Published: May 08, 2008 12:00 am            

Camacho aims for school record

One minute, 55.6 seconds.

That’s Cody Camacho’s biggest opponent when he runs the 800 meters for the Enid Plainsmen for the final time at the state Class 6A track meet at Ardmore Saturday.

Camacho is chasing Donnie Childs’ school record that has stood since 1986. A record he came so close to last season, when Camacho had a 1:55.9.

“That gives me more motivation and determination to go after it,’’ Camacho said. “When you get that close to it, it makes you mad .... that you could have done it if you had done something different.’’

Camacho ran his best time of the year with a 1:59.6 in winning the Skiatook regional last week. The cold and winds of an unseasonably cool spring have prevented him from seriously challenging it so far.

His heart, he said, will dictate his fate.

“A lot of times it comes down to who wants it the most,’’ Camacho said. “It’s the person willing to do the work and pushing yourself to reach that goal. This week I’ve been telling myself how much I really want it.’’

Camacho took more than two seconds off his time at state a year ago, an encouraging sign for this weekend.

“I’m planning on dropping that much,’’ he said. “I’m going to push myself until I’m passed out on the track.’’

Camacho talked with Childs during the football season. The current record holder encouraged his challenger.

“He told me just to ‘give it your all and not have any regrets,’’’ Camacho said. “That would be a very big accomplishment for me. It’s something I could show my kids ... look what I accomplished here.’’

Camacho has the third best time of runners who have qualified for state so far. The mindset of distance runners is more of a brotherhood, not at all the trash talking that accompanies the sprints.

He is close friends with Jenks’ Rob Redwins, the race favorite. The two ran together on Oklahoma’s 3,200-meter race at the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., last summer.

He said distance runners tend to laugh at the sprinters’ trash talking. Running, he said, is “not about making each other look stupid.’’

“We try to push each other to our limits,’’ Camacho said. “It’s not about trying to see who’s better. We encourage each other to get better. We might take turns setting the pace or we have one guy setting the pace and the others hanging with him until the last part of the race. Then it’s every man for himself.

“We’re all trying to hit certain times. We all want to get faster. We do like to place in the top three or win, but we’ll congratulate whoever wins. As long as we set our own personal records, a lot of us are satisfied with that.’’

His first goal is to break Childs’ record.

Enid coach Joe Miranov will be calling out times so Camacho will know if he’s on the right pace.

“Coach Miranov will be telling me when to start going after it,’’ Camacho said.

Camacho has good memories of the track at Ardmore. As a freshman, he teamed with Justin DeClerck, Kerryn Sarwansingh and Tim Richard to finish 11th in the state with a 8:37.18.

“That was a lot of fun,’’ he said. “I started my state career at Ardmore and now I’m ending my career there. It’s a really nice facility. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’’

Camacho was the Plainsmen’s starting strong safety in football. He’s a rarity among long distance runners.

“You have to slim down and tone up for track season,’’ he said. “As a senior, I’ve been running as much as I can and working on stuff.’’

He tries to get four to five miles in during a daily workout. Camacho focuses more on stamina and endurance with some speed work.

“A lot of distance running is focus,’’ he said.

He has won seven of eight races this season, coming in second to Union’s Jordan Gullic at the Union meet March 14.

The meet promises to be emotional for him, regardless of whether he breaks Childs’ record or not.

“It’s to be really hard for me to say goodbye,’’ he said. “I have a bunch of friends here. I grew up having coach Miranov, coach G (Marlene Gelsthorpe) and coach Fitz (Scott Fitzgerald) coaching me. I know a lot of seniors are working really hard to do the best in everything they do.’’

Camacho will team with Kegan Reeves, Ben Foster and Colton Eckert to run in the 3,200-meter relay Friday.

He has another incentive besides Childs’ records. Camacho plans to walk on at the University of Oklahoma. A strong state meet would send a message to the Sooners coaches.

“As soon as I get my acceptance letter, I’m going to start training with those guys,’’ he said. “I’m pretty pumped up about it.’’