Lennard’s Winston signs with Western Kentucky

Posted Jul 8, 2010 by Bill Ward

Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 06:25 PM

Lennard’s De’Myco Winston, who won the Class 2A state track and field championship last season in the 400-meter dash, has signed a track scholarship with Western Kentucky University, Longhorns coach Ron Sainsbury announced Thursday.

Sainsbury said the 6-foot-5, 185-pound Winston plans to walk on to the Hilltoppers football team for the 2011 season. Winston played wide receiver for Lennard last fall and was also a member of the Longhorns’ basketball team. For now, however, Sainsbury said Winston will be a one-sport athlete at WKU.

“I personally feel De’Myco’s future is in track and field but he still loves football,” Sainsbury said. “He has decent speed for the 40 (-yard dash) but he really seems to be better beyond that distance, where he seems to be able to hold the intensity and speed.”

Considering it was only his second season running track and he had never cracked 50 seconds for the 400 before this year, Winston’s rise in track and field has been impressive. Sainsbury believes the turning point for Winston came when he won the Hillsborough County championships in the 400. From there, he captured district, regional and state crowns. At the 2A finals, Winston won in 47.59 seconds, which at that time was among the top five times in the nation for the event.

To get an idea of how fast that is, consider the fact that Calvin Smith, who just graduated from the University of Florida with a school record 18 all-America titles, ran 47.25 his senior year.