With the 2014 Great Southwest Classic this weekend we take a look at a memorable 2013 meet. Relive Trayvon Bromell's 9.99w, the first sub 10 ever run by a high schooler, plus many more of our Florida stars who shined out in New Mexico! Who will this year's stars be?
Trayvon Bromell Becomes First High Schooler to Break 10-Seconds
The big times just keep coming for Gibbs High School senior Trayvon Bromell. The recent graduate and Baylor signee, blew the doors off out in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Great Southwest Classic.
Bromell destroyed the field, winning by 0.44, to crack open a barrier that has elluded the greatest sprinters of all time. The last few years many runners have been knocking on the door including Marvin Bracy's 10.05 last year and Jeff Demps' 10.01 in 2008. But now that door has finally been kicked down! Bromell locked a smoking 9.99!!! Holy cow!
The time was aided by a substantial tailwind of +4.0--twice the legal limit--so Jeff Demps' time of 10.01 will remain as the official standard in the record books; that mark is the national high school and junior record and tied for the world junior record. However, Trayvon Bromell will now sit at the top of the national high school "all-conditions" list.
Can't believe I'm the First high schooler to run 9.9 in the 100 #Blessed
— TrayvonBromell (@TrayvonBromell) June 9, 2013
Bromell has been quite active on Twitter tonight, responding to a ton of new found friends and fans! But Todd tracked him down for a quick interview tonight and he had this to say:
"Hard work and God pays off," he said, "I started off well and finished strong. It's kind of hard to run in this altitude because it's hard to breathe. So I held my breathe and run." The event was run at 5,355 feet above sea level, which can be a challenge (though more so for distance runners). After he saw the time on the clock and realized what he had just accomplished, Bromell couldn't believe it and as the emotion overtook him he said he "fell to the ground and just ripped off my head band."
Marvin Bracy, who now has the third fastest all-conditions time for a Florida high schooler, said he was watching the race and was very impressed. The Boone alumni, who just recently went pro with Adidas, told us Bromell's technique was near perfect. Bracy said "He ran a great race. I watched it over and over. He excuted and hit the proper positions with each step and that's what led to his blazing time."
Race Video by Alan Versaw/MileSplit
Event 7 Boys 100 Meter Dash Elite
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GSWTFC: M 10.07 2005 J-Mee Samuels, Winston-Salem, NC
National Rec: N 10.01 6/26/2008 Jeff Demps, Eugene, Oregon
Name Year School Finals Wind Points
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Finals
1 Bromell, Trayvon SR Gibbs High School 9.99 4.0 10
2 Lucas, Paul SO arizona 10.43 4.0 8
3 Wells, Michael JR Team Missouri 10.47 4.0 6
4 Mead, Alexander SR Colorado 10.49 4.0 5 10.482
5 Johnson, Zach SR New Mexico 10.49 4.0 4 10.489
6 Lewis, Chris JR Louisiana 10.50 4.0 3
More Highlights from Team Florida
A rather large contingent of athletes from Florida headed West and represented us very well! They stacked up against the national level talent, winning several titles and over a dozen medals.
Team Florida Goes 1-2 in 110 Hurdles, Win 300H to Complete Sweep
Walter Tucker of American Heritage lead the way out of heat four to win the high hurdles. The 2A State Champ flew in for a a 13.95, with a little help from the positive 3.3 wind, with Timothy "TJ" Holmes of Lakewood just behind in 14.06.
Holmes came back later in the evening to complete the hurdles sweep for Florida by winning in 37.06--a new personal best for the senior Baylor signee. The time will tie him for 13th on the MileSplit ASICS Fast 100 rankings.
Race Video: 110 Hurdles | 300 Hurdles
Bromell, Tucker, Glover, Strainge Team Up for Winning 4x100
Following the 9.99 for Bromell and a 110 Hurdles victory for Tucker, those two paired up with other Florida stars Reggie Glover and Jerimy Strainge to upset the favorites from Team Louisiana. On the webcast, the announcers before the race didn't even feel it worthy to mention Team Florida. But seemingly in an act of defiance the team came roaring from behind to take down Louisiana 40.11 to 40.22!
Reggie Glover Wins 400, Herbert Fifth
Just the next event after competing on the winning 40.11 4x100 team, Dr. Phillips senior Reggie Glover was back in action at his signature event, the 400 meter dash. Glover out paced a very quick fifth heat featuring five runners under 48 seconds. Glover, who is ranked #3 in the nation at this event, topped the field with an impressive 47.31. Khari Herbert Jr. of American Heritage got in on the action with a 47.91 for fifth place.
Race Video (Coming)
Strainge Takes 200m Title, Glover Third
American Heritage senior Jerimy Strainge, after having contributed a leg on the 4x100 relay, earned the win with a huge time of 20.78 (+3.5 wind). The time is an all-conditions personal best and ties him for sixth on the MileSplit ASICS Fast 100 rankings and ties for fourth in Florida this year--in perhaps the deepest 200 meter year in Florida history. It was only his sixth time running this event. He says he was pleased with the performance.
"It was good. The start was good and finished was awesome. It felt good to win under the conditions and the altitude. It was hard but 20.78 is good. I am making improvements every meet."
Our 400 meter champ, Reggie Glover, was also back in action for this one and put down a nice 21.13 for third place in his third race of the day. Nicely done.
Boys 4x400..... who else? Team Florida Baby!
As if it wasn't already enough for Team Florida's boys to have swept the individual sprint events... they decided to get it done in the 4x400 as well! The show of force gave the Sunshine State victories in the 100, 200, 400, 4x100, and 4x400! All within a few hours on Saturday!
The race was not a gimee for the boys from Florida. After going out into the lead early, Team Missouri battled back on the second leg before opening up a pretty sizeable gap on the third leg. They handed off to the anchors with Missouri up by about two seconds over Florida.
Team Florida handed off to anchor leg TJ Holmes, who needed to make up a good 15 meters! Normally a national class hurdler, he's known to jump on a few relays lately with great success.
Holmes wasted no time fighting to close the gap and get back within striking distance. By the 200 mark, he had closed to about a five meter deficit and the announcers wondered if he had expended too much energy too quickly. The senior from Lakewood continued to fight around the curve. Coming down the homestretch step after step the Floridian got closer. The anchor from Missouri started to tire from the furious kick and perhaps lost focus for a second... his momentum around the curve carried him out into lane two. Holmes saw an opportunity to pass on the inside and looked like he would be able to squeeze through with about 50 meters to go. Suddenly, the Missourian realized what was about to happen and--perhaps illegally--quickly cut back into lane one, effectively cutting Holmes off at the pass. Not to be detered, Holmes responded and shockingly was able to maneuver back around him and pass him back on the outside by just outleaning him at the line. The Missouri anchor collapsed over the line, Holmes and Florida victorious in 3:11.08 to 3:11.15! What a way to close the meet out! Holmes' closing leg was around a 46.2 and would have been faster without being cut off mid-kick before the finish!
You gotta watch the race! You can find it at 10:48:11 on the live webcast replay. I'm not sure who ran each leg, but props to these guys!
Race Video (Coming)
Kaylin Whitney Grabs Two Fourths in 100, 200
East Ridge freshman Kaylin Whitney has certainly made some noise in her debut high school season. And she's not quite done yet. Competing against athletes two and three years her senior, Whitney nothced a pair of fouth place finishes with very impressive times.
She started the day with an 11.47 (+3.4 wind) in the 100 meter dash, before returning a couple of hours later to run a stellar 23.28 (+2.6 wind). Both are new all-conditions personal bests for the freshman, and the 200m time will place her fifth in the nation on the MileSplit ASICS Fast 100 rankings.
Race Video: Girls Elite 100 | Girls Elite 200
Gordon 2nd in 300H, 4th in 100H
Daeshon Gordon, the junior from Boyd Anderson, was just a tenth off of her personal best with a 13.87 (+2.8 wind) in the 100 Meter hurdles, to finish in fourth place.
Later in the day, she returned for a second place finish of 42.15 in the 400 Hurdles, just 0.07 out of the victory. It was a new personal best by 0.01 and puts her at #11 in the country this year.
Race Video: 100 Hurdles | 300 Hurdles
Other Florida Action
- Sophomore Javon Patterson of Boyd Anderson took tenth place in the 800 meters with a 1:58.75. Race Video (Coming)
More Coverage
- Results and Coverage Index...
- Photo Album by Alan Versaw
- Videos (more to come)
- Saturday Live Webcast Replay on ProView Networks
