Playoff Profiles : Maturity Is Crow’s Feat

From the 5 o’clock shadow on his face to his attitude about winning and losing in track and field, El Camino Real High senior Roderick Crow seems mature beyond his years.

At an age when most of his male classmates can sport only scraggly mustaches and goatees, Crow frequently sports a James Worthy-like, close-cropped beard.

The facial hair, combined with a quiet demeanor, give Crow an aura of strength and confidence uncommon in a typical high school senior. And when he speaks about competing, the maturity reaches beyond his persona.

In an era when winning is overemphasized, Crow is more concerned about giving his all than about winning the 400 meters at the City Section track championships at Birmingham High on Thursday.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to give the race away,” said Crow, who has run a City-leading 47.9 seconds. “But if you go out there and give it your best, no one can ever take that away from you. If you run your best and someone beats you, then you should congratulate them.”

Crow received plenty of congratulations May 10 after winning the 200, 400 and triple jump in the Northwest Valley Conference finals, but that success hasn’t gone to his head. He said he is surprised by his performances in the 400 this season because he regarded the 200 and the triple jump as his best events.

“I used to hate the [400],” Crow said. “I’m starting to like it, but at the start of the season, I was only going to run it to get in shape and score some points for the team.”

He became a 400 convert last month when he defeated Birmingham’s Maurice Threewitts, 49.5 to 49.9, in a dual meet. He followed that with his school-record 47.9 at the conference finals, but he won’t make any bold predictions about winning the City title.

“I think I ran the fastest I’m going to run a couple of weeks ago,” he said. “But you never know. Maybe I’ll surprise myself and run faster.”