Running against some of the best athletes in the country and one of only three high schoolers competing in the entire meet, recent South Lake graduate Jeff Demps ran like he belonged! The featured athlete in the event by the NBC TV coverage, Demps had a lot of pressure on him to come through with a big one.
He lead early in the race early before being caught during the last third of the race. His final time was 10.19, earning him third place. The time was just .02 off of his personal best that he ran at the Florida Relays in March and .03 off the state record. We should hopefully get one more chance at least to see Jeff compete before he takes off the track spikes and puts on a University of Florida football uniform for the year... that being at the Olympic Trials.
That of course is where Houston McTear set the current state record of 10.16 in 1976 that has stood for 28 years. How very appropriate it would be if Jeff could take out the record at the same meet! Great job, Jeff... we are all very proud!