May 17, 2015

I recently received an email from Michael Daniels of Baton Rouge, LA. Daniels went to high school with Rodney Milburn, the 1972 Olympic champion in the 110 hurdles. A biography that I wrote on Milburn, The Quiet Champion, is available to read on this website.

Daniels is the project leader of the J.S. Clark Memorial Walkway in Milburn’s hometown of Opelousas, LA. (J.S. Clark is the name of the high school Milburn attended; it no longer exists). A bust of Milburn will be a feature of the project. The bust is already completed, and was sculpted by DJ Dawden of Utah. Clark says that, “like all of us, Dawden felt a kinship to Rodney. I sent him about 10 pics. He did a composite using those and he added the gold medal. All of Rodney’s family cried when we had the unveiling.”

Below are photos of the bust, of the walkway, as well as some vintage pics from Milburn’s high school, college, and professional days.

Milburn lives!

Not-quite-completed bust of Rodney Milburn

Completed bust of Milburn

Completed bust of Milburn, from a different angle.

J.S. Clark Memorial Walkway in its current stage of development. Notice the hurdle in the middle, the bust of Milburn to the left.

Milburn clearing a wooden hurdle on the field at J.S. Clark High School in 1967. The school’s wooden hurdles were made by the shop class.

Milburn (far left) races against teammates on the grass field at J.S. Clark.

Milburn (third from left) with his high school coaches. I’m not sure who all of them are, but the one on the far left is Claude Paxton.

Milburn receives his award after winning the Louisiana Meet of Champions in 13.9.

Milburn (middle) with 1968 Olympic champion and fellow Southern University hurdler Willie Davenport (left) and another Southern U. teammate.

Milburn relaxing at the track. Not sure where or when this one is from.

Milburn showing his start technique. Not sure of the where or when of this one either.

April 15, 2015

At my new teaching job I gave the students an extra credit assignment that involved writing a one-page response to an episode of Spike TV’s reality show “Coaching Bad.” If you haven’t seen it, it features a group of about six coaches from various sports (including one track coach) and shows how they have serious anger issues and control issues and can be very abusive to their athletes. The host is former NFL star Ray Lewis, who tries to get the coaches to see the errors of their ways, and tries to get them to change for the better.

So I was reading through my students’ responses, when I came across a line in one of them in which the student referred to one of the coaches as a “very bad coacher.” Coacher? At first I thought it must’ve been a typo, but then I realized that this student, who had no athletic background whatsoever, assumed that “coacher” was the right word to identify someone who coaches. When I returned the papers I asked him about it, and he said “Yeah, coacher.” read more

April 8, 2015

Well it’s official, Liu Xiang has retired from track and field. For many of us who have followed the men’s 110m hurdles over the past decade or so, this is a very sad day, even though we could see it coming. For the past several years, injuries to his Achilles and ankle have slowed him down severely, limiting him to very few competitions.

When I look back on Liu’s career, several defining moments come to mind, beginning with his Olympic victory in 2004, when he dominated the race, defeating silver medalist Terrence Trammell by almost a full three tenths of a second. Then there was the world record race in 2006, when he ran 12.88 and Dominque Arnold broke the American record, finishing second in 12.90. And there were a whole lot of other races where Liu ran against the best and came out on top amongst the likes of Allen Johnson, Dayron Robles, and many others.

Where Liu stands in the pantheon of all-time greats is open to debate. With an injury-shortened career, he didn’t have the longevity of a Johnson or a Greg Foster or Colin Jackson. But for me, Liu’s status has more to do with his mastery of the event than with his achievements. In my eyes, when it comes to technical precision and executing near-flawless races time and time again, Liu is the best there ever was. read more

April 5, 2015

When people ask me about how to keep the hips up while hurdling, I usually answer that I don’t think so much in terms of keeping the hips up, but in terms of not allowing the hips to drop. There are two key moments when the hips will potentially drop if you’re doing something wrong: during take-off, and upon landing.

During Take-off:
The key at take-off into the hurdle is to stay on the ball of the foot. Hurdlers who have a background in the long jump, triple jump, or high jump will “plant” that last step, or stomp, which will send them in more of a vertical direction. In the jumping events, the plant step enables the athlete to elevate. While planting, the hips drop, and then they push back up when the athlete is airborne. In hurdling, you don’t want that vertical element in the hips. In hurdling, you want the hips to push forward horizontally, although smaller hurdlers may need a slight vertical element to ensure clean clearance of the barrier. By staying on the ball of the foot instead of planting, the hurdler allows him or herself to keep the momentum moving forward, and the hips can stay tall and keep moving horizontally as the legs go up and over the barrier. read more

March 31, 2015

After a few failed attempts, I finally caught up with my former athlete Keni Harrison last night for a phone conversation. Harrison recently won the NCAA 60m hurdle national championship for the University of Kentucky, even though it was only her second meet of the year after coming back from a hamstring injury. We talked about her national championship victory, her Southeastern Conference championship victory the week prior, and her thoughts as she looks forward to the outdoor season, which starts this coming Saturday. She will be competing in the 400 hurdles at the Florida Relays.

McGill: When did you first injure your hamstring?

Harrison: Coming back from Christmas break. That Saturday, I came back early to start training. I probably did half the workout, then we had some sprints to do at the end, and I  started feeling a little pain in my right hamstring. Thought it was just an ache, but it didn’t go away. A week later I was doing 150’s and it was hurting.

McGill: Had you competed in any meets prior to then? read more

January 19, 2015

In a couple hours from now, I’ll be driving from my home in Knightdale, NC (just outside of Raleigh) to the small college town of Davidson, NC, where I will be beginning my new job as English teacher at Davidson Day School. I was hired mid-year to replace a teacher who is leaving to pursue a career as a professional writer.

Throughout my adult life, beginning at age 28, when I moved to Raleigh from Southeastern Pennsylvania, I have lived in the Raleigh area. In my coaching life over the past twenty years, I have had the privilege of coaching many athletes who have had a profound influence on my life. While the big names include hurdlers like Johnny Dutch, Wayne Davis II, and Kendra Harrison, there have been dozens others whose names the public has never heard, but whom I am equally grateful to for having allowed me to play a role in their development as athletes and as human beings.

The school where I will now be working has a very small track team – so small, in fact, that they may not even need the help of another coach. It’s funny because teaching English has always been my primary means of making a living, but people in the track community see me only as a track coach, and many – including some who are personal friends – aren’t even aware that I teach English. read more

December 23, 2014

We did another version of the hurdle cycle drill with Hector Cotto this past Sunday. This time, instead of keeping the hurdles at the same spacing the whole way, we did some experimenting with the spacing and also with the heights of the hurdles.

The rep in the video is one of the last (and best) reps of the day. Earlier we had started with the first hurdle at 36”, but found that it was too hard to get into the rhythm of the drill with the hurdle that high with Hector having no momentum going into it, so we lowered that one to 33”. We kept the rest of the hurdles at 36” for most of the workout, then raised the last one (and then the last two) to 39” when he was successfully cycling without kicking out the lead leg over the 36’s.

As for spacing, we had started with the hurdles six and seven 17” and 19” apart respectively, but found that it was impossible to maintain the cadence. We found that 15” was a good distance to maintain the level of challenge but to give him valid opportunity for success. read more

December 14, 2014

If you’re not already, please be sure to keep up with the blog of professional 110 hurdler Hector Cotto at his sprinthurdles website. He and I have been doing collaborative blog posts on his site, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. We’ve done two so far,  both focused on a drill we call the hurdle-cycle drill, designed to help him keep his legs in the sprint position while clearing hurdles. Here’s the link to the first blog on this drill from two weeks ago. Here’s the link the second one from last week. Another post on this drill will be coming up soon. Do yourself a favor and bookmark Cotto’s site and check regularly for updates, as we’ll be posting blog posts other drills, workouts, and hurdling-related discussions there.

December 4, 2014

For today’s blog, I’m gonna share what I’ll call smh Moments. Moments that just made me shake my head. All coaches have them. Here are some highlights from my career:

1. Back in my early days, I had a new hurdler, really fast and athletic, with lots of potential. On the first day of introducing her to blocks, she had trouble, as all beginners do, with angles, pushing out, driving, etc. But I thought she made decent progress. The next time practicing blocks, maybe two days later, she saw me bringing the block cart to the track and said, “Do I have to use those?” “Of course,” I said, “why wouldn’t you?” “I don’t like using blocks,” she answered, “they slow me down.”

2. With the youth track team I coach for in the summer, I like to have practice with the hurdlers at 5 so we can get started before the rest of the team comes at 6. That gives us more space and makes it easier to focus. One day last summer, one of my hurdlers texted me at 5:30 talkin’ ‘bout, “I’m gonna be a little late to practice.” read more

December 2, 2014

Just wanted to make everybody aware of the website of Hector Cotto, www.sprinthurdles.com. The 29-year-old Cotto competes internationally for Puerto Rico, and has raced in two Olympic Games and four World Championships. Originally from Rochester, NY, Cotto spent his later high school years in the Raleigh, NC area, then went on to compete at East Carolina University, where he holds multiple school records in the sprint hurdles, indoors and out.

I coached Cotto briefly in the summer after his senior year of high school, then again for a year in 2010, when he ran what was then a personal best of 13.54. His current personal best is 13.49. Cotto, who possesses one of the most astute hurdling minds I have ever encountered, has contributed articles and his expertise to www.hurdlesfirst.com and to The Hurdle Magazine.

With www.sprinthurdles.com, Cotto is seeking to share the wealth of knowledge he has gained over an 8-year professional career in which he has competed against some of the best 110m hurdlers in history. His site is still in its nascent stages, but already has plenty of useful information and blog posts. Moving forward, he and I will be partnering on many blog posts, videos, and other projects. read more