Toussaint: Indoor/outdoor champ

After an indoor track title, Fitzgerald Toussaint seeks similar success in the outdoor season

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

When Fitzgerald Toussaint was a freshman, he played football in the fall, basketball in the winter and track in the spring — and was healthy for all three.

The next two years, Toussaint didn’t play a winter sport and struggled with hamstring injuries during track season.

Coincidence? His coach didn’t think so.

“We told him, ‘You’re gonna play basketball or run indoor [track],’ ” said Liberty track coach Jay Cripe. “He chose indoor.”

Good choice. As the Leopards struggled to an 8-14 mark in basketball, Toussaint, now a senior, won an indoor state title in the 60-meter dash.

More importantly, he stayed in shape and was injury-free.

“I felt good about the whole situation,” said Toussaint, a University of Michigan football recruit as a running back. “Being able to come back strong with my hamstring together was a joy. It’s a blessing to stand on the first-place podium.

“Plus, I didn’t want to be lazy. I needed to get up and do something, actually work out.”

Toussaint wouldn’t have spent the winter on his couch eating Cheetos, but the indoor training gave him direction and a goal.

“He has a very good work ethic,” Cripe said. “He’s very self-motivated. He has set some lofty goals for himself and he will do what it takes to try and attain them.

“Lot of times during indoor season, I’d say, ‘I want you to do this, I want you to do this and I want you to do this.’ I didn’t even have to watch him. He went and did it.”

Even after winning the state title, he wasn’t satisfied.

“He knows he’s got a lot of work to do,” Cripe said. “Even after winning, his comment was, ‘I’ve got a lot of work to do.’ ”

As anyone who saw him play football can attest, Toussaint has explosive burst and speed. And he’s a tank on the football field, able to absorb punishment for 25 carries or more.

“Football’s my thing, though,” he said. “If I get hurt, I won’t tell nobody. I’ll play anyway.”

Track season is different. Toussaint can resemble a sports car — high performance, but high maintenance.

Two years ago, he won an outdoor regional title in the 100 with a time of 10.74, but he had to skip the 200 to rest his hamstrings. A week later, he finished a disappointing sixth at the state meet in the 100 with a time of 11.23.

He missed the second half of last track season with the injury and he’s still rounding into shape this spring. His best time so far in the 100 this spring is a 10.9 and he recently overcame a slight back injury (due in part to his hamstring problems).

“I’ll just keep working,” he said. “When the time comes, I’ll be all situated.”

Added Cripe, “He’s gone through a couple 100s and we’re testing him out in the 200 [on Tuesday], so he’s gaining confidence as he completes each event. He’s trusting his legs.

“Of course, we’d like it to be a little warmer.”

Cripe thinks Toussaint’s times will drop over the next month as the weather warms and his standout sprinter gets more experience. Toussaint has added a lot of muscle since his sophomore year, “which is a good thing,” Cripe said.

“I think he can run into the 10.6s and he might actually break that,” Cripe said.

Before the meet begins, Toussaint usually knows whether he’ll have a good day or a bad day. Cripe only needs to ask, “Well?”

“If he says, ‘I’m feeling it,’ it’s gonna be a good day for him,” Cripe said.

Toussaint’s goal is to win a state title in the 100 (hopefully erasing Lewis Daniels’ school record off the Liberty leaderboard in the process), but he’d also like to qualify for Columbus in the 200 and bring the 4x100 and 4x200 relays with him.

It’s a reasonable goal. He’s got two fellow Michigan football recruits with him on the track team: senior Isaiah Bell (who is a sprinter and a high jumper) and junior Antonio Kinard (a sprinter and a long jumper).

“We’ve been blessed at Liberty,” said Cripe.

Toussaint, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards last fall for the football team, plans to join Michigan’s football team in late June after he plays in the Big 33 Game.

Football is his future, but track is his focus. And while there’s sure to be plenty of competition in Division II in June, Toussaint has tunnel-vision.

“I ain’t really eyeing nobody,” he said. “I’m just in it to win it.

“That’s all.”

scalzo@vindy.com