Countless high school track runners are fast. After all, that’s the name of the game in track and field. What sets Arthur Hill senior Anthony Debardelaben apart from the rest of the pack is how hard he brings it every day.
“He’s a hard worker, a very hard worker,” Arthur Hill track and field head coach Leonard Adams said. “He has been undefeated all season [in the 100] and won the indoor 60-meter championship this year. He’s dedicated to track and field. He plays football, too, but he knows that track is his opportunity to go to college, so I think he’ll be a great competitor at the next level.”
Debardelaben’s best event, according to Adams, is the 100-meter dash, although he excels in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter relay as well. He won regionals last year in the 100-meter dash and won the county meet in 10.4 seconds this year. All of this was good enough to earn his way onto a Division I roster, as he has committed to run at Eastern Michigan University.
“It was a family-first decision,” Debardelaben said of choosing Eastern. “My sister goes there and is on the track team, too. Also, they won the indoor championship back-to-back years, so I know I’m going into a good situation. Plus, when I went there for a visit, I liked the atmosphere. I felt like I was already on the team.”
All Debardelaben’s success came after what the runner admits was a less-than-stellar start to his career. “I was one of the worst people on the team my freshman year,” he said. “I kept working hard to get better. I quit basketball to focus on track, because I knew that this could be something big for me, so I kept putting more into it.”
It did become something big, as he’s gone from being one of the worst runners on the team to one of the best in the state. Assuming he qualifies for the state finals in the 100-meter dash, Debardelaben hopes to atone for last year’s mistake. A year ago, in one of the preliminary rounds, he was called for a false start, disqualifying him before he even got started. He also has a strong chance to make the finals in the 200-meter dash and in the 400-meter relay, according to his coach.
“We have a lot hanging on [regionals]; nothing is promised, we know that,” Adams said. “But, we are hoping he can finish in the top five in the state. He’s been complaining about leg injuries and his hamstring being a little sore, but he has been running fast enough times to win all season.”
Despite his disqualification last year, Debardelaben isn’t rattled at all at the thought of returning to the state finals. “It’s the same environment really,” he said. “Every meet is the same, regardless of how many people are there. You just have to do what you do.”
What Debardelaben does is win, and that’s something he’d like to do one last time before his high school track days are over.
“I want to go out on top,” he said.