Morgan County sprinter Dallas Dickerson has a serious need for speed.
Dickerson competes in the 100-meter and 200-meter races but also is part of the 4x100-meter relay team. The sophomore speedster has excelled this season and has set multiple personal records for the ‘Dogs.
“Competing against higher classifications makes me better and running against faster people makes me run faster,” Dickerson said. “The season is going well for me. I’ve reached my goals already. I tried to set a high bar and from now on, I’ve got to keep climbing the ladder and see if I can place at the state meet.”
At 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, Dickerson has performed well against high-level competition this year.
This past Saturday at Huey Magoo’s Running with the Devils Invite in Loganville, Dickerson set a new personal best in the 100-meter dash with a 10.76 mark. His second-place finish was less than a second behind Monroe Area’s C.J. Wilburn, who finished fourth in the 100-meter at the Class 3A state meet last year.
Dickerson also finished behind Wilburn and Elijah Thomas, a talented athlete from Grayson in Class 7A, in the 200-meter dash. Regardless, Dickerson set another personal record with a 22.01-second mark in the 200-meter race.
Dickerson broke two school records – in the 100-meter and 200-meter races – this past Saturday. His effort and dedication to burning up the rubber has made an impression on new Morgan County track coach Kelan Fraise.
“Dallas (Dickerson) is an ideal student-athlete. He shows up for practice as well as the track meets ‘on the go’ ready to compete,” the first-year head coach said.
“He is a team player, yet is self-motivated, challenges himself to get and be better, and views his competition as motivation. We talked about his end goals and what he wanted to run by the end of the season.
We both accepted the challenge, put together workouts, and his results in each track meet this season prove he has what it takes to be in the top 50 in the state.”
This is Dickerson’s first full-season running track. Last year, he tried to play baseball and run track at the same time. He decided to quit baseball and focus solely on track, and it paid off for him. Dickerson has seen improvements from last season to this year due to how hard he worked in the off-season.
“I’m much more developed than I was last year,” he said. “In year one, I wasn’t as dedicated as I am this season with the importance of health and nutrition. I am keeping my body right and preparing more before meets. Stuff like that has been the difference between years one and two.”
Dickerson is a multi-sport athlete and plays football in the fall for Morgan County. He was a deep threat for the Dogs’ offense on the perimeter last season, and his speed on the gridiron has also kept him in shape for track.
Fraise also coaches football and Dickerson said the coach has helped him make the transition from one sport to the other go much smoother.
“Coach (Fraise) is very serious about the workouts and is dedicated to me and other runners,” Dickerson said. “The certain workouts he has me do help me out a lot, whether it’s an explosive workout in the weight room or it’s on the track for a speed and endurance exercise. I think he’s helped me tremendously this year, especially after he just got done running in college. It’s easy to relate to him and he’s been a great coach so far.”
Morgan County track and field has three more meets before the end of the regular season, including a home meet on April 4. Dickerson and the ‘Dogs will then compete at Harlem in the region meet the next week.
Dickerson anticipates performing well and placing high enough to make it to sectionals and then to state in Albany.
“I want to do well and end up in Albany,” Dickerson said. “Now I have a new set of goals I want to achieve.”