A Look Back at Nationals
by Steve McGill
While the biggest story for me coming out of USATF Junior Olympic Nationals last month in Greensboro, NC was the victory earned by my athlete Falon Spearman in the 100m hurdles in the 13-14 age group (a story that I reflect upon in detail in another article in this month’s issue), there were several other storylines that involved athletes of mine or other athletes who impressed me.
[am4show not_have=’g5;’]
[/am4show][am4guest]
[/am4guest][am4show have=’g5;’]
I’ll start with the boys 80m hurdles. Although I didn’t have an athlete in that age group, my close friend Hector Cotto did. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’ve known Hector since 2002, when I coached him in the summer after his senior year of high school. Since then we’ve stayed close and kept in touch. In 2009 I coached him for a year during his professional career – a career that featured two World Championship appearances, one Olympic appearance, and a personal best of 13.49. Since the beginning of his never-ending semi-retirement a few years ago, Cotto has been coaching privately and at the high school and youth levels, and he has designed an online course on hurdling that has proven to be very beneficial to those who have purchased it and applied it to their training.
One of the athletes who followed Cotto’s Complete Course on Hurdling was Cauri “Diggy” Hughes from Louisiana. Heading into Nationals, he was having a very good season and hopes of going for the gold, although it was far from a sure thing. Heading into the finals, he had the fifth-fastest semi-final time at 12.28. Ahead of him were a 12.26, a 12.20, a 12.19, and the leading time was a 12.10. Earlier in the week, in the first round, Hughes had run 12.25, while the kid with the 12.10 had run 12.04. That kid was definitely the favorite heading into the final.
But in the finals Diggy put together a great race, getting out in front early (which is always important in the hurdles), maintaining a quick rhythm between the hurdles, and staying low with his hurdle clearance throughout the race. It was a close race, but he won in a personal best of 12.11. In the biggest race of the season, he came through in a big way.
Even though Diggy was not Cotto’s athlete, Cotto’s Sprint Hurdles System played a vital role in his success. As his dad Carlos said in a Facebook post, Diggy started out the season 4-stepping, and following Cotto’s training plan helped him improve to the level of national champion. I had a chance to meet both dad and son, and it was great to see the joy in both of their faces. As for Hector, who gives as much of himself as anyone I know to help athletes get better, it was very gratifying for me to see his online training course produce such positive, concrete results.
Meanwhile, two of my athletes – Alex Nunley and Brandon Johnson – were completing their first season over the 39-inch hurdles after having much success last year over the 33’s. At the bottom of the 15-16 age group this year, it took them both a while to make the adjustments to the higher height and increased spacing. In the case of Alex, he had set the national record in the 13-14 age group last year. Over the 39’s this year, he got down to the 14.54 range by the time of the North Carolina state meet, but had been stuck in that same range all summer long. Prior to Nationals, I had him do the “Sprint to the Finish Line” workout that is described in detail elsewhere in this issue. So I knew going into the meet that he was ready to focus on being fast and aggressive.
In the semi-finals, Alex finally broke the 14.50 barrier with a 14.48. Afterwards I told him what I always say before finals races – forget everything you’ve learned and just compete. Focus on being fast fast fast, technique be damned. In the final he dropped down to 14.32, good for third place. And with the two athletes who beat him moving up to the next age group next year, Alex is in a great position to fight for the championship in this age group next year. This year was all about exposing flaws that the 33’s kept hidden; next year will be all about correcting those flaws so that he can fully utilize his flat speed.
Another of my athletes of whom I am super-proud is Brandon Johnson. I did not coach him last year, but did coach Alex and Matt Garrett (who was injured this year) – both of whom defeated Brandon at Nationals last year when they were all in the 13-14 age group together. Brandon missed most of the outdoor season with a severe groin injury, and didn’t get back to training regularly until late May or early June. Despite limited time and a wave of races that inhibited the amount of training sessions we could get in, Brandon set a new personal best in literally every race he ran this summer. He started the summer at 15.9, and worked himself all the way down to 15.1 (15.18 to be exact), which he ran in the semi-finals at Nationals. It wasn’t fast enough to make the finals, but it was still an outstanding end to what had once appeared to be a lost season.
Probably the most impressive hurdle race of the weekend came from 13-14 year old Xavier Smith in the 100m hurdles. I don’t coach Xavier. He competes for the Durham Striders in Durham, NC, and my good friend Terry Reese has been guiding him in his hurdling. I remember seeing Xavier compete at the Jim Law Invitational in June and thinking to myself, Man, this kid’s on the case. At Nationals he pretty much dominated, winning the final in a stunning time of 12.82, smashing the record of 12.94 set by my guy Alex Nunley last year. Smith’s technique is super-efficient, smooth, rhythmic, and fast. It was a pleasure to watch him run, and I’m sure he’ll be a problem for many years to come.
In addition to all of the above, I met a lot of cool coaches at the meet and really had a great time talking shop with them. Overall, it was really a great weekend.
[/am4show]
