Berkley Senior Eyes Record and Return Trip to State Finals

Three years ago, a friend suggested that Justin Peguese join the track and field team.

In this case, caving in to a bit of peer pressure proved to be a good thing.

Peguese’s willingness to listen to his friend then has him hungry now to cap his high school career with a Berkley record and a return to the state meet.

The senior is the Bears’ lone returning state qualifier for the boys squad in 2011.

He made it out of regionals and all the way to the Division 1 state preliminaries last spring with a 6-foot-1 performance in the high jump.

This time around, Peguese aspires to the Division 1 finals June 4 at Rockford High School in the high jump and the long jump.

While poor weather conditions and a spring break cruise with friends have created some holes in his training, the future still looks bright for Peguese.

“Because Justin showed such dramatic improvement between his sophomore and junior year, we are expecting a substantial PR (personal record) this season,” Berkley assistant coach Sarah Berman said.

“We also expect that Justin will return to the state finals. In fact, with added practice, Justin could be equally successful in long jump," she said.

“This year, we will count on Justin to not only bring us solid performances in both high jump and long jump, but also use his natural speed to add depth to our boys sprint unit. His ability was underused last year,” Berman said.

Peguese has a fondness for the jumping field events, and he’s not shy about it.

However, Berkley head track and field coach Les Hale said he wishes Peguese would see the benefits of concentrating on running along with the jumping events.

“He’s a good athlete, but if I would take that very next step, he could be a great,” Hale said of Peguese. "And I mean not just qualifying for states. I think he could place high at states if he would take that next step. He has that kind of potential in both high jump and long jump.”

What does Peguese need to do to take that next step?

“Work harder. Don’t run away from the workouts,” Hale said. "He just loves jumping, but in order to jump, you have to run, and running will help his jumping.”

Hale would love to see Peguese running in the 400 dash, 100, 200 or the sprint relays.

As the point guard for the past two seasons on the Berkley varsity boys basketball team, Peguese has done his fair share of running. Yet when it comes to track workouts, running is not his top choice.

Of course with his high school career quickly coming to a close, Peguese may reconsider his stance on focusing only on his field events.

“I’m not really a sprinter,” Peguese said. “I’ve never liked running, but if it’s going to make me better, I might as well do it.”

A change of heart may stem from the fact that Peguese has some lofty goals he’d like to accomplish before June.

“I want to try to get above 6-5 in high jump, and in long jump, I want to break the school record," he said. The long jump school record is 21-10, set by Jim Wright in 1933.

Record or not, Peguese has his work cut out for him. His personal bests are 6-3 in high jump and 19-11 feet in long jump.

“I’m going to have to do a lot of leg work and practice,” Peguese said.

In addition, Peguese is driven to get back to the state meet, which he experienced for the first time in 2010.

“That’s, like, my main goal: Get back to states,” Peguese said.

Peguese always had an interest in basketball, and he played on the team all four years of his high school career.

As a sophomore, he added track to his sports resume.

“My friend told me I should,” Peguese said of why he joined track. “So I thought I might try it out. I found out I wasn’t that bad.”

Away from the track, Peguese is looking into his college options.

He hopes to continue his basketball career at either the Division I or Division II level after graduating from Berkley.