Choctaw's Sinkey going the distance

By RANDY DICKSON

randyd@nwfdailynews.com

FORT WALTON BEACH — It didn’t take long for Mike Sinkey to catch the eye of first-year Choctawhatchee cross country coach Craig Henry.

And as the former captain of the cross country teams at Fort Walton Beach and the University of West Florida, Henry knows something about good distance runners.

“On top of natural ability, Mike just has more heart than a lot of runners out there,” Henry said. “He put in a lot of miles this summer.

“He’ll push harder and work harder (than most runners). He really knows how to embrace the pain and push through it.”

It might be said that Sinkey, a senior, took a road less traveled to arrive at Choctaw.

His early days in track were spent in Michigan where he got his start running middle distances in middle school. Early in his high school career, while still in Michigan, he ran just about everything from the sprints to distance events.

Last year Sinkey attended Fort Walton Beach and run the 800 before transferring to Choctaw and giving cross country a try.

“I’ve surprised myself,” he said. “This is my first year of doing cross country”

Sinkey hasn’t done badly for a beginner with a top time of 16:42. He’s even surprised himself with his strong showing.

“I didn’t expect t get into the 16:40s — I was just trying to break 17 (minutes),” he said. “But the way the workouts have been — how hard they’ve been, I’m not surprised at how I’m running now.”

Adjusting to a new school and a new sport presented challenges at first, but now Sinkey’s comfortable in his surroundings.

“At first it was hard because nobody knew me, but now it’s cool and I’m glad I did it,” he said.

Henry’s also glad Sinkey decided to make the move across town.

“It has really helped the team,” Henry said. “He really raised the standard of who’s going to be the best and the other guys have bought into that.

“He came from Fort Walton and they have a good program over there. I’m glad to have him on the team, and he’ll be an awesome guy to have in track too.”

Sinkey believes running cross country will only enhance his efforts in the middle distance races for the Indians when track season arrives in the spring.

“Last year I didn’t have any endurance and I still got it to a 2:04 (in the 800),” he said. “This year I think I can get in the 1:50s.

But for now Sinkey’s enjoy the change of pace cross country offers.

“Running track can be sort of boring running (around the track) over and over again,” Sinkey said. “In cross country running through the woods and stuff like that you feel like your running faster.

“And then at the end of the race you reach down and find that last little bit to deliver your closing kick.”