Rewatch Marcellus Moore's dominating win in the 200m final
College Station, TX-
You can say what you want about pre-season track and field, whether times should for leaderboards or school records, or even conversions from banked tracks to flat ovals. What cannot be disputed is Marcellus Moore is FAST. As a matter of fact, he is the fastest high school sprinter in the United States after one weekend into 2019. The junior speedster from Plainfield North traveled to the Texas A&M High School Indoor Classic for the third consecutive year to open his season. He would come away with a national ear ringing that is sure to put the nation's elite who are snoozing on alert.
Moore competed in his staple events at the national caliber invitational: 60m and 200m. Over the course of two days, Moore erased any doubt a kid from the Midwest could be as fast as any entrant this invite has seen. In Friday's warm-up primer, Moore waited nearly all evening to get in his initial race of the year. It did not take long for "Baby Holyfield" to knock off the all-track sized leader Charles Lewis of Sparkman AL who ran 21.37 on Vanderbilt University's 300m oval. Moore got out fast in heat #58 and won easily in 21.36. It was an evening worth the wait for the hardy track fans.
Saturday would be the day that everything counted for bragging rights and bling. Moore won his afternoon 60m prelim in 6.88- the fastest qualifying time among 232 finishers. In the final, if you were in the building you could hear a pin drop as the athletes were situated in their blocks. The gun shot off and Moore was suddenly behind in the first 20m. He did not panic. Instead, he immediately shifted into sixth gear and the race was over and a new meet record: 6.77. It was also a personal best for the kid who ran 10.31 wind-legal in the Century last spring.
In less than 10 minutes would be the 200m final. It appeared as though meet officials were conducted the operation of the invite at a significantly faster pace than last year. On average, races were started between 35 seconds upon the conclusion of the previous one. Moore barely had time to think or catch his breath. He was back in his blocks. He did not hesitate this time as he burned around the track to hold off a hard-charging Jalen Drayden of Texas 21.23-21.31. An unsettled stomach followed by extreme fatigue were some of the perks that a superstar athlete receives for such good deeds. Maybe not for Moore who certainly will remember this first weekend of festivities.