THE FRONT ROW with BRUCE BOURQUIN June 3, 2016: Duclos honors late brother with a state title

Before every race, Timberlake High senior sprinter Randy Duclos looked up to the sky.

Why did he do this each of the past two seasons in track and field?

Because nearly two weeks after his sophomore year at Timberlake, Randy Duclos went through a very painful loss in his family.

His older brother and Timberlake graduate, Tony Duclos, died of a rare form of cancer, passing away on June 17, 2014. Tony graduated in 2001 and was a student teacher in 2012, after he earned three college degrees, along with a secondary teaching certificate in social sciences. His primary goal was to one day teach at either Timberlake Junior High or the high school.

But unfortunately, Tony had a cancerous germ cell tumor near his heart and lungs.

“I didn’t get super close with him until he had cancer,” Randy said. “He was in college when I was born. He was in the hospital (hospice care) when he died. The one thing I remember most about him was how smart he was. He’d use these big words and I barely understood him. He was into learning new things, he had college degrees in psychology and teaching. He student taught in history and I’m pretty sure that’s what he would have done today. He taught me my eighth-grade year (in 2012) at Timberlake Junior High. He was laid-back and he was young, but everyone respected him and liked him; they didn’t have anything against him.”

SO DUCLOS did not write Tony’s name or initials on his sneakers or do anything outwardly like that.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has remembered him with a fairly quick, simple gesture that some competing coaches, sprinters and fans may or may not have noticed. That included, of course, just prior to his ultimate moment on May 21, when he won the 100-meter race in the state 3A track and field championships at Middleton High.

Duclos won in 11.39 seconds, holding off Emmett’s DJ Crump (11.44). He was also fourth in the 200 (23.32) and helped the Tigers come in second in the 4x100 relay (44.42), won by Emmett (44.07). The Timberlake boys team finished fourth in the team standings.

“In track, I’d look up to the sky before every race,” Duclos said. When I won state in the 100 meters, that was a big deal. I broke down in tears, I had worked so hard for it for so long, three to four years. I finished second to him (Crump) in state last year. Going down there was a big deal, it was my last year, my last chance, to win a state championship. There was a ton of pressure I put on myself. In the prelims, I got first in the 100 and was the top seed. That whole night after prelims, I got mentally prepared.”

Then Duclos did something I’m sure plenty of other competitors have done at the state meet, yet nothing anyone would recommend they would do. He was pretty overcome with emotion, having run so many races and doing well, winning most of them leading up to this moment that happened in front of his parents, Mark and Cami Duclos, and his brother Jack. Both of his parents work on the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center near where the family lives in Bayview, located 26 miles south of Sandpoint and near the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. Mark is a technical engineer, while Cami is an office manager.

“The next day in the finals, I was super nervous,” Duclos recalled. “Day two when the final (of the 100) came, all my work was building to that moment. I broke down crying, 10 to 15 minutes before the race. My coaches calmed me down. After that, it was like the world froze over. I don’t remember much before the race. I watched the video my coaches shot after the race. By the 30- or 40-meter mark, I was two strides ahead of everyone, then the kid from Emmett (Crump) caught up to me, he was on my outside hip on my right side. I had to hold him off. It was the best start I’ve ever had, then with about 10 meters left, I dug as deep as I could. I leaned super hard, because I was leaning so hard I almost fell over. The officials talked because they were figuring out whether he passed me at the end, but they ruled I won. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had. They gave me my medal, I went back to the coaches and I cried and I was so relieved.”

The runner-up finish in the 100 as a junior was fine, but of course Duclos went into his senior season looking to get that state title. As a junior, Duclos ran an 11.09 — the second-fastest 100 in Timberlake history — in the final to Crump’s 11.03.

“Tony’s passing, which was the year before my junior year, was what gave me more motivation to get better,” Duclos said. “I kept a super clean diet, I ran in the hallways during winter after school at Timberlake three times a week. Then when track season came, I’d go into practice more motivated. My coach (Brian Kluss) said I took practice sessions a little lighter in the beginning of last season. From day one, I worked harder. We’d do eight 200-meter sprints, four 100-meter runs. Coach Kluss would do a great job of helping us get better.”

Duclos plans to attend the University of Idaho, majoring in computer science. He is still deciding on whether he will walk on to the Vandals men’s track team, plus he wants to build a few computers and sell on the side.

“They don’t really build their team around sprinters,” Duclos said. “They build them more around the middle-distance ones, like the 400- or 800-meter races. Coach Kluss thinks that’s what they’ll do with me. I’ll do whatever they need me to do.”

KLUSS WAS stoked watching Duclos’ performance at state.

“He certainly had a great meet,” Kluss said. “He sold out for this meet. He wanted to make sure his start was great, he needed to get away in the first 20 to 30 meters. It was fun to watch him accomplish something he set a goal for 364 days before this (state) meet. When he races, he’s a tall dude, he’s a big sprinter. I think he has high potential.”

Kluss, who is also the offensive coordinator of the Timberlake football team in which Duclos was a wingback, shared an interesting story as to how Duclos became a sprinter.

“He used to run in the hurdles as a freshman and sophomore,” Kluss said. “He kept hurting himself in the groin and hip areas. In clearing them, he struggles and when you’re extended with the trail leg (the one that is bent and come over the hurdle soon after the plant or first leg), he had issues. We decided to move him to the 100, which worked out fine. We split them up so Jed Ward could run the hurdles and they were not competing for points in meets.”

What Duclos accomplished in the 4x100 relay race could be considered even more impressive.

“In the 4x100, we were in fourth when I was handed the baton,” Duclos said. “The handoff between Jordan (Hardy) and me was a bit offf, I had to slow down. But I popped (back) in second, then I tried to charge toward Emmett’s anchor runner (Crump).”

Kluss was pretty impressed by the fact Duclos passed two runners along the way — again, we’re talking only 100 meters here, as opposed to say, 200 or 400 — to help Timberlake finish second.

“If he had 10 or 15 meters more, he probably would have caught him,” Kluss said.

ON OCT. 17, 2014, Timberlake received a $5,000 donation for improvements to the weight room, courtesy of Tony Duclos. Tigers football coach Roy Albertson put the money to good use.

“We bought several three-way benches, bars and other equipment,” Albertson said.

Randy knows all about why Tony donated the money.

“He was into lifting weights,” Randy said. “He wasn’t into sports, but he liked that and took it seriously.”

Albertson used Randy Duclos mostly behind the tight end and he’s been a blocker, plus he played defensive end.

“He’s very strong and he’s broken several good runs,” Albertson said. “He’s explosive, he was consistent as a blocker. After Tony died, he had conversations with a few coaches, how it wasn’t fair, how it was happening to him (Tony). This was tough on Randy.”

But it was that toughness that helped push Duclos to a state championship.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, via e-mail at [email protected] or via Twitter @bourq25