Your eyes aren't deceiving you. Miami Norland (Fl.) High sophomore sprint sensation Tyrese Cooper ran the 300m hurdles at the Spartan Invitational in Miami on Feb. 25 ... and he won his heat.
Cooper, who set the high school national record in the 300m dash and is all-time US #2 in the 500m, decided to mix it up and have a little fun. He finished with a time of 38.31 in the third section -- third fastest of the day and second best in the preliminaries.
His head coach, Darius Lawshea, told FLrunners.com afterward it won't be the last time fans see the teenager who's been nicknamed "Smoke" in this event -- or in others outside his comfort zone.
"We are still learning the rhythm of the 300m hurdles and plan to do it one more time before we find a meet to run the 400m hurdles," he said.
Cooper only competed in the prelims -- and technically speaking, his form leaves a lot to be desired -- but his time of 38.31 was the third fastest in the meet behind eventual winner Thomas Burns of Miami Northwestern -- he ran an outdoor US #3 mark of 37.65 -- and Hallandale's Favien Lively (38.79).
The sophomore can now add a US #14 300mH performance to go with his US #1 400m (45.45), US #3 200m (21.29) and US #7 100m time of 10.70 seconds.
On Saturday, he will go head-to-head with some of the best sprinters in the country at the Sam Burley Invitational in Miami: American Heritage junior Anthony Schwartz (100-200) and former MGX teammate and Miramar High junior Jamal Walton (200-400).
For all the distance and field event fans wondering when Cooper will charge into their territory, Lawshea says it may be coming.
"I want him to do the 800m once at a meet against whoever is the best," he said. "Last year, we went to a track and he went 1:55 in sneakers. He wants to try long jump and triple jump, but those events scare me."
One thing is for sure, no matter what the event, Cooper is expecting to leave a legacy on not just the track but on the field, too.