BELLEVILLE - Senior sprinter Sam Elliott-Barnes is a great 2024 outdoor track season.
Elliott-Barnes began the season winning his first race of the year in taking the 200 meters at the Norm Armstrong Invitational meet Apr. 6 at Belleville West's Bob Goalby Field, having a time of 21.83 seconds. He has also has posted a best of 10.78 in the 100 meters in the Granite City Invitational for first and a 50.31 best in the 400 meters at the Granite City Invite, another first.
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He also has run key legs on the 4 x 100, 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relay teams for the Redbirds.
Elliott-Barnes is an Auto Butler Male Athlete of the Month for AHS. He also ran a time of 49.86 in the 400 meters and 6.99 in the 60 meters indoors under coach Ebony Abscher of Elite Force Athletics In Alton and he qualified for the New Balance Nationals Indoor Meet. Abscher said being under 7.0 in the 60 and 50 in the 400 were tremendous accomplishments for Elliott-Barnes.
During the indoor season, Elliott-Barnes ran the 400 meters in 50.42 seconds, for the Redbirds, a school indoor record, and finished in 12th at the Illinois Top Times meet, the unofficial state indoor championship meet, as a runner from Barrington won the event at 49.60 seconds.
"It's my first year running in the 400," Elliott-Barnes said during a recent interview, "and I was proud to be number one in Class 3A."
He's set a goal to break the Alton school record of 48.20 seconds before the end of the season, and he felt very surprised by his time in the race at the Top Times meet.
"I trained really hard, this being my last year with the school and outside," Elliott-Barnes said.
That hard work during the summer is starting to pay off handsomely, and he had a goal of running a 10.5 or 10.6 in the 100 meters, while going between 20 and 21 seconds in the 200 meters. Although he's starting to excel in the 400 meters, he prefers the 200 meters as his favorite race.
He's also a good student in the classroom, with a 3.2 GPA, and is considering many college offers, as he's gotten faster. He's also taking one of the freshmen on the team under his wing to show him how to do things correctly.
It's his younger brother, Isaiah.
"I am looking to create my own path, with my little brother well on his way," Elliott-Barnes said. "I can set a good example on the path he can follow."
Isaiah is going to be a role player on the 4x400 relay team this season, and Sam predicts that he'll do well in that event.
"He's going to be a role player on the 4x400," Elliott-Barnes said, "and having coach (Jeff White) develop him. He has the same genes."
Again, congrats to Sam Elliott-Barnes on his selection as an Auto Butler Male Athlete of the Month for the Redbirds.
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