As the nation's best sprinters gather to race at New York's snow-steeped summit for the Armory Track Invitational this Saturday, January 31, all eyes will be on the 300m national record of 33.05.
Rai Benjamin, Jaron Flournoy, Izaiah Brown, Taylor McLaughlin and Anton Porter will be present, as just a few hours down the road in Blacksburg, Virginia, Noah and Josephus Lyles, Rico Gomez and Grant Holloway will have the same number on their minds at the Virginia Tech High School Invitational.
Michael Cherry - now a sophomore at Florida State - set the mark just two years ago as a senior at Oscar Smith High School.
Benjamin, a senior at Mount Vernon High School in New York, must be considered the favorite to break the mark as he owns the country's fastest time in the event this year at 33.40.
“[The record] is on my mind," he said, “Everybody's talking about breaking the National Record and they have a list and quite a few athletes they have expecting to break it and I'm not expecting it. But if it's right there, it's right there and if I can get it, I might as well go for it."
Benjamin's 33.40 effort to win the New Balance Games led the field by nearly 1.5 seconds.
“I really didn't know that so many people had scratched," he said. “I was just racing the clock, basically aiming at that national record… I looked at the clock and it was winding down and I was 20 meters out and it was at 29 [seconds] and I was like, my teeth were starting to show and I was clenching and trying to jog harder for it."
He just missed, but this weekend could yield a closer finish as the field includes Fluornoy, who arguably has the best range of any sprinter in the country right now. The Westland John Glenn, Mich. senior owns US #1 times in both the 60m (6.78) and 400m (47.35), as well as US #5 200m (21.66).
Benjamin is ranked just behind in the 400m, clocking 47.76 for US #2.
“[My strategy is] just to get out. It's a 300, there's not much you can think about," he said. “It's a sprint, it's the first to finish basically. I don't have a set strategy on how to run the 300, but like I said, it's a sprint, like running that 200 - gotta get out and maintain."
Rai Benjamin and teammate Cody Housen discuss racing 1-2 in the 300m at the New Balance Games on Saturday, January 24.
Benjamin, whom his coach Marcus Green describes as “quietly confident," knows that in the end, the meet is just another meet. Outdoor is the main focus.
“There is hype on the record," said Green. “Our goal is to improve, the challenge is to keep improving. If it comes, it comes. The whole focus of indoors is to get ready for outdoors."
Exactly which event Benjamin will focus his energy on during the outdoor season is undetermined as of yet. The three-time individual New York State Champion owns personal bests of 10.96 for 100m, 20.88 for 200m, 51.86 for 400h and 47.17 for 400m. The UCLA commit was recruited for his 400-meter hurdling prowess, though both Benjamin and Green are unsure which event might ultimately be his best.
“When you're here [in New York], it's difficult," said Green. “We train in the hallways and there's snow on the ground. By the time you get in hurdles and outside, it's hit-or-miss. In California, where the weather is nice, who knows?"
It was in the quarter-mile hurdles that Benjamin made his big league debut at the 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships. He placed fifth in his semi-final with a time of 52.36 while representing Antigua.
The future Bruin was born in the United States but holds dual citizenship with the island nation, where his father, two sisters and two brothers still live. He moved back and forth between the two countries several times before finally settling in New York for high school, living with his mother and younger sister. Last summer, Benjamin made the trek down to the Caribbean to participate in the national track and field championships, where he set his personal record for 200m.
“I was in the heat with some pretty grown men," he said, “in their 20s and everything. Just being there, I was like, 'wow, they really threw me in the fire.'"
The meet was one of Benjamin's few chances to race in front of his father, Winston, a former professional cricketeer who represented the West Indies during the 1980s and 1990s.
“I was like, 'I'm not gonna get left in the blocks. I don't care how it turns out, I'm just not gonna get left in the blocks.'"
The teenager made up the stagger immediately and zoomed to a huge personal best of 20.88, good for third place.
When Benjamin reported his time to his Green, the Mount Vernon coach would not take his athlete at his word.
“I said, 'I don't believe it, send me a picture of the results,'" Green said. “
The dual citizenship presents Benjamin with a few different options for international competition. He actually qualified to represent the United States in the 400-meter hurdles at the Youth Olympic Games this past summer, but was not allowed to represent two different countries within a one-year time span.
Benjamin isn't ready to make a decision on that one.
But, until then - that 33.05 beckons.
