Viral track star sets high school record in 100m
AUSTIN, Texas — Houston Strake Jesuit senior Matthew Boling, who became a viral sensation last month after running a 9.98-second 100-meter dash, set a national record Saturday at the Texas state high school track and field championships.
Boling won the Texas Class 6A boys 100-meter dash in a wind-legal time of 10.13 seconds, surpassing the previous National Federation of High Schools record of 10.15 set by sprinter Henry Neal of Austin (Texas) Greenville High in 1990.
The 18-year-old Boling, who hadn’t competed in the 100 in his high school career until this season, put on a show for the more than 25,000 fans in attendance at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas.
Since he began competing in the open 100, Boling has been opening eyes locally and nationally. Observers took notice of his 10.2-second win in the 100 at the Texas Relays in April, but he began to make even bigger waves after winning the Texas 6A Region III boys meet, when he ran the race in a wind-aided 9.98 seconds. The 4.2 mph tailwind meant that the time wouldn’t count as an official record, but it is the fastest all-conditions time ever run by a high schooler.
Strake Jesuit senior Matthew Boling wins the #uilstate boys Class 6A 100 meter dash with a state record time of 10.13 seconds (wind-legal). pic.twitter.com/GiovpGU5oQ
The conditions would create no such impediment this time.
“When I looked at the race before us and saw the wind was 1.3 [mph], I was like ‘Oh, I’m excited,'” Boling said. “Because after last week everyone was like, ‘Oh, the wind was illegal,’ and stuff like that. So I’m like, ‘All right, I’ll just drop a fast time today.'”
Boling, who has signed a letter of intent with Georgia, also won the Texas boys 6A long jump title Saturday with a winning leap of 25 feet, 4.5 inches.
His presence at the state championships brought him a lot of attention, as Boling was stopped several times throughout the day to sign autographs or take photos with fans and meet officials. Police officers accompanied him throughout the day, anticipating the crush of media and fans, and he mentioned having to turn off social media notifications as his profile rose.
“It’s not as hard as you think [to deal with],” Boling said. “At first, yeah, but then I just got used to it.”
If his record-breaking performance earlier in the evening wasn’t enough, Boling closed out the night in spectacular fashion, helping lift Strake Jesuit to a come-from-behind win in the 1,600-meter relay in the final race of his high school career.
Here’s Matthew Boling’s anchor leg in the 6A boys 4×400-meter relay. pic.twitter.com/gVUB4ZSLzg
The Crusaders posted a time of 3 minutes, 10.56 seconds, which is No. 1 among high school times nationally this season, according to MileSplit USA, which tracks national results. Boling ran the anchor leg of the race and had to come back from a more than 10-meter deficit to DeSoto High senior Chris Ford, closing the race by running an impressive 44.75-second split to earn the victory and his third gold medal of the meet.
“I knew he had about a 15-meter lead,” Boling said, “but I thought I could get him. At the [final] 100 [meters], I heard the crowd get loud and it really helped me.”