Alexander Chukwukelu dashed to a 7.71 PR and US No. 1 performance at the Texas Tech Under Armour HS Classic
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Alexander Chukwukelu was the best hurdler in the nation this year, but he was surpassed last weekend when he was runner-up to Abdoul Sy-Savane (Parkview, GA) who ran 7.78 to win the Arkansas High School Invitational.
This weekend at the Texas Tech Under Armour High School Classic, Chukwukelu redeemed his top spot after his superb 7.71 race in the finals. Chukwukelu and his coaches knew the problem that had to be fixed, and in a technical event as the hurdles it wasn't what you might think it was.
It wasn't his trail leg, it wasn't his arms, and it wasn't his turnover, so what was it? It was his eyes; he explained, "First, I want to thank God...it is my lane and I only have five hurdles not 10 or 100, I was focused on my lane to my hurdles."
He was able to keep his eyes and his focus on him and his lanes as other runners around him were near and far. People were falling, hurdles were flying, and runners were clipping hurdles throughout the eight second race, but "I executed the race how I should be, just staying patient...and trusting the process." The 7.71 mark was the 20th fastest mark of all-time in the 60 meter hurdles and Chukwukelu adds his name to the list.
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Other 60 meter hurdle finalists may not have run 7.71, but they also trusted their process. A total of five boys dipped under the 8.0 second barrier in the finals.
Arveyon Davis (Fort Bend Marshall) was able to get a PR and a time he knew he could perform when he took second with a 7.84 and elevating himself to a US No. 5 ranking.
Results Top 16 times advance to two section final PLACE ATHLETE RESULT HEAT LN/POS 1 Alexander Chukwukelu - Major Impact Track Club [ 0] 7.71 1 (1) 4 2 Arveyon Davis - Wings [SR] 7.84 1 (2) 5 3 Austin Kiser - Unattached [SR] 7.92 1 (3) 7 4 Cameron Jackson - Wings 7.93 1 (4) 6 5 John Sanderson - Sanderson 7.94 1 (5) 2 6 Michael Frazier III - Hurdlenomics Training Group 8.03 1 (6) 1 7 James Voss - San Antonio Swift Track Club 8.13 2 (1) 5 8 Jairius Burton - Greater Houston Track Club [SR] 8.14 1 (7) 8 9 Cameron Bates - TEAM 44.30 Track Club 8.23 2 (2) 4 10 Zion Brown - Hurdlenomics Training Group 8.25 2 (3) 3 11 Kasey Kopetic - Xtreme Force TC 8.30 2 (4) 7 12 Darian Abbott - DDS Athletes HS [JR] 8.46 2 (5) 8 13 Otto Laing - Bahamas Speed Dynamics 27.70 1 (8) 3