Clemson sprinters continue run of 100-meter success

CLEMSON – Some people are simply born to run.

It just takes some of them longer to realize it.

“I never thought I was really that fast,” Reggie Lewis says.

His high school track coach thought differently.

“I didn’t even run track until my senior year,” Lewis said. “But I ran a time trial on the first day and beat everybody on the team. Coach said, ‘Yeah, you’re a sprinter.’”

A few months later, Lewis was the Georgia state champion in the 100-meter dash. He’d received some junior college offers to play football and basketball, but in the end was able to honor and recognize his need for speed.

Tevin Hester followed a similar track, so to speak.

A standout on both the basketball court, where he averaged 18.9 points per game as a senior, and on the football field, where he rushed for more than 1,800 yards in his final season, Hester was conflicted nearing the end of his high school career.

“I felt like I was versatile and I didn’t put one sport over another until I finally knew track was the thing,” Hester said.

He began to realize that track was “the thing” when he won the North Carolina state AA titles in both the 55- and 100-meter dashes and also was the 2012 New Balance national champion in both events.

After those accomplishments, his quest was clear.

The need for speed has driven both Lewis and Hester to Clemson, where they’ve emerged as the latest guardians of the school’s proud and long-standing tradition of success in the 100 meters.

Lewis, a junior, and Hester, a sophomore, both will begin competition this evening at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., and both will toe the starting line in their qualifying heats fully aware of the Tigers’ impressive history in the 100.

“Once you get here (to Clemson), everything unfolds and they tell you about the reputation we’re trying to uphold,” Lewis said. “It dawns on you then that you can’t just come here and mess around.”

Lewis, an Albany, Ga., native who transferred to Clemson following one year at Kennesaw State, certainly can’t be accused of messing around.

He finished eighth at last year’s NCAA Championship, earning first-team All-America honors by virtue of his 10.07 clocking in the semifinals. It ranks as the fifth-best time in school history on a list that includes the likes of Olympians Travis Padgett and Shawn Crawford and pro football standouts Jacoby Ford and James Trapp, among others.

So just how impressive is Clemson’s history in the event?

Consider the following:

-- A sprinter would have to clock a 10.18 time or better to crack Clemson’s all-time Top 10 list;

-- Since 1963, 13 different sprinters have won a combined 21 Atlantic Coast Conference titles in the event;

-- Since 2000, Clemson has qualified at least one runner for the 100 at the NCAA Championships in every year but one, 2010;

-- On two occasions Clemson has qualified three sprinters for the NCAA Championships in the 100 – Ford, Justin Murdock and C.J. Spiller in 2009, and Warren Fraser, Hester and Lewis in 2013.

-- Clemson has produced 21 All-Americans in the 100 and one national champion – Michael Green in 1993.

And don’t think that the names of the past have gone unnoticed by Hester.

“I just think about wanting to beat them before I leave here,” Hester said. “To put my name up there with theirs.”

Hester is off to a fast start. The 5-foot-7 speedster from Oxford, N.C., already ranks seventh on Clemson’s all-time list and is now 4-for-4 in qualifying for national indoor and outdoor championship meets through two collegiate seasons.

“I had a couple of injuries that held me back some this year, but I stuck through the tough times and now here I am, going to nationals again,” Hester said. “I’m happy with that.”

Lewis, too, feels good about his status.

“I should be ready to roll,” Lewis said. “I’m pretty calm right now. I’ve been in this situation before.”

Hester and Lewis train together, eat together and compete together on a daily basis, so there’s plenty of opportunity for friction.

“We’re best friends, but it’s like a love-hate relationship,” Lewis said. “Sometimes I get tired of him, but that’s how it goes. We’ll get under each other’s skin and I’ll talk junk to him.”

And Hester reciprocates. Particularly when they’re competing on video games such as NBA 2K.

“We’re pretty cool most of the time,” Hester said. “But he’s right – it’s a love-hate thing. Like I’m going to go beat him at this game right now because I’m so much better than him.”

And if they both end up in the finals of the 100-meter dash come Friday?

“I can promise you that we’ll both be giving it our all,” Hester said.

The need for speed will see to that.

TIGERS’ TOP 10 IN 100M

Rank Runner Time Year

1. Travis Padgett 9.89 2008

2. Jacoby Ford 10.01 2009

3. Michael Green 10.02 1992

4. James Trapp 10.04 1991

5. Reggie Lewis 10.07 2013

6. Justin Murdock 10.13 2011

7. Shawn Crawford 10.15 1998

8. Tevin Hester 10.16 2014

9. Dwight Thomas 10.17 2002

10. Warren Fraser 10.18 2012