Matthew Boling's 100-Meter National Record Wasn't Even His Most Stunning Performance

Texas superstar sprinter Matthew Boling of Houston Strake Jesuit has spent the final month of his high school career shattering records. In late April, Boling became the first-ever high schooler to break 10 seconds in the 100-meter dash, dropping a 9.98. His dominant performance, however, was aided by a tailwind of 4.2 meters per second. So even though it would have been the second-fastest time in the entire world this year, it doesn’t go down as an official record.

Thankfully, the wind at yesterday’s Texas state championships cooperated, and Boling got one last chance to set the official record in front of over 22,000 fans. He obliged, zipping home in 10.13 seconds, which is an official high school record as well as his personal best. Henry Neal’s 29-year-old record was 10.15 seconds.

Boling also won the state long jump title with a leap of 25 feet and 4.5 inches, though his team was disqualified in the 4 x 100. The meet culminated in the traditional 4 x 400, which Boling anchored for Houston Strake. Powerhouse school DeSoto was favored in the event, and when Boling got the baton, he was trailing DeSoto’s anchor by around 30 meters and three seconds. That should have been a sufficient gap to win, but Boling stalked his mark down and split 21 seconds over the first 200 meters. Boling walked DeSoto’s anchor on the final straight, winning the event with a blistering 44.74 anchor. Houston Strake’s 3:10.56 is the best in the country this year.

That is one hell of a way to end a state meet. Boling is headed to the University of Georgia in the fall, where he will hopefully keep doing wild shit like this.