Littleton – He is well aware his situation practically drips with irony. A native Coloradan, the soon-to-be 18-year-old J.T. Scheuerman, one of the nation’s fastest and better-known schoolboy sprinters, is just now in the process of introducing himself to the rest of the state.
It’s not that Scheuerman, who spent three years at Chaparral in Parker before transferring as a senior to Littleton, is too big for locals. Hardly. It’s simply because he feels much better physically and, with fingers crossed, is able to say hello or drop a “What’s up?” to the rest of us through what he hopes will be another five weekends of blurs in a delayed coming-out party.
Previously, Scheuerman said, “I would show up and then it would be, ‘Where did he go?”‘
Actually, he couldn’t go, as injuries and surgeries more befitting of a stuntman kept him from making sparks with his track shoes. As a youth, Scheuerman became familiar with the meaning of the word “ouch.” Over the years, he has broken fingers, arms and ankles, and even a toe when he accidently kicked a couch (we all know how that feels). He had a hernia, pulled a hamstring, had problems with a pelvic bone, has at least one loose shoulder …
“I’ve been unlucky with some of it,” Scheuerman said.
Unlucky? He felt like he couldn’t pick a winner in a one-person race, especially if it was him. He probably would have been injured.
Scheuerman has yet to participate in a Colorado championship meet – if you guessed it was because of being hurt, you’re correct – yet is the reigning Junior Olympic champion in the 400 meters, his specialty. He’s also an All-American in the indoor 60, 200 and 400.
Recently, in Arcadia, Calif., he ran the fastest time ever by a Coloradan in the 400: 46.24 seconds. It won’t be recognized here, because it wasn’t done in a contiguous state and came at sea level, but it was good enough for second place in one of the nation’s annual prestigious meets.
“It has been a rough go,” Scheuerman said. “I haven’t had a full season, and it’s tough for me. Then I’ll go out of state and have good races.”
He only has one more chance to set things here, May 20 at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood, the second of the two-day state 2006 meet. But don’t accuse Scheuerman, who insists he’s not bitter from previous mishaps, of not trying.
According to Littleton coach Brian Kula, his star’s schoolboy season at home this season has been meticulously planned. Scheuerman’s sleep and eating habits are closely monitored, even his day-to-day schedule. Indeed, he has gone out of town a few times, but the home stretch is here.
Kula and Scheuerman made the decision this week to pass on this weekend’s Kansas Relays in favor of the Last Chance meet at Legacy Stadium in Aurora. It’s the fastest track in Colorado, one in which Scheuerman set his personal best of 20.90 in the 200 in 2005.
Plus, he has a strong sense of team.
Scheuerman also had a wind-aided 10.39 in the 100 in the past weekend’s Nike Littleton meet.
“He could be the best overall sprinter in the country,” Kula said.
The Lions’ plan that dominates the track team’s wildest dreams is to have a healthy Scheuerman, who also gave up snowboarding (for fear of being injured), for the state 100, 200, 400 and whichever relay is primed to seriously contend in Class 5A. By the way, the recognized Colorado marks in the 100, 200 (10.41 and 20.70, respectively, set a year ago by George Washington’s Jeremy Dodson) and 400 (46.57, set in 1989 in Arcadia, Calif., by Montbello’s Albert Ransom) are within his reach.
“I really want to be in a state meet,” Scheuerman said.
Give him this – he’s interesting. He’s bound for Baylor on a full-ride scholarship, in as tough a sport as there is to land one. He’s a rare, successful white sprinter, all of 6-feet, 165 pounds. He has heard steroid rumors and laughed them off while writing several papers on the subject for classes. As a youth, he always seemed to be stuck as the third- or second-fastest kid among peers. He twice broke an arm before baseball tryouts. And he never could quite make the required 50 push-ups set by his parents as the mark to be declared football-ready.
“A lot of my friends went for other sports,” he said. “I just wanted to run, and I got faster.”
He’s on his best in-state roll and would do just about anything for it to continue.
Longer term, Scheuerman entertains thoughts of making the Olympic trials, then earning a degree in international business.
You didn’t think he would do it here, did you?
Staff writer Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-820-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
