the 110yd hurdles was my best event in H.S. I qualified for the valley championships.... very sad story...
We were amazing. 3 of us.... best in the valley. Greg, Mike, and yours truly. So close that in any given meet any one of us was likely to win. Problem was: There was a kid from, I think Laton?, that was better than all 3 of us. So at valley there was no doubt this Laton kid would win.... our coach, however, was very much looking forward to a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finish for our H.S.
The gun goes off, and I'm out of the blocks like a rocket ship. (my strength, my start). I'm in the lead over the first hurdle, still in the lead after the 2nd... between the 2nd and 3rd the Laton kid goes by me... and then WHAT IS THIS?
The Laton kid goes down hurdling the 3rd hurdle. My H.S. is now 1st, 2nd, 3rd.... until the last hurdle. I had never fallen on a hurdle my entire H.S. Track career. Just grimaced didn't you? Yeah, you know where this is headed... but it's worse than you think.
Don't remember which lane I was in BUT... Greg, Mike, and I were right next to each other, me in the middle.... so when I went down I took Greg and Mike out with me. I was able to get up and finish 3rd.... it was poor consolation.
I've lost track of Mike... no idea where he is today. But I still see Greg occasionally.... and you bet, you don't have to ask... he is more than happy to remind me of that moment.