It's not every day that high school athletes and pro athletes are in the same race. In recent years, we've seen Floridians Kaylin Whitney, Teahna Daniels, Marvin Bracy, and even Everglades sophomore Jamal Walton go head to head with the best of the best. The latest to join that list is American freshman phenom Tyrese Cooper who will race at this weekend's Seminole Invitational on the campus of FSU. Coach Darius Lawshea says this was a perfect opportunity for the speedster to set new PR's and improve on his freshman national record times of 20.68 (200m) and 46.43 (400m).
"I'm always looking online for special races and I saw this open invite so I signed him up for some work. This will be his 2nd time in his career running against college kids, but his 1st time running against pros."
Cooper, whose nickname is "Smoke", ran in the Miami Hurricane Invitational as an 8th grader and finished 5th in the 400 (47.67) and 6th in the 200 (21.66). Those are the same events he will run on Saturday when he lines up in the first and fastest heat. The freshman will be in lane seven for both. In the 200, he runs head to head with Coral Springs High School and FSU great, and 2008 Olympian Walter Dix. Dix won bronze in the 100 and 200 in Beijing and was the 2011 World Championships silver medalist in Daegu in those events. Recently the former Seminole ran 20.25 at the Miami Hurricane Alumni Track & Field Meet. The mark is the fourth fastest in the world for 2016.
Lawshea, his wife, and Cooper will make the trip to the state capital and say they are treating it like a vacation. We all know though at the end of the day it's also business.
"I want to see how fast he can go with some push. No one has pushed him in high school so we need to know just how special he is. I'm just excited that Tyrese gets to run against these big name athlete. Tyrese is going to run a very fast time. He is going there to win this race."
We wanted to know how they matched up so we compared the two athletes. According to our database, Dix started track and field as a sophomore. In 2003, as a junior his 200m SB was 20.94 and 10.29 in the 100m dash that same year. In comparing the two, Cooper has bests of 20.68 and 10.49 already and the 100 isn't even his first or second best event!
Tyrese Cooper vs. Walter Dix
| General Information | ||
| Fact | Tyrese Cooper | Walter Dix |
|---|---|---|
| Photo | No Photo Available | |
| School | American HS | Coral Springs HS |
| HS Class | 2019 | 2004 |
| College | -- | -- |
| Residence | Miami Gardens, FL | Tallahassee, FL |
| Personal Bests | ||
| Event | Tyrese Cooper | Walter Dix |
| 100 Meter Dash | 10.49 | 10.28 |
| 400 Meter Dash | 46.43 | -- |
| 200 Meter Dash | 20.68 | 20.54 |
| 200 Meter Dash (In) | 21.22 | -- |
| 60 Meter Dash (In) | 6.78 | -- |
| 55 Meter Dash (In) | 6.34 | -- |
| 400 Meter Dash (In) | 47.97 | -- |
| 400 Meter Dash | 47.67 | -- |
| 100 Meter Dash | 10.61 | -- |
| 200 Meter Dash | 21.26 | -- |
| 100 Meter Dash | -- | 9.80 |
| 200 Meter Dash | -- | 19.69 |
| 100 Meter Dash | -- | 9.88 |
| 200 Meter Dash | -- | 19.53 |
| 60 Meter Dash (In) | -- | 6.58 |
| Triple Jump | -- | 56-5.25 |
| 60 Meter Dash (In) | -- | 6.59 |
| 200 Meter Dash (In) | -- | 20.27 |
| Long Jump | -- | 27-0.5 |
| 55 Meter Dash (In) | -- | 6.19 |
| Long Jump (In) | -- | 23-0.75 |
| Long Jump | -- | 24-3.25 |
| Triple Jump | -- | 44-11 |
| Head-to-Head | ||
| Meet | Tyrese Cooper | Walter Dix |
| No head-to-head competition. | ||
- 55m (in) - 6.34
- 60m (in) - 6.78
- 100m - 10.49
- 200m (in) - 21.22
- 200m - 20.68
- 400m (in) - 47.97
- 400m - 46.43
