By Shannon Wright

This time of year, in Doyline, it’s not unusual to see student athletes running down College Street.

In the middle of the day, a group of high school athletes may be running down the road. Drivers may even find themselves briefly stopped by Coach Michael Normand, as the team pushes through another drill. 

There are no stadium lights here, no rubber lanes beneath their feet. It’s just a stretch of road marked with tape and something most people would never notice.

A crack in the road.

In a Facebook post, Normand reflected on the significance of what many overlook.

“The crack in the road means nothing to most of you,” he wrote, “but to anyone that’s run track here in the last 19 years, it’s a start and finish line.”

It’s the beginning of the 100 and 200-meter races, and the end of the grueling 400 and 800.

And somehow, it’s been enough.

“This ‘crack’ has helped build individual and team champions,” Normand said. “It has helped create discipline, work ethic, and drive. This ‘crack’ is not just a crack… it’s a track… OUR TRACK.”

While larger schools may have more state-of-the-art facilities, Doyline’s athletes have learned to make do with what they have.

In many ways, the lack of a traditional track may be their greatest strength. The very thing that fuels their fire.

The program’s success speaks for itself: a girls’ team state championship, a boys’ team state runner-up finish, two male MVPs – Tyreck Wilson and Jamari Markray, and a remarkable three-time female MVP – Izayla Harris.

Doyline Track presently holds four Louisiana class B records; girls 100m, 200m and 400m by Izayla Harris and girls shot put by Shelbie Waln.

Normand also reflected on what might have been.

“It’s irrelevant now and there’s no way to ever prove it,” he said, “but I’ll go to my grave knowing the Covid year of 2020 cost us a boys team championship. Honestly, I don’t even think it would have been close that year!”

Even so, the legacy remains.

Champions have been forged right here on College Street, where a simple crack in the road perfectly symbolizes one of Coach Normand’s sayings, “it’s not about where you start, it’s about where you finish.”