Athlete of the Week – Rex Serpe – April 6, 2018

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This week’s Athlete of the Week, Senior Rex Serpe, possesses immense ability as a runner, but what separates Rex from other great runners is his aptitude for leading with impeccable character, unrivaled enthusiasm, and a deep yearning to make everyone around him better. This exceptional leader’s Track and Field career is coming to an end, but the mark Rex has left on the program will be felt for many years to come.

“While Rex is a tremendously talented runner, it is his leadership during a workout that helps to galvanize the team,” Head Coach Jim Lancaster said of Rex Serpe. “With a very young team, Rex helps set the tone by consistently demonstrating what hard work should look like on the track and in the weight room.”

The distance programs have a core of young, talented, and eager athletes Rex continues to mentor and the culture of dedication, hard work, and passion is directly attributed to this leadership.

“There has been a renaissance of sorts regarding the running programs at Cape Henry and Rex deserves a lot of credit for this,” Coach Lancaster continued. “ When Rex started, the Track and Field teams were small in number and, frankly, searching for the spark to make the program competitive at higher levels of competition. But as Rex prepares for graduation, he has left the team in a better state than he found it.”

Over the course of the competition last week, Rex dominated in all three distance events he participated in. Covering 3.5 miles of racing in the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m is an arduous task for any athlete to complete, but Rex earning 1st place in each event is an astonishing accomplishment. The boys earned 47 total points en route to a 4th place finish, with Rex earning over half of the total points for the Dolphins despite the imperfect conditions.

Coach Lancaster stated, “Thursday’s weather was pretty nice for a sprinter, but 75-80 degrees and sunny is tough on a distance runner.  You lose your electrolytes sweating, bake in the sun, and feel worn out. To put together three good distance races on a day like that is tough, but to PR in one of those, the 800m, is pretty special.”

When asked how Rex has improved, Coach Lancaster believes, “Last year, he was prone to starting too fast and becoming anaerobic in the first lap or two of a distance race. This year, Rex has become a much more patient runner. We constantly discuss it is not who is in the front after the first lap of a race, but who is in the front at the end.”

While the charismatic Senior has unfortunately been sidelined with a foot injury, the entire Dolphin Community is hopeful to find Rex back in action and leading the Dolphin Track and Field Program to a conference title.