Track athletes await proving ground

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Dillard senior Harry Adams could hear the whispers floating around track circles last season.

Injury prone. Another one-year-wonder. Not hungry enough to realize his full potential.

Ticketed for stardom after a breakout sophomore season, Adams was subjected to criticism after a lingering hamstring injury cost him a shot at defending his three Class 4A state sprint titles.

Adams, who won the Miami Herald's Broward Boys Track Athlete of the year award as a sophomore, is on a mission to silence his critics and reclaim his standing as one of the most feared sprinters in the nation.

''I have a lot to prove this year,'' Adams said. ``I heard all the talk. Some people started to write me off, but I never believed that. All it did was build up motivation for this year. I have to show up this year, my last year. Hopefully, if I stay healthy, I will do that.''

With Adams relegated to the role of spectator last season, St. Thomas Aquinas' Philip Pierre-Louis, Adams' future track and football teammate at Auburn, seized the opportunity to blow by Adams and emerge as Broward's top male sprinter.

`DISAPPOINTED'

''I was a little disappointed Harry was hurt last year,'' said Pierre-Louis, who wrested the Track Athlete of the Year award from Adams after finishing third in the 100 and second in the 200 at the 3A state finals last May. ``They say if you want to be the best, you need to race the best. He was on top of his game his sophomore year, and then he got hurt his junior year. I will just go out there and do my best and see what happens when we race.''

Fans will decide whether Adams (6-0, 175) has returned to his preinjury form or Pierre-Louis (5-8, 175) is still the sprinter to beat when Adams and Pierre-Louis meet at the Broward County Athletic Association Championships at Coral Springs on March 29.

Pierre-Louis' personal bests coming into the season are 10.54 in the 100 and 21.14 in the 200 he set last season. Adams' top times are 10.31 in the 100 and 21.01 in the 200 which came as a sophomore.

With both sprinters competing in different classifications, the county finals will probably be the last time Adams and Pierre-Louis will race against each other before joining forces at Auburn next season. Pierre-Louis said the sprinters' friendship has picked up since both decided on the same college with the conversations centered mostly on football.

In that department, Pierre-Louis holds the bragging rights after leading the Raiders to the 5A title last December. Pierre-Louis capitalized on his blazing speed at wide receiver and returning kicks to finish the season with 30 catches for 510 yards, which included eight touchdowns -- four on punt returns and two via rushing touchdowns.

''It's great that both of us will run track and play football at Auburn,'' Pierre-Louis said. ``Harry is a great sprinter. Football helps track, and track helps football. I think it will make each of us work harder at what we do. It will make us push each other.''

Adams said his injury woes started at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Maryland last March. Running on an indoor surface for the first time, Adams pulled his left hamstring and finished sixth in the 60 meters. After sitting out the regular season to rehabilitate, Adams attempted a comeback at the district meet, but his rustiness showed with a false-start in the 100 finals and later by aggravating his hamstring injury rounding the curve in the 200.

FULL-SPEED AHEAD

Adams said the football season set back his recovery, but he expects to be at full speed March 29. It will mark the first time the two have squared off since Adams' two stirring come-from-behind victories over Pierre-Louis at the county championships two years.

''I want people to start doubting me,'' Adams said. ``That is what I did my sophomore year, and I showed up. I'm cool with Philip, but we can be friends when we get to college. When we line up, it is a different story. When that gun pops, I am out of there.''