Osorio put on a show

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Osorio put on a show

Sports

Friday, 12 August 2011 14:07

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News-Gazette Photo/Andrew SullivanTyler Osorio displays the two Class 3A state championship medals he won for Celebration.

Storms printer dashed to state titles

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Tyler Osorio said he doesn’t think he can play football at the Southeastern Conference level, though at 6-2 and 200 pounds with 10.58 speed at 100 meters, he would seem to have the credentials.

“When I was younger, I thought so. But, then the reality set in,” Osorio said.
Well, the reality isn’t so bad. He still landed an SEC scholarship, albeit in track rather than football.
Osorio will compete for Coach Mike Holloway’s No. 1-ranked University of Florida track program.
“The decathalon is what they were saying when I signed, but we’ll see how that works out when I get up there,” Osorio said.
After winning Class 3A state championships at 100 and 400 meters, Osorio should be a welcome addition at UF.
Favored all season to win at 400 meters, which he did easily with a time of 47.86 seconds, Osorio’s performance at 100 meters was a surprise.
Only Class 4A Boone High sensation Marvin Bracy, the fastest prep runner in the nation this year, had a faster time than Osorio at the state meets.
“I had never run the 100 before this season,” Osorio, the Osceola News-Gazette Male Track Athlete of the Year, said.
After running a hand-held time of 10.6, he and Celebration coaches Joel Fox and Corey Green decided it might not be a bad idea for Osorio to make that one of his prime events. He kept getting faster, qualifying at the district and regional meets.
Green worked with Osorio on his start the week before the state meet, and that training paid off. Osorio dropped from 10.70 seconds, his winning time at the regional, to 10.58.
“That was probably the difference in the 100,” Fox said.
The versatile Osorio also was strong in the triple jump, where he reached the regionals, the 300 hurdles, where he placed at the FSU Invitational, and as anchor man of the Storm’s 4 x 400 relay to a berth at the state meet.
In June, Osorio tuned up for his college career by clocking 21.64 at 200 meters against an elite field at the Great Southwest Classic in New Mexico. He also ran on a 4 x 100 relay that ran 40.07 seconds.
Fox said Osorio was one of the school’s best athletes from the day he arrived on campus four years ago, and he kept getting better despite a series of injures that slowed him as a sophomore and as a senior.
“Tyler is a great athlete and an even better young man. Coaching him has been a privilege. From day one, he was focused on winning a state championship, so to see him reach that goal after four years of hard work is rewarding,” Fox said.
Osorio had the ability to win a state championship earlier in his career, his coaches said, but he pulled a hamstring during his sophomore football season that set back his training. Last fall, a shoulder injury that required surgery nearly derailed his senior track season.
“It happened in the last game,” he said. “I started out slow this year. I was running 49s (at 400 meters) and I was a little concerned. But, when I ran (47.76, a PR) at FSU, I started feeling confident again.”
Osorio became the second Storm athlete to land a track scholarship to Florida. Distance runner Sean Blaney, a former cross country state champion, signed with UF in 2006 and enjoyed a productive career.
“I had a good meet up there at the Florida Relays, and their coach offered me the scholarship,” Osorio said. “I was pretty psyched about it.”
Florida State also offered Osorio a scholarship.
“Their first offer wasn’t as good as what Florida gave me. Then they asked me what Florida offered, that they would match it,” he said. “But, I had already committed to Florida and I felt more comfortable sticking with that.”
Osorio, a multi-purpose weapon on the football field for the Storm last season, whcn he had 676 receiving yards, rushed for 370 yards and made 43 tackles, had many football offers from smaller college programs.
“There was nothing I felt comfortable signing,” Osorio said. “I always thought that I would sign a football scholarship, but after I finished fifth (at 400 meters, 49.47) at the state meet last year, I started leaning more toward track.”
Osorio won the triple jump (42-10), the 100 (10.79) meters and the 400 (49.58) meters dashes at the Orange Belt Conference meet, displaying almost freakish speed for a big man. He edged Osceola’s Defario Phillips in the 100 meters. Phillips will run on scholarship at Florida A&M.
Coach Fox said Osorio is an ideal athlete to coach.
“Tyler always puts in the work. You know that he is always going to give it everything he has,” Fox said.
“We could see it when he was a freshman that he was going to be something special.”
Osorio earned the respect of rival coaches in Osceola County.
Eric Pinellas, who coached Osceola’s state champion sprinter, Tynia Gaither, said Osorio deserves the UF scholarship and all of his rewards.
“He puts in the work. You love to see a kid like that succeed, because he is all heart,” Pinellas said.
“I’m happy for him.”