During his time as a track athlete at Niles High School, Joe Avance has had a glaring weakness.

The Vikings junior has had a hard time dealing with disappointment.

“It’s a learning process,” Niles boys track coach Tony Todd said. “He’s had to learn not to let one event ruin another. He’s finally learned that.”

Avance’s mental toughness was tested at the Division II track regional May 15. He started his day by finishing third in the long jump with leap of 19-7 1/4, which didn’t qualify him for the state finals.

Todd wondered how Avance would respond.

Avance made his coach proud as he finished the day with a state qualifying time in the 100 meters and was part of state qualifying teams in the 800-meter relay and 400-meter relay. Avance finished second in the 100 (11.09), was a member of a first place 800-meter relay (1:31.01) and was a member of a third place 400-meter relay (44.36). Avance ran the second leg in the 800-meter relay and was joined by teammates Josh Buckingham, Elijah Thompson and Conner Amberg. Avance ran the first leg in the 400-meter relay and was joined by Thompson, Amberg and Cameron Haines.

“Last year at this time he would have done terrible in his other events because of a bad long jump,” Todd said. “I’m going to be honest. He had a bad long jump (at the regional). He’s a 22-foot leaper in the long jump. He should have won the long jump.

“But he got us some great points. He came back and got a second in the 100 and qualified in the 400-meter relay and 800-meter relay.”

Avance’s impressive day helped the Niles boys track team win the regional championship for the first time since 2007. Niles finished with 108 points, while Sturgis had 87.

“I wanted to come in and get first overall in everything,” Avance said. “But that didn’t happen. I just needed to keep my head in it.

“I knew that our boys team was going to be really good this year. We won the West Division this year in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference. We wanted to come out here and win as many events as we could and go to state as a team.”

Avance is no stranger going to the state finals in track. As a sophomore he was on state qualifying 800 and 400-meter relay teams.

“I believe it’s a big accomplishment,” Avance said about going back to the state finals. “I thank God for helping me get this far.”

A combination of hard work and talent has made Avance a track standout.

“I lift a lot of weights,” he said. “I also do speed drills and I work on my technique and form to help get faster.”

Todd isn’t surprised about Avance’s impressive high school track career.

“I thought he could excel,” Todd said. “Now, he had some adjusting to do as a freshman and sophomore. As a junior he’s turned the corner and he’s everything I expected him to be. He’ll probably do even better next year.”

Avance has grown enough to meet those high expectations.