Blayne Siebert was born 10 weeks early … and he’s been in a hurry ever since.

The Pitman High sprinter, who owns the Sac-Joaquin Section’s fastest marks in the 100- (10.46) and 200-meter (21.57) dashes this season, will be looking for a repeat championship at this week’s Division 2 meet at Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks.

Siebert leads a contingent of Pitman and Turlock athletes who are heavily favored this week.

Siebert won the D-2 100 last year, and would like to make it a double victory this year by taking the 100 and 200, not only at the D-2 meet, but again a week later at the Masters meet, where runners from all divisions compete.

Siebert could potentially win three titles. He, along with Jonathan Willams, Sean Forte, and John Sylvester have the top time (42.2) in the 400-meter relay.

However, with those No. 1 marks comes something else: a target on his back. So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

“It’s a good thing,” said Siebert. “It just gives me more motivation. I know people want to beat me, and it’s a good feeling when they don’t.”

Battling a sports hernia for much of the year, Siebert didn’t know if he’d get the opportunity to defend his title in the 100 and go for the double.

Only recently has he felt like he’s returned to 100 percent.

“I’d say two weeks ago,” said Siebert. “It definitely took a toll on me. There was a point where I felt like I wasn’t going to get better and I might have to quit the season.”

Even as he did begin to heal, he wondered if he would be able to get enough quality training to be a contender.

“I had to take weeks off or I’d have to modify the training where I wasn’t going full out,” said Siebert. “I wondered, ‘Is this even worth it? Is this even benefitting me?’”

Then, at the Central California Athletic League championships, Siebert ran a sizzling 10.46, beating his school record (10.72) by more than a quarter second.

In the 100-meter dash, that’s a huge improvement.

“In the 100 and 200, those milliseconds are a pretty big deal,” said Pitman coach Tim McCabe, whose been with the PHS track program since 2015 and the head coach since 2022. “I wasn’t completely surprised, but I was thinking somewhere in the 10.5’s might be a next step.”

McCabe relied upon RPR training — reflexive performance reset — to help get Siebert through the dark days.

“In a nutshell, RPR is the connection between the central nervous system and the muscular system,” said McCabe. 

Basically, if not trained properly, either the brain falls behind the muscles or the muscles fall behind the brain. When working together, well, you get results like Siebert got.

McCabe thinks there’s still room for improvement.

“He’s hasn’t really had anybody this year make him pull,” said McCabe, a hurdler and pentathlete at Azusa Pacific. “He hasn’t had to fight for something like Joey Stout (2023) used to fight. How awesome would it be if could be in the 10.3’s?”

Siebert isn’t the only local athlete with a shot at section glory.

Turlock pole vaulter Max McFarlane, who placed second last year at the state meet after winning D-2 and Masters titles, is heavily favored to repeat. As is Turlock’s Olivia Walker, who has a real opportunity in the high jump and 400, where she’s the defending D-2 champ.

Also, Pitman’s 4x800 relay team of Avery Carlson, Aubrey Lascano, Adelyn Persons, and Emerson Newton — who finished 1-2-3-4 in the CCAL 800-meter run, respectively — own the fastest time in the section.

But it’s “Champaign Blayne” — a native of Champaign, Ill. — who is garnering the most attention, just because of the nature of his events.

“Everybody always wants to know who’s the fastest,” said McCabe.

And usually, that’s been Siebert.

Usually.

Siebert is a twin, which is why he arrived 10 weeks early. More than half of all twin berths occur prematurely. Only, with Siebert twins, Blayne wasn’t first. That honor goes to sister, Allyson.

“Yeah, I hear about that a lot,” he said.