By RICHIE HALL
In the space of 400 meters, Ronald “Rocky” Duplessis became a national champion.
The 15-year-old Duplessis, who just started his sophomore year at Fishers High School, cruised to victory in the 15-16 Boys 400 dash at the 2025 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships, which took place July 20-27 in Savannah, Ga.
Not only did Duplessis win, but he won in remarkable style. He raced around the track at Savannah State University’s Ted Wright Stadium in a time of 47.75 seconds. It was a new personal best time for him.
Duplessis called that race “the greatest I’d ever run. It felt great. It felt like all my training paid off in the end.”
The taste of victory: Rocky Duplessis celebrates after winning. (Photo provided)
Duplessis competes for Advancement Through Athletics, a non-profit track club located in the Mapleton/Fall Creek neighborhood in Indianapolis. ATA head coach Shioma “Sho” Obemeata, founded the club in New York in 2015.
“To PR in a championship race is difficult, but to dominate is a different level,” said Obemeata. “He certainly was built for the moment.”
Duplessis competed in three heats of the 400 during the Junior Olympics. The preliminary race took place on Wednesday, July 23; Duplessis won his heat (and was third overall) with a time of 49.91 seconds.
Next up were the semifinals, which were Friday, July 25. Duplessis ran and won in Heat 1, clocking in at 48.70 seconds – over a second better than his prelims time.
The championship race took place on Sunday, July 27. (You can see video of that race here.) Duplessis’ strategy was to go at “90 percent” for the first 200 meters. He began to turn up the speed with 150 meters left, where he said he “pushed a little more to get a good position for the last 100.” Duplessis took over the lead by the final 100 and sprinted to the finish line.
“This race is going to be won at the end,” said Obemeata. “We talked about how to maximize that at the back stretch. When he crossed the line, he said, ‘that feedback worked.’ Having focus on how to finish and knowing that. We talk about getting away and being aggressive.”
“There’s a lot of pride in his development, his focus,” said Rocky’s father Ronald Duplessis. “The biggest thing for me is he performed on the big stage. He didn’t freeze.”
“I feel like I perform under pressure,” said Rocky Duplessis. “I always felt super nervous before the race, but I feel like that’s when I run my best.”
Duplessis ran for the Fishers High School track team this past spring and qualified for state in the 400 dash, finishing in 11th place. He was the only freshman in the race. Having that IHSAA state meet experience also helped Duplessis at the Junior Olympics.
“I felt like Junior Olympics was the same thing as a state meet, maybe a little bit bigger,” said Duplessis. “Everybody here was ready to compete. It just really motivated me to do my best.”
Duplessis began running track in fifth grade. “I would do the school meets,” he said. “It really started getting serious in seventh grade when we started using spikes and blocks.”
Duplessis joined ATA last fall after playing junior varsity football for Fishers. He began running in tournaments right away and was successful, culminating in a second-place finish in the freshman 400 dash at the Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City on March 13.
“We have a competitive environment in practice and he doesn’t back down,” said Obemeata.
After the high school track season finished, Duplessis returned to ATA competition. He won the 400 dash at the USATF Region 7 Junior Olympic Track & Field Championship, which took place July 10-13 at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill., which qualified him for nationals.
“He has so much potential,” said Obemeata. “It’s fun watching him through the season.”
Both of Rocky’s older sisters, Taylor and Nyah, played softball at Fishers and continued playing in college. His parents, Ronald and Tangie Duplessis, were both student-athletes at Howard University: Ronald played baseball and Tangie was a track star.
“One athlete out of the three of them would be a track athlete,” said Tangie Duplessis.
And Rocky won’t be stopping any time soon, whether it’s running for Fishers or ATA.
“I enjoyed this past year running and I want to keep sticking with it,” he said.