Next In Line?

Burbank High's Greg Dotson, a junior, qualified for the CIF Southern Section finals in the boys' 800 meters. (Scott Smeltzer/The Leader)


Junior Greg Dotson looks to add his name to the list of all-time great Burbank runners when he takes part in the CIF 800 final

By Jeff Tully-Burbank Leader
Published: Friday, May 22, 2009

Greg Dotson realizes he is on the verge of joining a rare fraternity.As a runner at Burbank High, the junior is well aware of the history the school has in turning out successful distance and middle-distance athletes.Dotson is the latest distance running standout from Burbank, following in a long line of stars dating back to the 1960s with Rick Romero and Fred Ortega. Jeff Nelson, Lin Whatcott and John Musich led the way in the 1970s, Benny Cruz and Todd Lewis in the 1980s, Issac Turner in the 1990s and Kyle Ivie more recently. “It’s nice to be a part of that tradition,” said Dotson, who won the Pacific League championship in the boys’ 800 meters two weeks ago. “There have been some great runners here at Burbank. ”Dotson will be attempting to continue that tradition Saturday at the CIF Southern Section finals at Cerritos College.

The junior will be among an impressive group of athletes in the Division I 800 race that is scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m.A favorable result in the race would qualify Dotson for the Masters Meet on May 29 at the same venue. If he is fortunate to do well in that race, he would advance to the CIF-State Track and Field Championships June 5-6 at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of Buchanan High in Clovis. The last Burbank athlete to advance to state competition was Ivie, who qualified for the 1,600 in 2003. Prior to that, it was Turner, who qualified for the 800 in 1993.

Dotson said he looks forward to today’s finals race, and has made advancing to the state meet his utmost priority this season.“That has been my goal — to make it to state,” he said. “I’m looking forward to [today’s] race. I just want to qualify and move on.”The junior was able to qualify for the finals after a fine effort May 16 at the Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills High. Dotson placed fourth in the 800 meters in 1 minute, 55.55 seconds, running to 400-meter splits of 57.1 and 58.4. He avenged a subpar performance in last season’s prelims, where he placed 14th in 1:57.60 and failed to qualify for the finals. He captured the Pacific League 800 title on May 8 by running a scalding 1:53.83. With that result, Dotson is No. 9 in the state in the event.

Mac Fleet of University City of the San Diego Section is the state leader with a 1:50.31. Burbank Coach Trevor Marca said he thinks Dotson has the ability, and the mental capacity, to keep improving the next few weeks and hopefully make it to state. “I think he’s clearly capable of improving on what he done so far, and he is definitely moving up,” said Marca, a former standout distance runner in his own right at Burbank.“We have been doing some sharpening workouts and I think Greg’s got some more room to improve.”Marca said along with the physical improvement, Dotson has gained some maturity in his approach, and the way he handles big races. “He has a lot more experience this year than he did last year in the prelims,” Marca said.

“In the CIF prelims last year he kind of went into it like a fish out of water and a little wet behind the ears, and got beat up a little bit. But now has more experience, and every race is going to make him a little bit better in meets that are going to have deep fields. ”Dotson didn’t grow up a distance runner. In fact, he played baseball since he was 4. But instead of gravitating toward the diamond when he arrived at Burbank, he instead became interested in cross-country.“I didn’t want to do [physical education] during the first two seasons of the year, so I decided to go out for cross-country,” he said. “I ended up liking it and I also ended up liking track. “Running was definitely different than what I was used to. I had really only played baseball, and running was something that I just wanted to stay with.

”Along with his success in track and field, Dotson has also been a steady contributor in cross-country.In last year’s Pacific League cross-country finals, Dotson placed ninth in 16:30. He also won the Burbank All-City Meet in 16:18.In the Division I CIF prelims in a shortened race at Mount San Antonio College, Dotson was 26th in 11:09.Although he said he enjoys cross-country, he is more comfortable with the shorter races in track. “The 1,600 is really the longest race I’m comfortable with in track,” he said. “But I prefer the 800.”With a wealth of history behind him, Dotson is ready to add his name to the long list of former Bulldogs standout runners. It is an accomplishment that means a great deal to him.“It means a lot to be part of that,” he said. “I just want to do my best.”