Few people were happier than race official Cal Simons when Trey Simons crossed the finish line during Friday’s Appleby Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby.Three years ago as a 16-year-old Trey Simons finished 15th overall in the Derby, confirming his promise as one of the Island’s up and coming runners.Soon after the youngster began to drift away from running and for the last three years hasn’t competed on either the road or track where he had been winning most of the races he entered.Last Friday, the 19-year-old made a surprise comeback when he entered the May 24 race. And while his time of 1:41.27 was well off his 2010 time of 1:25.31, those who know of his potential were just happy to see him running again. Ironically, the first person to hug him when he crossed the finish line was Derby official and track coach Cal Simons, a man who has aided in the youngster’s development for the past decade.Trey was named most outstanding athlete in the 11-12 age group at the East Coast Invitationals which Cal Simons’ Pacers Track Club attends every year.“I’m just really glad to see him, I know the young man has a lot of potential and for me it feels so good to see him back out running again,” said Simons who knew beforehand that the youngster had planned to run.“His mom called and told me and I was pretty excited about it and was looking out for him when he came in. I sang out ‘warrior’ when he came in. The warrior is back.”Trey Simons, a former Carifta Games medallist in the 11,500 and 3,000 metres, missed the last three Games and recently turned to amateur boxing.“I fought once, trained for about three weeks and fought in the fight night with Teresa Perozzi. I ended up losing on points,” said Simons who went down to Corey Boyce in February.Many now are hoping he will turn back to running. He finished 68th overall on Friday and was the second junior finisher behind Juma Mouchette who came in sixth in 1:23.57. Shawn Herman and Nakeno Creighton were the third and fourth finishers in the junior category.“About two weeks ago my mom came to me and asked me how I felt about running and said she would sign me up, so for the last two weeks I’ve been training for it,” said Simons who says he is definitely considering returning to competitive running. Bermuda National Athletics Association president Donna Watson is keeping her fingers crossed.“I would be happy to see Trey back out, I think Trey’s got a lot of talent and everybody recognises that,” said Watson. “For any of our young boys who are in the sport it is great for us if they stay in, or even if they leave and come back.“Trey can have a good future in the sport, he’s still young and has a lot of time on his side. Hopefully this is the beginning of him coming back.”