Some things haven’t changed for Jimmy Sawyer. He still spends much of his winter practicing and competing on the indoor track at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

But Sawyer, who had a stellar career running for Gorham High School, is now a USM freshman, and the blur he creates when in motion is the Huskies’ blue and yellow rather than the Rams’ maroon and white.

“It’s my fifth year running on this track, but the workouts are a lot different,” Sawyer says, describing the various combinations of 200, 400 and 600 meter workouts he does throughout the week and summing up by saying, “It’s all a lot more work than in high school.”

The new regimen is yielding results, Sawyer says, noting that his times in the 400 are a full second or more below what he was running at the beginning of last season.

A state champ for Gorham last year in the indoor 200 and 400, as well as the outdoor 400, those are still Sawyer’s events at USM. He also anchors the 4 x 400 relay.

“It’s been a joy to be his coach. He’s got great potential,” says Scott Hutchinson, the USM men’s track coach. “We’ve only had two races so far, and already he’s qualified for Division III New Englands and ECACs. He’s not that far off from the nationals. We’re hoping to get him there. That’d be awesome as a freshman.”

In his second pre-season meet, at home on Dec. 10, Sawyer won both the 200 and 400, the latter by a second and a half.

The Huskies will compete at Bowdoin on Jan. 14 and at Brandeis on Jan. 21 before hosting the USM Co-ed Invitational on Jan. 28.

“I didn’t think that being in college would be much different, but it is,” says Sawyer, who noted that he is pleased with his first semester grades. “With working, going to school and track, I’ve been busy. It’s been a ride all semester.”