![The Melbourne Fire Department recognized coach and custodian Derrick Hamilton on April 16 with the Lifesaving Citizen Award during lunch. I would just react for anyone, Hamilton said. My love for children -- thats what it comes down to. [I am] where I am supposed to be.](https://westshoreroar.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_0639-1-e1713376507113-1200x805.jpg)
Freshman Landon Plechaty placed first at the J. T. Memorial race in Kissimmee on Sept. 29 for JV boys’ cross-country, running the 5k in 19 minutes and 37 seconds.
“I felt slower than normal, but I guess it worked,” Plechaty said. “I don’t really know why, but I feel like whenever I do really well, I feel like I’m going slow.”
This was Plechaty’s first gold medal in cross-country.
“I feel like it was a mix of the right conditions,” Plechaty said. “I enjoyed the course, and it felt like it was a quick race.”
The JV boys’ next race is the Cape Coast Regionals at Wickham Park on Thursday at 6:30 a.m.
by Joe Matella