Devine Drummond a rising senior for the Patriots is looking forward to his final year at Independence hoping it will become a defining moment in his track career. The outstanding hurdler in particular the 300 meter hurdles finished eighth in the North Carolina state championship. He certainly has a lot of upside potential for Indy during the upcoming 2017-18 track season if he remains healthy.
Drummond has been on the track team at Indy since his freshman year. He also played football for two seasons as a wide receiver and strong safety. He has been named Tack Athlete of the Year twice during his high school career. Therefore, he is certainly an accomplished track athlete.
Unfortunately, in May 2016 Devine suffered a difficult injury when he had a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee, had to undergo surgery and experience a challenging 9 month recovery period including many hours in physical therapy.
In 2017 upon Drummond’s return the coaches allowed him to work back into competitive form at his own pace. No one wanted to risk a reoccurrence of the injury by pushing him to soon. It was a gradual build-up that became more advanced as time progressed. Devine’s goal was to get back to the regionals and compete in the state championship. He is currently running with Charlotte Flight to keep himself in top condition to continue to compete. He also plans to run Cross Country in the fall at Indy for the first time to condition and strengthen his right knee.
Devine achieved his goal to compete in both the regionals and states as a junior. He has high expectations for his senior year. In the NCHSAA 4A West Regionals he finished 4th in the 300 meter hurdles. In the states, he finished in 8th place with a 40.27 time in the 300 meter hurdles which was a personal best. He also holds the 2017 team records in the 110m hurdles 15.64 and 400m hurdles 64.95 (1.04.95). His goal this upcoming season is to shatter those personal and team best times. He would also like to return back to the state championship and compete at the nationals.
He is an honor student with a 3.3 GPA, Devine is involved with the theatre and dance group, while being selected for the Dream Team at Independence. He is also a religious young man and puts all his faith in the Lord. He thanks the almighty everyday for giving him the strength to continue to pursue his dreams due to his injury. He feels very fortunate to have a great surgeon at Ortho Carolina and excellent therapists in rehab.
He has been in contact with different colleges regarding the opportunity to participate and compete at the collegiate level as a student athlete. The institutions include Coastal Carolina, N.C. State, Clemson, Appalachian State and Campbell University. Devine due to his rehab experience wants to major in Health Sciences, Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy. He would also like to minor in musical theatre while attending college.
We at the Mint Hill Times look forward to following how this upcoming track season turns out for Devine as he is getting stronger everyday to compete, set new records and win.
