We learned this morning that Jeff Demps has been added to the 100 meter dash at the Prefontaine Classic on Sunday. For those of you who might not realize what a feat that is, only two other high schoolers nationwide will be taking part in this race. The field is open to only the nation's finest elite athletes including professional athletes, NCAA Champs, and Olympians. This is the race several years ago that allowed Alan Webb to break the high school mile record, by being pushed by these stars.
So congratulations to Jeff for being invited and also for being named the Orlando Sentinel Athlete of the Year (for all sports). The two other high schoolers joining Jeff at the Pre Classic are Chanelle Price of Pennsylvania and Luke Puskedra of Utah. Chanelle is an Olympic hopeful in the 800 meters who as run 2:02 and hopes to approach 2-flat this weekend. Luke Puskedra will be competing in the two mile race and is hoping to challenge the high school record in that event.
What can Jeff crank out? He was just one hundreth of a second off of the state record of 10.16 that has stood for over 30 years. Jeff ran a 10.17 earlier this year at the Florida Relays. So certainly that record is in jeopardy. The national high school record of 10.08 was set by J-Mee Samuels of North Carolina in 2005. That would certainly seem like a stretch at this point, but pulled in the slipstream of the best in the country and based on Jeff's talent and tendency to exceed expectations... you never know!
We'll have to wait until Sunday to find out! Here is the complete entry list for the meet.
