Looking at any National Rankings list during the season, it was evident that North Carolina was very strong in the boy's hurdles. Maybe it's in the water?
North Carolina came into the finals of today's 110m hurdles with 4 of the top 6 qualifiers from the prelims. By the time the finals were over, NC took 3 of the top 4 spots.
Johnny Dutch, of Clayton HS, the nation's leader and the one to catch was unlucky on the day. Dutch false-started after there was already one given to the field and thus was disqualified from the event. This incident definitely changed things for the other competitors.
The other NC athletes, especially sophomore sensation Wayne Davis II of SE Raleigh, jumped at their new opportunity. Spencer Adams of Butler got a great jump but Davis rolled over the final half of the race to win the Outdoor Championship.
In his doing so, he broke a 9 year old National record. The old record was 13.67 and Davis ran 13.65.
"At the 7th hurdle, I thought I had it."
And that he did.
"I'm not quite as excited as I could be because Dutch wasn't there. I feel real bad for him." A great sign of respect and sportsmanship was shown by Davis.
Charlton Rolle of RJ Reynolds quietly did his job to place 4th in the race in 13.87. Adams held on for 2nd with a time of 13.74.
It was a great event for NC. Adams is only a junior and Davis, the champ, a sophomore, so look for even bigger things to come next year!