Storyline #10: Will Tyrese Cooper Rewrite the Freshman National Records?
Cooper has raced three indoor meets this year. At the first one, in Arkansas, he set freshman national records in the 200 (21.54) and 400 (47.97); at the second, in Gainesville, he turned in a mere mortal's triple of 6.35 (55)/22.25/49.03; at the third, in New Mexico, he tied the freshman national record in the 60 in 6.78 seconds. (Jerald Watson also ran 6.78 as a ninth-grader, fifteen years ago.)
This weekend, he's heading to New York for the fourth indoor meet of his career. The Floridian freshman phenom is entered in the 60 and 200. Cooper's 6.78 is part of a six-way tie for the US #4 spot in the 60m this winter. US #1 Cravont Charleston, #3 Jawan Miller, t-#4 Brandon Taylor, t-#4 Kasaun James, t-#4 Tyler Johnson, t-#4 Jacob Coates, t-#4 Daniel Estrada are all entered; if you compare the entries with the national rankings in the 55, you notice that US #1 Josephus and #4 Noah Lyles are also entered. This field is so deep that Cooper could outright break the freshman national record in the semis and not qualify for the eight-man final. Noah Lyles (second a year ago) and Kasaun James (fifth) are the only two returners from the 2015 final, but Josephus is probably the favorite on the strength of his undefeated record (against his brother and Grant Holloway, natch) in the 55 this winter. We'll get to those guys later! The point here is that Cooper will have plenty of competition to help him become the outright freshman record holder. The final is at 2:05 Eastern on Sunday.
Cooper already has sole possession of the ninth-grade class 200 record, and that field is so strong that three boys who have gone a quarter second (or more) faster than Cooper this winter are entered. It's a testament to how much boys develop over the course of their high school careers that Cooper is nothing close to a favorite in this race, despite breaking a fourteen-year-old class record by a ridiculous 0.41 seconds. US #1 Maxwell Willis, #2 Noah Lyles (the sophomore and junior class record holder), #3 Keshun Reed, and #5 Eric Harrison will all be there for #6 Cooper to chase. One mark to watch on Sunday: N. Lyles's sophomore class record of 21.50 seconds--which he ran twice in 2014--is only 0.04 seconds faster than Cooper's 21.54 freshman standard. Cooper could run faster than two class records; the final is at 3:03 PM on Sunday. Noah is the defending champ and Willis is the only other returner from last year's final.
-Dennis Young
Last year's results:
| BOYS 200 METER DASH FINALS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | WIND | H# | |
| 1 | Noah Lyles | 11 | T.C. Williams High School | 20.83 | 2 | |
| 2 | Ryan Clark | 12 | Banneker | 20.85 | 2 | |
| 3 | Rai Benjamin | 12 | Mount Vernon | 21.09 | 2 | |
| 4 | Anton Porter | 12 | Mount St. Michael | 21.45 | 1 | |
| 5 | Maxwell Willis | 11 | Bowie High School | 21.65 | 1 | |
| 6 | Norman Grimes | 11 | Canyon | 21.68 | 1 | |
| 7 | Nick Gray | 12 | Pickerington North | 21.80 | 1 | |
| BOYS 60 METER DASH FINALS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | WIND | H# | |
| 1 | Ryan Clark | 12 | Banneker | 6.65 | 1 | |
| 2 | Noah Lyles | 11 | T.C. Williams High School | 6.65 | 1 | |
| 3 | Darryl Haraway | 12 | DeMatha Catholic High School | 6.70 | 1 | |
| 4 | Nick Palomino | 12 | Dr. G.W. Williams SS | 6.82 | 1 | |
| 5 | Kasaun James | 11 | Kentucky Elite | 6.82 | 1 | |
| 6 | Jaron Flournoy | 12 | Westland John Glenn | 6.83 | 1 | |
| 7 | Khari Saunders | 12 | Kentucky Elite | 6.84 | 1 | |
| 8 | Derris Cleaver | 12 | Belleville | 6.88 | 1 | |
Cooper's latest (outdoor) record from two weeks ago: