if i recall correctly, Mike was the ONLY white runner to run in the 100 meters at the National Championship meet here in Arkansas. while he gave a good accounting of himself by making the semi-finals, the lack of white participants in the sprints is really frustrating.
take for example my home state of Arkansas ... while the top overall sprinter is a white junior, he is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to white speedsters in the state. the plain and simple truth is most fast white sprinters in Arkansas don't runtrack (at least not seriously). instead, in the fall they play football and in the spring they play baseball.
for instance, the two fastest official 40 times i could find in the '09 senior class were both held by white kids, neither of whom run track. but they both play baseball. Franco Broyles is another example of the top of my head. he was an incrediblecornerback this year at Fayetteville, but he doesn't run track. he plays baseball, and he'll be playing for the Razorback baseball team in college. while i couldn't find an official 40 time for him (estimates range from the low 4.4s to the high 4.4s), he was heavily recruited by numerous D-I baseball clubs because of his phenomenal speed.
these three guys, among many others, could all possibly be strong sprinters. but NONE of them even go out for track. it's frustrating.
