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Thomas Tyner’s Speed Faster Then Even He Knows

Thomas Tyner’s Speed Faster Then Even He Knows

There is speed and then there is speed.  It is, without debate, the #1 attribute that is needed to succeed in almost any sport.  With it you can do a lot of things.  With enough of it you can do potentially great things and that is what has everyone in the region buzzing about Aloha High School Sophomore Thomas Tyner.

Thomas is the fastest High school athlete that the State of Oregon has ever seen.  He is as fast or faster then anyone in the Pac 10 currently running except for Ryan Milus of Arizona State and James Alaka of the U of W.

 

His best time this season of 10.38 would have won the 100 Meters at the 2011 U of W / WSU Duel meet.  No one on the Oregon Track team has run anything close of a 10.38 out doors yet this year.

And the amazing thing is he is a 10th grader!  His potential is incredible.  But how good is he now really?

Here is one way to put Tyner’s potential in perspective.  Since 2009 there have been some fast times.  So let’s look at the Nation’s Fastest men over the past few years and document there times in their 10th grade year versus their best times as upper class men.

 

Name                        School                          10th grd. PR        11/12th grd. PR

Jermie Robertson ’09     Del City                         11.1                                       10.10

Kennan Brock ’10            Carver Birm.               10.71                                    10.37

Remontay McClain ’11  Covina HS                    11.00                                    10.35

Brad Sylve ’11                  S.Plaquemines            10.89                                    10.30 WA

Marvin Bracy ’12            Boone HS                       10.58                                    10.28

Thomas Tyner ‘ 13          Aloha HS                       10.38                                        ??

All Information derived from Track Reporting website Athletic.net

So if we look close Tyner right now is faster then any of his upperclassmen counter-parts were at the same time in their 10th grade years.  In fact as the chart below shows he is the second fastest athlete in the country at any age if you take away the wind aided (aw) times which are not counted as official times.

Thomas Tyner's 10.38 last week is the second fastest non-wind aided time this year as reported by Athletic.net

To get additional perspective we took a look at some data on the best sprinters of all time.  It is hard to collect too much but it was revealing.

Maurice Green and Tyson Gay have been two of the elite Olympic runners of all time.

Green won 4 Gold medals between 1997 and 2004 and had a world record 100 Meter time of 9.79 which has since been broken by Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay.

Maurice Green according to records ran a 10.23 100 Meter at Age 21 and took third at the US Track and Field Championships.  Tyner is slightly slower then that now.

As far as Tyson Gay goes he was not that fast until he applied himself in Senior Year of High School at Lafayette High School in Kentucky.  His Senior year he ran a 10.46 100 M and won the State Championship.

In Junior College Gay documented a 10.28 100 Meter and had faster non-wind aided time.  He has since gone on to break world records and holds a personal best at 9.69.  Only Bolt is faster then he is.

Now before we get to carried away let’s say this.  Thomas is fast.  He is one of the fastest young men in the United States ever to walk onto a track.  But he has a ways to go before he is up in the rarefied air of Tyson Gay and or Maurice Green.

Still if we had a time machine and he was to race all of the aforementioned greats in an ultimate 100 Meter showdown he would be the victor.  Pretty cool to think about.

The other issue is size.  He has the classic muscle bound lean frame of a sprinter but at 6′ and 205 he is already bigger then Green was (5’9″, 185) or then Tyson Gay (5’11”, 165 pounds).  Thomas will get bigger for sure and projects to 6’2″ and about 225 pounds on information he has provided us.

But great sprinters come in all sizes and shapes.  Asafa Powell is one of the best in the world and is 6’3″ and Bolt is running in his 6’4″ lean frame.

The key is stride length and turnover.  Mechanics matter more then size so while Tyner may be bigger then some of the worlds best when he graduate he is right in the middle of the pack overall.

“It Is not about the height but the strides! The world class sprinters need at least 43.5-47.5 strides in 100m so that they can run in a world class level.  Tim Montgomery performed approximately 47 strides when he did 9.78second!  His leg turnover was fast.. as twice or a little faster then Asafa Powell who performed under 44 strides in 100m,” said one sprint Coach.

What about Thomas?  What are his thoughts on these matters?

“Well I feel my leg strength and my turnover is my major asset.  I know I can get better out of the blocks.  Right now that is what I will be working on,” he said.

You can see that here in his 100 Meter win at the Jesuit Twilight Relays last week.

He clearly is better at about the 30-40 Meter mark through the tape.  So it will be exciting to see what happens as the Metro league district meet goes down this week followed by the OSAA Track and Field Championships the following week.

Oregon has had a colder and wetter then usual Spring so conditions have not been ideal for him or anyone in Oregon.  Still he has broken the State record three times this year with two 10.43’s and a 10.38.

An excellent student and top rated Running back Tyner talks about his goals for the future.

“I had a goal of 10.30 range or better this year.  Now that I have accomplished that the new goal is 10.2 at the State Championships,” he said. “I broke the State record and qualified for the Nationals this Summer but the main thing is I could not have done anything with out my Coaches and my team mates and I thank them all for that.”

He is a big part of the community in Aloha, Oregon.  A blue-collar town without a lot to cheer about until the last few years where under Coach Chris Casey they won the State 6 A Football Championship in 2010.

Tyner had 1,550 yards last season, 20 TD’s, and averaged almost 12 yards per carry.  He only touched the ball 11 times per game.  Something he thinks will change this season as he will be asked to carry more of the work load.

“My family and my whole community is always there for me.  Coming from a blue collar background has helped us to learn hard to reach all of our goals.  We know things do not come easy,” he added.

“This Summer I am competing at Nationals in Eugene and if I qualify there I will be going to South Carolina for the Olympic Trials.  If I win there I will go to France and compete,” said Thomas.

He would compete in Lile, France against the best youth runners in the World at the IAAF World Youth Championships.

Time will only tell where he will project the highest.  He plans to compete in Track and Football in College and regarding football past High School all he will say is that every school that comes by his High School or calls him has verbally made him an offer.  He did not know how many schools that was but said “yes” when we asked if it was 15 or 20.

Thomas Tyner is fast.  He is in fact at his age one of the fastest of all time.  The great thing is that he has no idea nor did he care to comment.

Humility is a strength for him.

 

I am the Founder of the Northwest Prep Report. For 17 years I have led the way to the best of my ability to promote the best talent from the Pacific NW free of charge. It is my pleasure to continue to serve High School athletes from all over the Pacific NW and beyond. Formerly with Rivals.com my sites have now crossed over 8,000 stories, 7 MILLION Video Views, and 15,000 regular followers. Together with the best football people in the USA we pursue excellence for our NW athletes.

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  1. dylan ward

    December 2, 2011 at 1:11 pm

    Thomas Tiner is one of the over all fast kid in oregon

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