(Photo by Darrell Laxton)
Freshman phenom Tyrese Cooper made the trip to Tallahassee to, "put in work" at the Seminole Invitational and test his limits against an elite field of 200 and 400m collegiate and professional athletes. The result, two of the best times of his career, and near misses at improving on his freshman national records in both events!
Cooper kicked off the day in the 400m dash that was supposed to include three athletes with personal bests in the 45 second range. With them out, the youngster ran unchallenged out of lane three winning in a time of 46.52s, just shy of his PR and freshman national record of 46.43. Ohio State senior Champ Page was second in 46.68 with South Carolina junior Ryan Bermudez third in 47.40. Cooper's time was the 5th fastest HS time in the country and ranks in the top 20 in the NCAA.
One hour and forty minutes later, Cooper would cap off his Seminole Invitational experience. With 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and former FSU alumni Walter Dix, running the 100m dash just moments earlier, that expected match up between the present star and future star would have to wait for another day.
The race wasn't as easy as the quarter. Great Britain's James Ellington, who was 5th in his heat at the 2012 Olympic games, made up for the loss of Dix in the field. Ellington gave Cooper all he could handle, but the youngster refused to lose winning by TWO ONE-THOUSANDTHS of a second (20.452 to 20.454). A 2.2m/s wind made his 20.46 the US#1 all-conditions time for 2016. Had the wind been legal it would have been a new PR and freshman national record improving on his previous best of 20.68!
See what Coach Lawshea and Tyrese had to say after the race.
Next up for Cooper will be the FHSAA State series which includes districts, regionals, and the state meet on May 7th-8th.
