When Alexis Ferebee steps on the track, everyone stops what they’re doing. “She’s a rocket. She’s explosive. She’s just plain fast,” said Mission Bay High head track coach Willie Matson. “When she runs at a track meet, all the spectators just stop and go, ‘Wow!’” Ferebee started running track as a freshman at Mission Bay High and has steadily improved her times in the 100m and 200m dash over the last three years. She isn’t very tall. In fact, you could even say she’s short. But that doesn’t matter, because her pure speed comes from a powerful compact core. “I just use my stride and I do a lot of power training in the weight room,” Ferebee said. Matson, who is in his first year as coach of the MBHS track team, describes Ferebee’s form as “great.” Matson, who is also the Buccaneers’ head football coach, said he wasn’t sure what to expect from the star of his new team. “I knew she was one of the fastest girls in the whole county, but I didn’t know her personality and integrity — and it’s great,” he said. “She comes out here and leads by example. She’s one of the hardest workers out here. She doesn’t take a day off.” A junior this season, Ferebee has steadily improved her times as her experience and hard work catch up to her natural talent. Last year, her fastest time was 12.74 in the 100m and 25.74 in the 200m. It’s still pretty early in the 2011 season and she has regularly clocked 100m times in the 12.3 range. Ferebee blazed a personal-best winning run of 12.16 against Kearny High on April 14. She then topped that with a 12.1 flat to go along with a 24.6 (both first-place times) on April 21 at Scripps Ranch. MBHS TRACK’S REMAINING SCHEDULE May 5 3 p.m. San Diego High Final regular season meet May 9 3 p.m. Cathedral High Western League prelims May 13 3 p.m. TBA Western League finals “This year, I started to feel like I’m getting the hang of it. I started coming out of the blocks quicker and I feel like my turnovers are becoming quicker and I’m just hoping to get my time down,” said Ferebee, who credits working with a personal coach as a reason she’s improved. Ferebee isn’t satisfied with how far she’s come so far. She has much higher goals for herself. Competing for a spot on the podium at CIF would be a tremendous accomplishment, and Ferebee said she would like to qualify for state by her senior year. “By the time I graduate, I want to run 11.6 and I know I’m going to have to work hard for it. But I’m determined and ready to do it,” she said. “I want to go to state but there are a lot of talented girls and their times are fast. I would have to work extra hard for that. I’m hoping by next year at least.” An adept and diligent student as well, Ferebee hopes to turn her talent on the track into a college scholarship. Her dream schools include Cornell, Georgia and Colorado. She said she would like to go somewhere outside of California to get a different experience. “I think she could get a scholarship out of this. She’s a hard worker,” Matson said. “She’s confident but not arrogant. She’s a good teammate and a good student and that’s really good to see. I like that combination.”