Prentice Is Focused on Clearing Hurdles
Wearing a hood to protect his head, Terry Prentice of Pomona Diamond Ranch ignored the rain and cool temperatures as he ran around the track during a stormy workout that concluded with a vigorous training session in the weight room.
It’s all part of his plan to become a state champion. It could happen this spring in the long jump, the 110-meter high hurdles or the 300 intermediate hurdles.
Prentice, a junior and the son of teachers, is an athletically gifted and well-rounded teen-ager.
In 2004, he set a freshman record while finishing fifth in the 300 hurdles at the state finals in Sacramento, where he also placed seventh in the 110 hurdles. Last spring, he made it back to Sacramento, placing fifth in the long jump and fifth in the 110.
However, he’s tired of fifth-place finishes.
“I don’t like that number,” he said. “I’m out with a vengeance this year.”
He has grown two inches and gained 10 pounds since last year, leaving him at 5 feet 10 and 156 pounds. He leaped a career-best 24 3/4 in an indoor long jump last month in Idaho.
He has worked diligently on building up his leg muscles. He recently ran the 100 meters in 10.7 seconds, a clear demonstration that he’s getting faster.
And he hasn’t even reached the ultimate moment, when he wants to show everyone what he’s capable of doing.
“It’s not peak time yet,” he said. “When peak time comes, you’ll see a peak performance.”
As impressive as he is athletically, Prentice leaves an even more indelible impression by the way he lives.
“He never misses a practice,” Coach Jeff Gilbert said. “You tell him to do something, he does it.”
Prentice is a walking, talking encyclopedia of U.S. history.
At 17, he has been to 48 of the 50 states, having traveled with his parents in a motor home, exploring America’s culture, heritage and history.
“I’ve been everywhere and exposed to everything,” he said.
From Plymouth Rock to the Grand Canyon, from Yellowstone to Gettysburg, from the White House to Constitutional Hall, he has seen America’s diversity and felt its thirst for freedom. He has gone trout fishing in the High Sierras, visited Indian reservations in Arizona and had his photo taken in Harvard Square.
He has eaten catfish in Louisiana, grits in Arkansas and lobster in Maine thanks to his mother, who said, “I like to go to the finest restaurants, and my husband gets mad because of the bill.”
He was a young boy in 1992 when he was in Barcelona, Spain, for the Olympic Games. He remembers watching Michael Johnson set the world record in the 200 at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
All these family outings, vacations and adventures have given him an unusual perspective for a teenager.
“It’s broadened my culture,” he said. “I do everything. I’m an outdoorsman. I’m friends with everybody. It makes me open to everything.”
In particular, he has come to enjoy his yearly trips to see relatives in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
“I love going to the South the most,” he said. “I love the atmosphere. I like all the trees and the people. It’s slower-moving.”
His father, Ernest, was a teacher and coach at Pomona Garey for close to 30 years. His mother, Gloria, is a teacher at Garey. He has a brother who is a teacher in Arizona and another brother who is a school administrator in California.
Before high school, Prentice competed in soccer and basketball and played saxophone in the school band. He decided track deserved his complete attention, so leaping higher and running faster has become his focus.
“It’s just fun,” he said. “The thrill of people watching you and the rhythmic clapping....The atmosphere is cool.”
Prentice is determined to win a state championship, along with traveling to Hawaii and Alaska, the two states he has yet to visit.
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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
