Sabree Brooks demolishes 10yo 100m AAU record

There are certain time barriers in track and field that distinguish the truly remarkable athletes, and serve as time-honored measuring sticks for progress. One of those is the 13-second barrier for a female 100m runner. 

Sixteen years ago, Bijon Robinson of California set the AAU national championships 10-year-old girls record for 100m at 12.93, an especially outstanding time given her age. Not until today in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at the 2017 AAU Junior Olympic Games could someone crack the time. But Sabree Brooks of Indiana didn't just crack it -- she demolished it, clocking 12.76 to set a new standard for 10-year-old girls in track and field's shortest sprint.

"I ran my race and I kept my pace," she said after the prelim win. "I did drive phase for 15 meters and then put my head up."


Brooks, who hails from Indianapolis, owned a previous personal best of 13.3. 

She represented Athletes Lives Network Sports with a red singlet and said in a post-race interview that her favorite colors include red, hot pink, gold, and silver. She ate oatmeal for breakfast this morning.

Brooks has competed in track and field since she was seven years old. Later this week, she will contest the 400m and 200m, where she said she hopes to run "a 1:01 or 59 seconds flat, and in the 200m, I want to run a 27 flat or 25 flat."

Brooks has another Robinson record to aim for in the 200m; she also set the AAU national championships record in that event in 2001 with a 26.36 effort.

The 400m record is just a year old, as Kanai Bey-English of Pennsylvania ran 59.51 last year.