OT - Friend's kid does good
 

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? :)

They sure do, though some more than others, and with Title IX in place, sometimes the men's track programs have fewer to give than their female counterparts, especially if the school has football.

Mark, the University of Oregon, Oregon State. and both UW and WSU all give track scholarships. I would imagine that if his times continue to improve in his Jr. and Sr. years, he will be getting offers from all four of them.

Or, if he wants some REAL competition.....
 

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!

Just to put this in perspective...

The NFHS 2010 Honor Roll (top 10 in the country) had times from 10.19 to 10.46 for the Boy's 100. The NFHS record is 10.15.

So running 10.43 as a sophomore is pretty dang good!

The kid goes to Aloha HS, which is west of Portland between Beaverton and Hillsboro. He might want to go to the same college as his dad. That would be Willamette University in Salem, although his dad also went to Gonzaga law school and spent a year studying at some university in Yugoslavia (not kidding). I wonder if they have a track team over there. :D

The kid has also played rec basketball for quite some time and every once in a while, I work one of his games, usually in a spring league. His mom always comes up and hugs me before those games (not kidding). And yes, she is incredibly hot (again, not kidding).

It's even pretty good without the dang part too!

Mark, is he a WR or DB in football? I found that to be the case around here.

He plays running back and outside linebacker. Here's a link to a video of him scoring some touchdowns this past season.

YouTube - Thomas Tyner Aloha High Class of 2013 Oregon 6' & 200 lbs

Oregon and OSU have both had good luck stealing Texas running backs... he would be welcomed in Texas. Tons of track scholarships. His football skills are equally impressive.

Sophomore, huh? Nice!

That's one happy coach! :)


Evan Royster (RB, PSU) played here locally. While our distirct has a lot of talent, as do many, D1 talent is pretty rare. His Sr. yr he used to destroy schools like ours. I mean routine 60/70 yard plays, 250 yds and 4 TD's at half-time and then he was standing on the sidelines watching the rest of the game. He was really something to watch - a man among boys..... it levels out for most though.

I hope this kid stays grounded and does well!

OK - here's my best HS football story. I think I've posted it before, but what the heck. When I was in HS (back in the dark ages), we had a kid who seemed destined to eventually become a NFL quarterback. I'd known him since fifth grade. He was about 6'4" with a blond flattop and a throwing arm like you couldn't believe. He started varsity while only a sophomore, which was unheard of at my HS. His dad worked for Wilson sporting goods and his sister, Connie, was a cheerleader. As a senior, he made the Parade magazine All-American team. He had a bazillion scholarship offers and decided to go to the University of Illinois because that's where his dad had gone. The first week of practice, he tore up his knee and never played again. Because the injury happened during an "official" team practice, the university had to honor his scholarship. Amazing.

Oh yeah - I think he became a lawyer in Las Vegas.

One of my good friends grew up playing football in the back yard with Neil Lomax and his brother. You know him Mark, works PBOA.

I spoke with my friend on the phone this morning and he told me his son wants to go to Harvard. Oooooookaaaaaay.

Even more about this kid
 

I don't want this thread to get "Diebler-esque", but the newspaper had yet another story about this kid today. His district held its track meet yesterday and he ran anchor on the 4x100 and they won. His time was 10.54. Still pretty good for a sophomore. Oh yeah, I spoke with his dad on the phone yesterday and he mentioned that his son had been voted the state class 6A (our largest school classification) football player of the year this past season.

My guess is he might wind up at the University of Oregon eventually because his dad has had some dealings with Phil Knight regarding local issues.

Just an update
 

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.

Another update
 

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.

Update
 

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.

Cool!
 

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

Grune:

Why would anybody want to run 100m? LOL

MTD, Sr.

Maybe to get out of a bad situation quickly? ;)

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? :p

Hey Metrics Man!
 

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

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/

OK, here's yet another update
 

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. :eek:

Back from injury
 

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.

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.

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.

Quite A Comment ...
 

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.

Well, this season is over for Thomas. He was held out of his team's first round playoff game last night due to a leg injury and they lost. Too bad. I guess we'll just see how great a senior year he has next season.

Of course, he still will be in track meets coming up.

another update
 

Yet another story about Thomas in the newspaper this morning. Apparently, he has made a verbal commitment to attend the University of Oregon. He says their spread offense would complement his speed as a runner and as a receiver without having him take a lot of pounding.

While this isn't binding, I doubt he'll change his mind during his senior season next year.

BTW - the Ducks could have used him yesterday in their game against USC. :(

Also BTW - the story called him the best HS athlete in the state right now.

In Mark's absence let me just say that this young man was featured in the Top Ten of ESPN this morning with with a record-setting 38 carries for 643 yards and 10 touchdowns yesterday.....Yikes.

Be well and hurry back Mark!

My Reply, In Mark Padgett's Absence ...
 

Were they playing the American School for the Blind?