By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
You just thought the high school track season was over.
Tripp Roemer, one of Loyola’s most decorated athletes in the school’s history, kept adding to his impressive long-distance resume even after he graduated last Friday.
Roemer had barely moved his tassel from the right side to the left side of his graduation cap before he hopped on a plane to participate in the Atlanta City Games last weekend.
The event was postponed a day due to weather, but when Roemer finally stepped to the starting line, he made the most of his opportunity.
He won the mile race with a 4:18.97 which, when converted to 1600 meters, is a time of 4:17.47. That ranks in the top five in 2024 for the Louisiana high school distance runners.
But when you look at the list of all-time miles in Caddo-Bossier history, Roemer’s time is fourth best – and the second-best in the last 50 years.
“It’s been something I have been working towards my whole high school career,” Roemer said. “To increase my times through heavy blocks of training while having fun is what the sport is all about.”
High school track records are determined in different ways. State records only count if they are set in the state meet. But the list of best times is accumulated from performances during the track season – and even after the season until an athlete enrolls in college.
Roemer had an idea during the Atlanta race that this might be something special. “Through 800 meters I noticed I was on pace for a 15 second PR (personal record),” Roemer said. “I was very surprised how good I felt at that point and knew that I was set to run a good time.”
Roemer said this wasn’t the typical race he might have expected.
“Since my race plan was to get out fast, it made me not have any competitors around me the whole race,” he said. “Not having that competition around me going into the third lap made pushing when I needed to push more difficult. I’m happy I could run this time without feeding off of other runners energy.”
The extra day off paid off in a number of ways.
“I was pretty exhausted from all the graduation activities,” Roemer said. “I think it was definitely beneficial to have an extra day of rest, but the temperature was higher and the competition was less than expected due to the inconvenience.”
Roemer said that only running in the mile – instead of the usual doubling up in the 1600 and 3200 he typically did at Loyola – gave him an even better shot at his goal.
“The goal was to qualify for Nike Nationals (4:21.50), and to just give it my all,” he said. “A lot of races I have done this year, I have not run the first half fast, so when I got on the line, I wanted to be aggressive from the start. I’ve ran the two mile a lot this season and hadn’t completely emptied the tank for any mile races this year, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to shoot for the stars.”
Roemer has signed with Furman University and when he arrives on campus in the fall, he will bring a boatload of credentials with him. He won the state championship twice in the 3200 and added a 1600 title this year as well. He also made the medal stand in his freshman and sophomore years.
He was also part of a state runner-up 4×800 relay team earlier this month. He’s also medaled in cross country and indoor track as well.
But he’s not done yet for the summer. He’s planning to compete again this weekend in Alabama in the 800 and mile. Later will join Loyola teammates Carter Ward, Mathis Stanberry and Reese Jacobs in Oregon at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.
“Having a good senior year of track should definitely propel me into what college running has to offer,” he said.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
