Benefield: Montgomery’s Jaymes Tischbern sprints his way to the top

Jaymes Tischbern ran a Redwood Empire-best 10.97 in the 100 meters in a veritable monsoon this month, which begs the question: What could this guy do with dry socks, balmy temperatures and the ability to see the finish line?

Tischbern, a junior at Montgomery, has emerged as the Empire's fastest sprinter at the virtual midpoint of track season, posting top times in both the 100 and 200 meters.

But perhaps no effort has been more impressive than his mark posted as the heavens opened at the Santa Rosa Twilight Invitational track meet April 7.

It makes one wonder at what this guy's ceiling might be this season.

Tischbern's doing a little wondering, too.

“10.97 is good, but I'm not satisfied with it,” he said.

It was that drive to see what he had in him that was a contributing factor to his times dropping this season.

When Tischbern turned up at track practice at the beginning of last season, he was fresh off the Vikings' soccer season and hadn't run track since he was an eighth grader at Slater Middle School.

Still, he quickly established himself as a speedy force.

But there was a North Bay League foe he couldn't seem to best: Maria Carrillo senior Ian Herculson.

“He basically said, ‘I want to be that guy,'?” said Josh Mesa, a personal trainer who worked with Herculson and whom Tischbern tapped to help him drop time.

“Immediately when I saw Jaymes run I saw that he had a ton of raw ability but his form was not very good,” Mesa said.

That's the bad news.

The good news?

Coaches say with work and a little form-tinkering, the sky is the limit with Tischbern.

“He redefined what hard work was to him,” Mesa said. “He had been able to get by on natural ability for a long time.”

Tischbern knows as much.

“Technically, I was just running,” he said. “I didn't have any form. I was just running based on what I had. I decided if I have this gift, why not evolve?”

And evolving meant sometimes working until he saw his lunch twice in one day.

“I was like, I don't want to be this guy who doesn't try,” he said. “So I worked and worked and worked. It's just going to add up and I'm going to be someone I want to be.”

So Tischbern dropped soccer, a sport he loves, to focus on a sport he thinks might be able to take him to college.

“I ran last year and it ended up working out,” he said. “I said, I'm just going to commit to this fully. This is what I'm going to do.”

“I have a real chance of making it somewhere in track,” he said.

A boon for Tischbern's progress has been introduction of teammate Sakea Rokotuiviwa. Another raw speedster, the junior transfer from Fiji, has the tools to press Tischbern every day.

Rokotuiviwa posted a 10.98 on April 1, but a timer malfunction means his time will now be listed as 11.1 hand time.

Having two guys with natural speed lining up for workouts every day is a boon for the Vikings' program. And the daily competition should push each runner's times lower.

“I want him to be faster, I want me to be faster,” Tischbern said. “Saki is a great guy. I love him.”

“It's great for both of us and the school,” he said.

Agreed, said Montgomery's sprint coach Bryan Bradley.

“It's awesome,” he said. “In the seven years I've been here, there's only been one fast guy.”

The daily rivalry has been sidelined in recent weeks as Rokotuiviwa nurses a sore hamstring sustained at the Twilight meet. The next meet for Montgomery will be their host event, the Viking Track Classic on Saturday.

Tischbern wants to one better his sophomore effort in which his season ended at the NCS Meet of Champions.

This year, he wants to run at the CIF state track and field meet.

And that means getting faster.

Tischbern has posted the fifth fastest time in the section in both the 100 and 200-meters. Only the three fastest guys from the NCS meet in May will book a ticket to the state meet in Clovis.

He has his eyes set on trimming is 100-meter time to 10.7 and his 200-meter time from 22.6 to 21.8.

That's a pretty significant slice of time. But we've seen what happens when Tischbern doubles down and puts his mind to something.

“I don't want to regret anything.”

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes and SoundCloud“Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”