Less than 24 hours after setting the national high school record in the 300m at 33.03, Florida sophomore Tyrese Cooper clocked 1:01.88 for 500m -- the second-fastest mark in prep history.
The effort was aided by North Carolina's Chantz Sawyers, who held the U.S. No. 1 time in the 500m prior to today's VA Showcase. Sawyers led the first half of the race, though Cooper accelerated quickly to make up the stagger. Both athletes passed through 400m in about 48 seconds, then Cooper took the lead to finish in 1:01.88. Sawyers would run 1:02.29 for second, which is a slight improvement on his 1:02.36 PR to make him the No. 4 all-time performer in the event.
Cooper's run is a national sophomore class record. For now, the overall national record of 1:01.68 still belongs to Strymar Livingston.
The VA Showcase live coverage continues all day.