is also pretty cool, and it’s something Spencer got to experience at Shippensburg.

The junior, who was competing at the varsity level for the first time this season, qualified in two events (100, 200) at states and brought home a third-place medal in one of them.

For that, and his accomplishments throughout the season, he was named the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Boys Track Athlete of the Year.

“It was an amazing year,” said Spencer, who also captured two district golds. “States was a great experience. Everyone there was cool, and I met a lot of people there from other schools. It was just crazy competition. I definitely wanted to medal. My goal was to get sixth or higher, and I got third, so I was happy with that.

“I definitely want to get back.”

Getting back won’t be easy, as Lehighton moves from Class 2A to 3A next year. But with the determination that Spencer possesses and the talent he has, a trip back to Shipp is very possible.

“He says he wants to get better and prove himself at Triple-A,” said Frehulfer. “He knows it’s going to be hard and knows the kids are fast ... He says he wants to go get it on a bigger stage.

“Tahmir’s just made a vast improvement physically, mentally, and emotionally over the entire year ... His work ethic is just drastically different. He grew up a lot academically and just mentally in general. He matured into ... a young man right in front of us.”

Spencer, who ran a 22.53 in the 200 at states to finish third and just missed out on a medal in the 100, had been academically ineligible for track in the past, but has buckled down in the classroom this year.

In fact, he posted As and Bs this past marking period.

“I had to decide to become focused,” said Spencer, whose best times during the postseason were an 11.09 in the 100 and a 22.42 in the 200 (both at districts). “I’m trying to be more disciplined.”

“We were so pleased with his performances,” Lehighton head track coach Jim Blakeslee said. “We’ve tried to get him out previously, but he just couldn’t get things together academically. Now he’s changed. He’s a breath of fresh air. He’s a good guy to coach. He listens.”

Spencer needed to listen to his coaches to improve, mostly because he had never worked with blocks until this season.

“At the beginning of the year, the start of my race was the worst part, so that’s what I worked on throughout the whole year to try and get better,” said Spencer, who won two firsts at the Blue Raider Invitational and a first and third at the Allen Invitational. “My block starts were pretty bad. I usually worked on that at every practice.”

“His first meet of the year he didn’t know how to do blocks,” said Frehulfer. “He fell out of the blocks and took second ... He had never worked on a drive phase before. He didn’t even know what a drive phase was. By the end of the year, every interview he gave he said, ‘I wanted a nice smooth drive phase transitioning into my full stride.’ It was amazing because you knew that what you said to him at practice connected. You knew that he soaked in everything like a sponge.”