OT - Friend's kid does good

[Mark Padgett]

This kid bettered his own mark yesterday in the district meet. He ran a 10.35. They checked with some stat bureau and this is the best time ever run for the 100m in the US by a HS sophomore.

State finals are next weekend. Yeah - he's in them.

[Mark Padgett]

The state meet was this past weekend. He won the 100m dash, beating the three-time defending champion. He didn't set a new record, however. But before that, he anchored his HS 4x100 meter relay and they won and did set a new state record.

His coach held him out of the 200m because he apparently hurt his foot a little at the end of the 100m when he came down hard on it. They didn't want to risk a real injury.

In an interview after the meet, he said his goal is to make the US Olympic team. I wouldn't bet against it.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

I know we sometimes mention other sports here, but I don't know if we've ever mentioned track. Anyway - here goes. A story about the son of one of my best friends was on the front page of the local paper's sports section this morning. He is a sophomore at a local HS and he set a state HS record for fastest time in the 100 meters - 10.43 seconds. He did this last week and then he ran in another meet this week and ran the same exact time! What are the odds? The story also told about how he's a really nice kid who is well liked by his classmates. Thomas (that's his name) was quoted as saying his goal is to break 10.3 seconds. I wouldn't bet against him.

Do colleges give track scholarships?

Thomas is running in an invitational this weekend (his second one in a month - the first one was in NY and sponsored by Adidas) and if he finishes in the top two in the 100 meters, he'll get asked to participate in a world meet in France! His dad, who I saw this morning, said Thomas is supposed to be in the "Faces In The Crowd" section of Sports Illustrated either this week or next.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

His dad, who I saw this morning, said Thomas is supposed to be in the "Faces In The Crowd" section of Sports Illustrated either this week or next.

And WE can all say we all knew him from way back when......

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by grunewar

He could go to.....wait for it......the ACC!

Bwahaha!

PS - My son ran track in HS too......he always wondered why anyone would want to run anything longer than the 100?! Too much work!

Grune:

Why would anybody want to run 100m? LOL

MTD, Sr.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

Grune:

Why would anybody want to run 100m? LOL

MTD, Sr.

Maybe to get out of a bad situation quickly?

[Mark Padgett]

Oh yeah - his dad told me Thomas has a 40" vertical leap (which is 10 times higher than mine). I wonder why they measure the distance he runs in meters and the height he jumps in inches?

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Oh yeah - his dad told me Thomas has a 40" vertical leap (which is 10 times higher than mine). I wonder why they measure the distance he runs in meters and the height he jumps in inches?

Maybe he does the track events in Canada and the field events in the US!?

[Mark Padgett]

My buddy gave me an enlarged photo of his son warming up before a race and he's 40" above the ground. He had his son sign the photo and I gave it to my granddaughter who will be on her HS track team next year as a freshman. She thought it was really cool. BTW - her school is in the same conference as his so she might see him at some meets.

BTW - here's the link to when he appeared in Sports Illustrated's Faces In The Crowd. He's the second one down from the top.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/sco...es/2011/06/20/

[Mark Padgett]

Now he's a junior and he had his first football game of the season last night. He gained 295 yards rushing, with 197 of those yards coming in the second half. No - not his team, just him! Incredible.

[Mark Padgett]

After missing three games due to a concussion, Thomas returned with a bang. He gained 228 yards rushing in only eight carries and he scored five touchdowns. He almost had a sixth score, but he came up a few inches short. Two of the touchdown runs were over 60 yards.

Welcome back, Thomas.

[Mark Padgett]

Thomas played in his last regular season game of the year last night. He gained 229 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns. His team now has a
"play-in" game to get into the playoffs. I'm sure that if he didn't miss those three games, he'd be voted top offensive player in the state for the second time. Oh well - he'll be a senior next year. I wonder if he still wants to go to Harvard? Not kidding.

[Mark Padgett]

The Oregonian newspaper ran a big story on Thomas on the front page of their sports section this morning. It said he's the best HS athlete in the state, and that someday, he may be regarded as the best athlete to ever come from this state! Quite a comment.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

He may be regarded as the best athlete to ever come from this state!

Better than Danny Ainge, Steve Prefontaine, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Dale Murphy, Dick Fosbury, Dan O'Brien, Mickey Lolich, A.C. Green, or Johnny Pesky?

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Better than Danny Ainge, Steve Prefontaine, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Dale Murphy, Dick Fosbury, Dan O'Brien, Mickey Lolich, A.C. Green, or Johnny Pesky?

And Neil Lomax.

Hey - I'm just saying what was stated in the article. However, the kid is really incredible.