24669: Hermantin (news) Little has come easily for Plantation's Senatus

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Little has come easily for Plantation's Senatus
Track and field focus
By Sharon Robb
STAFF WRITER
April 5, 2005

PLANTATION · Peterson Senatus knows his parents would have been proud of 
him.

At an early age, the Plantation High senior was determined to make something 
of himself through work and determination.

The deaths of his Haitian parents, father Pierre and mother Celie, both from 
illnesses in 1992, left a void in his life that has been filled by a support 
group of family, friends and coaches.

"I wish I had his ambition," said older sister Betty Senatus, 22, who lives 
near their uncle, Gadson St. Fort, and her only brother. "He knows what he 
wants and he is going for it. We all helped to raise him. I am very proud of 
him and what he's become. It's been a struggle for us, but he's come a long 
way."

That tenacity took center stage at last year's FHSAA State 4A meet in 
Gainesville where he won the 300-meter hurdles against a stacked field in 
his specialty event in a career-best 37.12 seconds.

His finest accomplishment came after two years of frustration. He just 
missed qualifying his freshman year at regionals and was disqualified at 
districts his sophomore year for competing in too many events. He leads the 
state honor roll in 38.2.

"This is the kind of kid that makes a coach want to coach," said Plantation 
coach Darryl Wright. "He has heart and desire. I love working with him. It's 
like working with your son.

"He lost his parents at a young age [5], and that's hard on any kid, but he 
rarely talks about it and he never feels sorry for himself. He wants to do 
the best he possibly can in every part of his life and I think that's what 
fuels him. I think that's what keeps him going.

"He has quite a full [schedule] for a kid with school, athletics and work. I 
don't know how he does it other than the fact he is a warrior. He is 
determined to do well. He is determined to defend that state title. If 
someone beats us, they are going to earn it."

Senatus, 18, born in Boynton Beach, started track when he was in seventh 
grade. He ran sprints because he was told he was too short to run hurdles. 
His freshman year he started working with Wright, who was looking for 
hurdlers out of his sprint group.

Senatus also started growing.

"Everyone was afraid to do it except me," the 5-foot-10 Senatus said. "I hit 
a few of them, but I got back up and kept trying. I always thought I was 
average, but I knew I had the potential if I put my mind to it."

"He was always small as a child so he got into sports so he could buff up," 
Betty said. "I don't think he even remembers this because he was so young 
but when we were little we would always raced against our father in our yard 
at our house.

"He got into lifting weights, tried out for the track team and found out he 
was good."

Sharon Robb can be reached at srobb@sun-sentinel.com.


Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel