By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — LaMyron Greene is good with his hands.
“Pottery, painting, pencil drawings, all kinds of art,” Greene said.
Greene, who competed in the 2A state track meet, is also good with his feet. The Salisbury graduate will become part of UNC Pembroke’s track and field team this fall and the plan is for Greene to get athletic scholarship money for his second year.
“I’ve got a lot of academic scholarships that will help out my freshman year,” Greene said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to major in art at Pembroke. I’m going to minor in criminal justice just to have some more options. I’m also excited about the opportunity to compete on the track team.”
Greene is the son of former N.C. State football player and South Rowan girls basketball coach James Greene. LaMyron began his high school career at South Rowan. He competed in the jumps as well as the sprints and was named South Rowan’s team MVP.
He was at South Rowan two years before transferring to Salisbury for his junior and senior years.
Greene had an injury-plagued senior season, but he still managed some accomplishments that got the attention of colleges, including UNC Pembroke.
“I hurt my left hamstring in indoor track season (he placed 13th in the state meet in the 300 meters) and then I hurt the right hamstring during the outdoor season,” Greene said. “There were only about two days between the indoor and outdoor seasons, so I just kept running and tried to push through it.”
Hurting his hamstrings may turn out to be a painful blessing in disguise. Greene had thought of himself as a 100-meters and 200-meters guy, but the ailing hamstrings took away the explosive start he needed for the shorter sprints. He started focusing his energy on the 400, and now everyone believes the longer race — where endurance and heart mean as much as pure speed — is his future.
“I ran some 53s and 54s, not too bad for my first year at it,” Greene said.
Greene placed second in the 400 to Lexington’s Devin Cross in the Central Carolina Conference championships to earn a spot on the all-conference team. He qualified for the 2A Midwest Regional in the 400 and placed 10th.
“LaMyron is a solid athlete and he’s hungry to get better,” said Josh Farmer, who coached Greene in indoor track. “He did everything that was asked of him this year in both track seasons — and a lot more. He never let a single day get wasted. He was like an assistant coach, helping organize things and helping out all the other kids any way that he could.”
Greene was a qualifier for the 2A state meet in Greensboro. He ran on Salisbury’s 4×200 relay team with Erik Murray, Dante Gaston and Devonte Brown. They placed fourth in the regional and 11th in the state.
“That relay was a good team thing, and it was a great experience for all of us competing in the state meet,” Greene said.
Greene is training hard this summer. He’s running several miles at a time to build endurance for the 400.
“The 400 is tough race — run as fast as you can, but don’t burn out,” Farmer said. “I’m convinced that it’s LaMyron’s race.”
Farmer said he had no hesitation recommending Greene to everyone who asked about him.
“It’s hard to find kids like that,” Farmer said. “You’re happy whenever a high-character kid like that gets a chance. He’s going to make his high school and his coaches look good.”