The race would be tough, and she knew it going in. It was the 400-meter finals at the 2017 Southeast Georgia Middle School Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships. Waycross Middle School’s Ronasche’ Fluker would be facing off against I’daja Davis of Ware County Middle School who had been running well. The two young ladies have always had a friendly competition, but this race was special.
The gun sounded, and both runners got out of the blocks quickly. They jumped to the front in the first 200 meters, and by the halfway point Davis or Fluker would obviously win as the rest of the pack eventually faded four seconds back. Fluker held a slight lead as they rounded the last turn and sprinted toward the finish. But as they approached the tape, Fluker knew the race was hers as she pulled away ever so slightly.
“Looking at the finish line, realizing I had just marked three years being the 400 champ – I always thought someone might come up and pass me one day,” she said. “That’s why I ran so hard.”
It took a personal best of 1 minute, 04.39 seconds to win, and Fluker beat Davis by just 0.52 seconds, the time it takes to snap your fingers.
Next year Fluker moves on to Ware County High School, where she hopes to compete on an even bigger stage.
“You have to have the heart and guts,” Fluker said. “You have to want it for yourself.”
Fluker is more than just a sprinter and long jumper for the Waycross Middle Bulldogs. One of the most popular girls in school, Fluker is a member of Student Council and even makes the morning announcements. She is also an all-around athlete, playing basketball and cheering competitively. She’s already made the competition cheer squad for Ware County High School next year.
Fluker runs the 200, the 400, and the 4×100-meter relay for coach Franklin Stephens’ girls track team.
“Ronasche’ adds dependability to any team that she joins,” Stephans said. “Every day as a coach you know exactly what you are going to get out of her. That’s always a bonus.”
For the past three years, Ware County High School track coach Alesia Gibson has watched Fluker grow into an amazing runner.
“We host the middle school’s track meets at the high school,” Gibson said. “She has been at the high school watching the high school girls train, and she keeps telling me ‘I can’t wait until I can run for the Lady Gators.’”
As a middle schooler, she went to the high school’s track meets to help in any way she could.
The daughter of Tasha Fluker of Waycross, Fluker enjoys social studies classes and would like to major in physical therapy or criminal justice when she goes to college. She was honored as the Best Sprinter for the Bulldogs track team, and her ultimate sports dream is to be in the Olympics and get a college scholarship.
When she is not in school or practicing, Fluker works on her garden project for the middle school’s Student Council. Fluker and a friend took it upon themselves to improve a neglected area on the middle school campus.
“We decided to put something pretty back there because we had to walk back there to go to gym, weightlifting, and track,” Fluker said.
Fluker was young when she started playing basketball and running track. She was bitten by the bug at an elementary school track meet, where she won every race she entered. When she reached middle school, she got into competitive cheering and also began her streak of victories in the 400 despite being nervous.
“I was scared to lose my first middle school race,” she said.
She won win that race and every one after. Fluker is already running the 400 faster than some of the high school girls. She also possesses the ability to go from one event to another without a drop in effort.
“Her overall performance as a track athlete embodies what track is about,” Stephens said. “She is not an individual that asks why she has to do certain events. Ronasche’ just performs.”
For now she is concentrating on moving up to Ware County High School next year. After winning her final middle school race, she found a way to celebrate that she will never forget: taking off for Destin, Florida, during spring break.
“I went parasailing with my best friend, Trinitee Johnson,” she said.
Fluker credited her coaches for helping her become a better athlete. Those around her see her becoming a sprinter at a major college in the future.
“It depends on her desire, discipline, decision making, and work ethic academically and athletically,” Stephens said. “God has blessed her with some ability. It’s up to Ronasche’ to decide what she wants to do with it.”
Next years she plans to play as many as four sports in high school, including basketball, competitive cheer, and possibly soccer.
“And I am definitely running track,” Fluker said.
Personal Bests:
200 meters – 27.83
400 meters – 1:04.39
Long jump – 15 feet, .05 inches
SE-RS-0517-Fluker
Ronasche’ Fluker
Waycross Middle track
By Rob Asbell
Photography by Jennifer Carter Johnson
