By Kyle LoJacono
Wesley Chapel senior Ravin Gilbert runs with the grace and power of a seasoned veteran, but the sprinter is a relative newcomer to life on the track.
Rewind three years and Ravin was only interested in basketball, which she started playing at age 9. She was a guard on the Wildcats basketball team as a freshman and sophomore.
“I hadn’t thought about track, but there was this coach, who’s at Wiregrass now, who kept telling me to come out,” Ravin said. “Every day she was like ‘Ravin join track.’ After the basketball season all the players went out, and I went with them.”
Wesley Chapel 12-year girls track coach Brian Colding instantly saw Ravin’s ability.
“I saw a lot of raw talent, but there’s a lot more to track and field,” Colding said. “There’s starting, power and just different aspects than just running fast. I saw somebody with a lot of talent who had potential, but who also had a lot of work ethic and was going to put in the time to work.”
It took much more than Ravin anticipated to be a competitive sprinter.
“When I realized all the little things it takes to run track I was just like ‘oh my gosh,’” Ravin said. “You’ve got the blocks to start, and that was really weird. Then they started teaching me form. I was just like ‘let me go out there and just run.’ ”
She also found her main events, the 100- and 200-meter, are more dissimilar than expected.
“The 200 is longer, but it’s also the curves so you have to think about more things while you’re running it,” Ravin said. “The 100 you just have to have pure speed. In the 200 you have to have endurance and speed.”
David and Phaedra Gilbert, Ravin’s parents, have no track background. David said he is a little surprised at how far she’s come with the sport, but not because of any lack of commitment.
“Ever since she joined track she’s done everything she can to be the best,” David said. “She gives everything she has into everything she does. She always wants to be at practice. When she gets home she stretches and works on her legs to make sure she’s ready to practice the next day.”
Ravin burst onto the scene that first season as a sophomore when she won a district championship in the 200 while placing second in the 100.
It was only a glimpse of what she would accomplish as a junior when she made the Class 2A state meet in the 100 and 200, finishing seventh overall in both in 12.72 seconds and 25.18 seconds, respectively. She also claimed district titles in the 100 and 200 while helping the Wildcats take second in the 4×100 relay.
Ravin is the Wildcats’ record holder in the 200 at 24.89, set last year at regionals, and is five hundredths of a second from the 100 record of 11.98.
“I want to get the 100 record,” Ravin said. “If I do then I’ll know I’ve set a mark here.”
Colding said he expects Ravin to get the 100 record this year because of how much better she has gotten the last 12 months.
“She’s running faster now than she was at this time last year,” Colding said. “What I’m also seeing is more strength and more speed stamina than what she had. We’ve had her work on longer distance speed, like the 400-meter type workouts, to keep that stamina you need to bring those times down.”
Raven Lewis and Steven Rivers, Ravin’s AAU coaches, have also seen huge strides.
“The best is yet to come for her,” Lewis said. “I think she’ll put up times that will be good enough to turn a lot of heads. … This is a young lady of integrity, and that comes from her parents. Just being around them you can tell she’s not going to take any shortcuts.”
Rivers said another big part of Ravin is how much she wants her team to succeed.
“It’s all about the team with her,” Rivers said. “She will actually sacrifice for her team if it were up to her. … In life you have opportunities to develop yourself, but to gain richness in life you have to help develop others. She has a natural concept of that.”
Ravin will run at Georgia State University on a full track scholarship, something that seemed impossible three years ago.
“If you’d said Ravin you’re going to Georgia State on a full ride, I would have said there’s no way; it’s not me” Ravin said. “I’d never expect to run this fast.”
Ravin will get the chance to claim some more high school hardware at the Class 2A-District 9 meet at Berkeley Prep on Friday, April 13 starting at noon.
