Chamberlain grad Locke wins national sprint crown

Photo by KIRBY LEE

Dentarius Locke (center) edges ahead to win the 100-meter dash at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. Friday.

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By BILL WARD | TBO.com

Published: June 19, 2009

Updated: 19 min. ago

Although it was a photo finish, Chamberlain High's Dentarius Locke won his first Nike Outdoor Nationals crown late Friday afternoon in Greensboro, N.C., capturing the 100-meter dash finals in 10.59 seconds. That time was just two hundredths of a second ahead of runner-up Bradley Sylve of Louisiana and .04 faster than third-place Prezel Hardy of Texas.

Locke and the seven other finalists faced a significant headwind of 2.6 meters per second, which explains why no one broke 10.50. Locke entered the meet with a personal best in the 100 of 10.31 and Hardy, the pre-race favorite, owned a wind-aided mark of 10.08. Under these conditions, however, personal bests were out of the question. The only thing that mattered was first to the line.

"I got out perfectly but it was close all the way to the end," said Locke, the Class 4A Florida high school champion in the 100 and 200 and state record holder in each event. "I think I had the edge on them at the finish but that lean I did at the tape made sure of it."