KARNS CITY — Logan Moroney is fast.

He has to be. The Karns City junior sprinter is surrounded by speedsters.

Moroney is one of five Gremlins who have run the 100-meter dash in under 11.5 seconds this season. Moroney just happens to be the quickest of the quintet.

How quick?

School-record quick.

Moroney ran a time of 10.93 in the 100 to break the school record set by Steve Hovis in 1985.

He also has the school record of 22.56 seconds in the 200. The previous record-holder in that event was also Hovis.

“It really surprised me,” Moroney said of snapping both marks.

It didn’t surprise Karns City coach Don Black, who had seen all of his sprinters shave their times this season.

Moroney and fellow junior Tristan Rhoades have been within hundredths of seconds all season in the 100.

“That’s probably 100 percent how Logan got the school record,” Black said. “Being pushed by Tristan.”

Rhoades is the defending District 9 Class AA champion in the 200-meter dash.

Moroney said the two have a friendly competition.

“Last year, he really pushed me,” Moroney said. “I started to get closer and closer to him. We push each other in practice. We are always neck-and-neck.”

Moroney has been incredibly consistent this season, running an 11.2 or lower in every meet for the Gremlins.

And the weather hasn’t even warmed up yet — Moroney said he gets faster as the temperature gets higher.

“We’re just hoping with the warm weather, they’ll get even faster,” Black said. “Logan is consistently getting faster.”

Moroney is also a workout junkie and that has translated to the track.

He does a lot of leg work to get more explosion.

“Logan is just so strong,” Black said. “He’s always in the weight room.”

The emphasis now for Moroney is getting better out of the blocks.

He has been a strong finisher, which has masked some of his problems out of the start.

Black and Moroney have been working hard in practice on the little things that may make a big difference in the important month of May.

“We do our technique stuff for 15 minutes and then work on the blocks for 15 to 20 minutes,” Moroney said. “I do five or 10 quick starts in practice.”

Moroney has also been doing some mental practice. One of his problems in the past, he said, was getting too worked up before a race.

He has learned to calm himself.

“I used to get all tensed up,” Moroney said. “I do better when I just relax and forget about it and just run.”

Moroney is also a part of the Karns City 400-meter relay team that has designs on doing some big things this season.

With Moroney, Rhoades, Tyler Kepple, Nathan Weckerly and Zach Moore all running sub-11.5 in their legs, just getting on the team has been challenging.

“I didn’t know how to pick four to run it,” Black said. “So, I use the guys who have the four fastest times the week before.

“I think I’ve had three different combinations this season.”

Two of those combinations are ranked second and third in the county this season.

It’s an embarrassment of sprinting riches for Black and the Gremlins.

“They’ve all done a fantastic job,” Black said. “The only guy faster than Tristan this season has been Logan. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a group of sprinters like this.”