More info about Matthew Boling from today's Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/01/texas-teen-runs-meters-seconds-beating-fastest-high-school-time-history/?utm_term=.f85afd1990bc
By Samantha Pell
May 1 at 3:24 PM
When Matthew Boling flew off the starting block last weekend, his coach could tell his 100-meter dash time would be fast. He just didn’t know how fast.
In Boling’s first year running the 100 meters, the senior out of Houston Strake Jesuit clocked the fastest open 100 meter time in high school history Saturday, at 9.98 seconds. In a video that has since gone viral, Boling’s electrifying run stunned crowds at his school’s regional track and field meet in Webster, Texas, as Boling was full strides ahead of his challengers when he crossed the finish line.
“When I saw his start and when he begin to elevate his hips and his foot strike and the way he began to pull away, I was surprised it was under 10 [seconds], but I wasn’t that surprised,” said Strake Jesuit coach Chad Collier. “The one thing about Matthew is … the bigger the stage, the bigger the performance, and that is just the type of young man he is.”
He was the first American high school student to break the 10-second mark in six years, but his time will not be an official national record since it was aided by a wind that measured 4.2 miles per hour. The next-closest time of any of his opponents Saturday was 10.27 seconds.
Boling, who some are calling the best prep track and field athlete in the country, will be competing for the University of Georgia next year. He was also a part of Team USA’s U-20 contingent that competed in the IAAF U20 World Championships last summer in Finland.
“He’s the most talented … obviously very, very special,” Collier said. “I’m very proud and blessed to have coached him and have been a part of his success. He is just an outstanding young man outside of this. A great teammate, he’s a tremendous leader and incredible work ethic.”
The 18-year-old has continued to break his own personal records in multiple events this season. As a junior, he was a state champion in the long jump and finished second in state in the 400 meters after being out-leaned at the finish line. Collier said Boling used the second-place finish as a motivation to become a state champion in the 400 meters this year.
However, when Collier and the other Strake Jesuit coaches decided to put Boling in the 100 meters at the start of the season, they realized his aptitude for the event. At the Texas state championships next weekend, Boling will not be competing for first-place in the 400 meters. Instead, he’ll be competing in the 100 meters, in addition to the long jump, and running as part of the school’s 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams.
“One thing we don’t try to do is compete for records,” Collier said. “If it happens organically then great, but certainly our goal is for him to win a state championship in individual events and obvious for our team to win a state championship as a team. If we happen to break a record along the way, that’s just a bonus.” After the state championships, Boling will have the chance to compete in national events, but Collier said as of now, they are focused on states.
In addition to his record-setting 100-meter dash on Saturday, Boling contributed three other first-place finishes during the regional track meet, winning the long jump (25 feet, 2 inches) and as the anchor leg of the 4x100-meter (40.72 seconds) and 4x400-meter (3 minutes, 13.7 seconds) relay teams. His school also ended up winning its second straight team Class 6A Region III title.
According to Milesplit, Boling’s time is the fastest in any conditions by a prep athlete since Trayvon Bromell (Fla.) posted a wind-aided 9.99 in 2013, on a plus-4.0 mph wind. Bromwell was the first high school athlete to ever break the 10-second mark in the 100 meters. The official national high school record at 100 meters is 10 seconds flat, and was last achieved by Trentavis Friday (N.C.) in 2014 at the USA Junior Track and Field Championships.
Four-time Olympic medalist Ato Boldon, who at one point in his career held the national 100-meter record at 9.86 seconds, chimed in on Boling’s accomplishment on Twitter.
“As a sub-ten guy, I’ll say this: sometimes you have to run a wind-aided first, before you can run it with legal wind … he has a very good shot to be the first wind-legal sub-ten high school performer,” Boldon tweeted.
Boling has been running track since middle school, and has earned a reputation in the high school track community. He told a local Houston television station, KHOU, in March that some people call him the “boogeyman” or the “horseman.”
“When I realized how talented he was, I did everything in my power to continue to learn the sprints and jumps and make sure that I had the tools necessary to help him reach his goals,” Collier said. “I certainly didn’t want to let him down, and that is the type of young man he is that can bring the best out of everybody.”
