OUTDOOR SEASON!!!

I kicked off my outdoor season with the Raleigh Relays Friday. I competed in the 400 hurdles. It went okay for the most part, stumbled at the 5th hurdle and was off the rest of the race. I posted a 55.25, I wasn't happy but I was content, for now.

Today I ran at the 2009 Spartans Invitational at Southern Durham high school. I started off the meet with the 110 hurdle prelims, it was terrible but somehow I qualified for the finals with a 15.81. I just wasn't focused and it showed. I made some what of an improvement in the finals running a 15.12, it was still bad for me. Its no where near I want or need to be right now.

After that hurdle performance, I was down a little but I was looking for redemption in the 300 hurdles, and that's exactly what I got. Determined to run good, I got focused. I got in the blocks and I knew what I had to do. Came out okay, but I focused on getting my steps right. I was even thinking about alternating if I had to. I think I ran well and posted a 38.54, a new PR! This weekend went well, and has given me a new boost of confidence for the season.

MileSplit - Interview with Malcolm Nunley

By: Ben Hovis - ben@ncrunners.com
Published: 2009-03-17 06:13:00

Q: First of all, Malcolm, how old were you when you started running track?

A: I started running track in the 8th grade when I was about 13. At that time I ran track just to run it, basketball and football was my thing. I didn't know where track could take me at that time. Although I was good, I didn’t take it seriously.

Q: Growing up with an older brother, were you guys pretty competitive?

A: Yes!! Booker and I competed in every little thing. Our competitive nature helped us both get better, especially in track. Ever since we began running track, we have been competitive. That competitive spirit was there in practice. In our workouts, we pushed each other to get better. I would try and beat him, while he was trying to hold me off.

Q: Why the move to Southeast Raleigh?

A: I wanted to be on a more competitive team, a team that would be in the running for a state championship. A state championship is exactly what I got, my first season there! To win by .5 was great, but for me to have to catch Knightdale for fourth place for the title, made the win feel even better! Southeast is a good team and we’re planning to win more championships.

Q: You have run so many events, from the 55 dash, to the open 500m, to the 400mH . . . what is your favorite?

A: I love to run, that’s why I’ve competed in every event up to and including the 800m. It’s good to have a wide range of events; it makes a track athlete look better. Although I have competed in so many events, I would have to say my favorite is the 400 hurdles. It is a great mix between my two passions, the 400 and the hurdles.

Q: With times of 55.13 & 55.14 in the 400mH, seems you have a bright future in that event. Would you consider those two performances highlights of your career thus far?

A: Yes, for now, I plan to blow those times out the water. But those times helped me earn my first event championship title, and got me a fourth place finish at the 2008 Junior Olympics. Those times have also put my name on the map for the IAAF Youth Team going to Brassone, Italy. When I ran 55.13, it gave me a new boost of confidence.

Q: Have you thought about your college plans?

A: I would like to stay close to home, and I would also like to play football in college. That’s why I have been looking at schools that allow their athletes to be dual sport athletes. I want to get my times lower in track and see what schools are interested in me before I decide.

Q: Being at a school like SE Raleigh, I'm sure your training began pretty early this season. When did you start getting ready for the indoor season? How early in your training did you start going over hurdles?

A: I started early, as soon as I came back from Jr. Olympics, football season started. There was no down time. I would practice football through the week and on the weekends I was hitting the track practicing with my hurdles Coach Steve McGill. Those off-season workouts were the worst; doing high reps of 800's, 600's, 500's and 300's. I did not touch a hurdle until November. I had to get my base down, before I began hurdling. My off-season training went well and helped me set new PR's this indoor season.

Q: It seems you have gotten to travel quite a bit with your running. What has been your favorite experience? What is your favorite track?

A: Thanks to Track Eastern Carolina, Coach Dave Simpson and Coach Nicholas Sparks, I have been given an opportunity to travel and run. I would have to say that the Randal Tyson Track Center is my favorite place to run. The high banks on the curve made the track so fast. It felt real good to run down off those turns, when I came off the turns, I felt like I was shot out of a sling shot. I hope I can run there again.

Q: What is your favorite food?

A: I don't know; I love to eat. If I could have one thing to eat though, it would probably be pizza.

Q: Thanks for your time, Malcolm. Now for the thinker. Who has been your biggest inspiration as an athlete?

A: My inspiration as an athlete would be my brother. Booker Nunley went through so many hard times during his high school track career, yet he still persevered through to become the US#1 110 hurdler in 2008. When Booker was hit with hard times, he made the best of it and by turning a negative situation into a positive one. When he was declared ineligible for high-school track, instead of giving up, Booker trained over the 42 inch hurdles competing in college meets unattached, running a 13.91 over the 42 inch hurdles as a senior in high-school. Booker then went on to take silver at the IAAF World Junior Championships. I have looked up to him and I am trying to follow in his path now. He has shown what hard work can do, and has helped pave the way for me.

Alternative to TrackShark

It has been about a week now since TrackShark closed down its website. TrackShark was the leading source of information for the Collegiates and also offered information for the Youth as well as Professional Track and Field Athletes. TrackShark was apart of the daily news in our family and will be missed.

For those of your like us who want to stay informed about what is happening in the Collegiate world you can visit Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association http://www.ustfccca.org. It has schedules, results, rankings and more for DIV1 to 3.

2009 NIke Indoor Nationals

Malcolm will be closing out his indoor season at the Nike Indoor National Championship this weekend in Boston. Malcolm will be traveling with his track club TEC out of Newbern, NC and he will be competing in the 400m and 60m hurdles. You can check out dyestat for a complete listing of entries.

Booker's Gamecock Indoor Season - Virgina Tech Last Chance Meet

Booker finished his freshman indoor season Saturday in Blacksburg Virginia at the Virginia Tech Last Chance meet. He placed 4th in the finals after he ran 7:86 twice which was a personal best and a NCAA provisional time. Congratulations Booker on a great start to your collegiate career!

A relay storm from New Bern NC expected to arrive in Boston by next weekend

By: David Mann - david.mann@darton.edu
Published: 2009-03-04 22:07:00


Some years ago, New Bern High School Coach "Big Dave" Simpson felt that having kids under 13 in his Track Eastern Carolina club was too much like running a day care. Odds are he’ll be singing a different tune next weekend.

A former teammate told Simpson of 12-year-old twins Anthony and Andrew Hendrix who were running 2:15 halves at the local recreation center. At about that time, Simpson ran into Nicholas Sparks training his son Miles on the oval. Soon thereafter, young Fuquawn Greene was in also in the picture. Something was brewing in New Bern, N.C.

But that was five years ago. Now heading up what is possibly the most talked about high school indoor team in the nation, Simpson is days away from taking these New Bern High School boys on a mission to break records at the 2009 Nike Indoor Nationals. That’s right – the focus in Boston on March 14 and 15 is not just to win – but to set a new standard.

"They’re an out of control roller coaster going into the national meet," Simpson said. "They are mentally really getting perked up for this."

The perk may have come from an ironic twist noticed as they stomp down records held by one of high school track’s most note-worthy teams.

Running as Track Eastern Carolina at the Simplot Games recently, Simpson’s boys Greene, Sparks, and the Hendrix twins turned heads as they broke two meet records set in 1996 for the 4 x 200 and the sprint medley relay.

Those meet records were recorded by Pasenda, California-based team, Muir High School, who following the Simplot games in 1996 went on to set the national records in the those same events weeks later in Boston.

These 2009 nationals, for the first time in 12 years, will also be held in Boston.

"We’ll break it," Anthony Hendrix said of the SMR record. "I think we can break the 4 x 200. We just have to run the fastest times we’ve ever ran indoors."

When you look at their accomplishments thus far, Anthony’s confidence is easily understood. It may even be understated.

He is ranked #1 in the 500- and 600-meter dash (1:03.48 and 1:18.38, respectively) and twin Andrew is right there with him, ranking #2 on the 500 and #3 on the 600. Teammate Greene holds the top spot on the 200 with 21.39.

Track Eastern Carolina is ranked #1 for both the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400, and has already beaten the national record for the latter (3:13.06).

"We have come to a point that we don’t go to meets just to win meets," Simpson said. "We’re going to meets to break records."

There is one more meet to go for New Bern, and these day-care racers turned indoor-track phenoms are making a lot of room for themselves.

USATF Indoor Championship

Congratulation to fellow hurdlers Lolo Jones and South Carolina Alumni Terrance Trammell for their Indoor Championship Titles and their Visa Championship Series wins.

Jones is the first female back to back winner in the history of the series. She won by winning the 60m hurdles final with a time of 7.84 which was worth 1202 points for the win.

Already the Visa points leader with 1226 entering the USA Championships, Trammell led from start to finish Sunday afternoon, winning in 7.37 seconds to break Reggie Torian's 10-year-old meet record of 7.38. The time was just .01 off the American record, was a 2009 world leader, and gave him 1259 points in the Visa standings. This is Trammell's 2nd Visa Championship win; he won his first in 2006.

Both athletes receive a bonus Visa check in the amount of $25,000.00

Booker's Gamecock Indoor Season - SEC Championship

The first event up was the 60m hurdles as Richardson, sophomore Johnny Dutch and freshman Booker Nunley again set the pace with a 1-6-7 finish. With Richardson earning Carolina's first individual indoor title since 2002, Nunley and Dutch both ran 7.92's to take sixth and seventh, respectively, bringing Carolina's total in the event to 15 points. Congrulations to Jason Richardson and the Women's 4x400 team for the SEC Championship titles that they earned this weekend! Way to go Gamecocks!