May 19—GRAND FORKS — Grand Forks Red River senior Owen Martin has competed in soccer since kindergarten.
He’s played through all sorts of weather conditions, but a game in South Dakota during his sophomore year stands out.
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“It was probably 20 degrees, hailing, crazy wind,” Martin said.
Playing in freezing conditions and on soggy fields seems to have equipped Martin for what has been a less-than-ideal spring for track and field competition this season.
“I went into it with the mentality of being a soccer player my whole life,” Martin said. “Games never got canceled for pretty much anything. I’ve been in those conditions before, and I can just compete with these guys and run as well as I typically can.”
Strong winds have been present even at the meets with ideal temperatures.
Still, Martin hasn’t appeared fazed.
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“He seems to have some sort of supernatural ability to run into the wind, better than anybody I’ve ever seen,” Roughriders boys head coach Jeff Bakke said. “He has consistently run about 50 (seconds) flat in the 400 for months, which is impressive, but he’s done it in all weather conditions. We’ve just been waiting for a nice day where he can really pop one, because we think that he’s going to go under 50 soon.”
Martin took first place in the 400 meters at the Eastern Dakota Conference meet with a time of 50.1 seconds.
He’ll head into this week’s North Dakota Class A track and field state meet in Bismarck with the third-best time in the 400, 50.05 seconds.
“I’m really happy with the season I’ve had so far,” Martin said. “I haven’t run the best times, but I’ve placed so well at every meet. I won’t be (remembered) as someone who ran the best times, but I’ll be someone that always won. I was always super good in (the 400), and that’s one positive I’ve taken from it.”
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Martin has pushed for a sub-50 time in the 400 all season, hoping to beat the school record of 49.15 seconds.
It’s a goal he’ll be chasing at the state meet.
“That Bismarck track is just so fast,” Martin said. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but just being in that atmosphere with everyone watching, and the wind in the (stadium) really does not affect you. And I say it every single year, but once you go to state, the times just drop. Everyone runs so well.”
Martin primarily ran in the 100 and 200 as a freshman, but at a meet near the end of the season, he tried out the 400.
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Martin finished with a solid time and stuck with the event as a sophomore. He made massive strides and his times continued to drop.
After his junior year, Martin became more intentional about track-specific workouts.
“In past years, all I did was go to the gym and lift weights, just trying to get stronger,” Martin said. “Then this year, I really focused a lot on more athletic lifts, and I would run two times a week, just short sprints. Then there would be one day a week where I’d go out to one of the coaches’ shops. They had this big treadmill, and I would just run these longer workouts, and they really helped me get into shape.”
Martin will also compete in three relays at the state meet. He’s part of the Riders’ 4×400 relay team, which is ranked fifth in Class A with a time of 3:27.19.
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Martin anchors the team of Camrin Cook, Isaac Dafoe and James Bryant. It’s a role in which he excels.
“He can run anywhere, but he is an extremely good anchor leg,” Bakke said. “He likes to have people in front of him, and he does a really good job of pacing people down and just finishing strong.”
Martin will race in the 4×200 and the 4×800, the latter of which he’s not especially familiar with.
The state meet will begin Thursday and end on Saturday at the MDU Resources Community Bowl.
