This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
02/22/2017 11:00 PMOmar Gebril came to North Haven High School thinking he’d be a basketball player, but his decision to join the indoor and outdoor track programs has proved one of the greatest moves of his life. Omar loves basketball and planned to play all four years with the Indians. Once he hit the track, however, Omar saw he had potential and started to focus his energy on that sport. Now a senior, Omar has since put together an exceptional track career at North Haven that’s seen him claim eight victories at postseason meets between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
“Once I noticed all the success, I realized basketball isn’t going to take me that far, so I decided to focus on track. The rest is history,” says Omar. “My coach told me that if I wanted to be great, I’d have to do indoor track, as well as outdoor. I didn’t buy it at first, but he convinced me that if I wanted to be elite, I should do indoor. Once I started to earn that success, it felt good and I wanted more.”
Omar’s indoor postseason victories have all come in the 600-meter run. He’s won the event at the SCC West Sectional Championship and the Class L State Championship in each of the last two winter seasons. For outdoor, Omar has taken first place in the 400-meter dash twice at the SCC Championship and once at both sectionals and states.
Omar puts plenty of work into his craft. Regular practices aren’t enough for him, so he makes sure to get in extra workouts throughout the week.
“Once I realized what I could be, I went to the gym more. After practice, I’d go home, eat dinner, and do another workout by myself because I want to be great,” Omar says. “I go to my second practice at Breakout Athlete in North Branford. I feel like they share my success with me and they’ve made me grow as a person and an athlete.”
All of this extra effort has played a huge hand in Omar’s success at the marquee meets. North Haven’s indoor track Head Coach Marc Celmer says that Omar always shines in the spotlight.
“He’s worked really hard and you can’t ask for anything more than what he’s done, the kind of effort he gives, and what he gives to the team,” says Celmer. “He lives off of pressure. He’s a big-time competitor and he thrives off of that competition. His best meets have always been at the end of the year and his last [personal-record time] was done at New Englands. You can’t get to a much higher level than that.”
Omar loves the feeling that comes with winning and, like Coach Celmer says, he isn’t afraid of embracing the pressure that comes with running at the championships.
“When I get to those big meets, I get really nervous because, if I don’t win, I’m a failure. I put that in my head,” says Omar. “I want to go out there and make my name worth remembering. To do that, you have to get those big wins. That’s what motivates me to win those big races.”
Omar enjoys running both of his trademark events, but says the 400 is his favorite. Omar likes how the competition is a little tighter in the 400 as compared to the 600.
“I honestly think the 400 is harder and it’s my favorite because it’s just a full lap of sprinting. That last 100, that comes down to who has more heart and who wants to finish strong. Everyone is shot, so it comes down to who wants it more and I love that feeling,” says Omar, who’s considering running track at UConn, Stony Brook, and Rhode Island. “I know if someone is next to me, I’ll want to beat them. It comes down to the wire more and that doesn’t always happen in the 600.”
Omar is also a captain for North Haven’s indoor team this winter. Although track is a sport that’s based around individual events, Omar always makes sure that his teammates are ready for every meet.
“I like that role a lot because I feel like I’m one of the leaders on the team. You have to make sure you watch what you’re doing, have to lead by example, and, whenever kids come with questions, have to have the right answers,” he says. “It feels good to be captain to be the leader your teammates look up to.”