Chad Leath takes his hurdling seriously. Maybe too much so, some have told him.
The Demons' senior hurdler approaches his races intently, focusing in the minutes before the gun. Teammates and his father have suggested perhaps he's too zoned in, that he thinks too much and perhaps unwittingly that provides one more hurdle to clear.
Maybe father knows best, based on Saturday's school record-setting performance by Leath in the 400 intermediate hurdles at the NSU Invitational.
As Chad prepared to settle into the blocks, his head snapped up at an urgent shout from his dad, Randall Leath. It was a ploy, and it worked wonders.
Mr. and Mrs. Leath were with their son when his record time of 51.56 was confirmed in the moments following the race. The performance broke a 14-year-old school record and son and parents shared in the celebration.
Chad fought a strong wind, and this was far from a clean race from his perspective, he said, noting spots where he can shave more time away before the NCAA Mideast Regionals. He's looking forward to having more recovery time between the 110 meter hurdles and the 400 IH at next month's SLC Championships in Huntsville, Texas, not too far away from his hometown of Henderson.
Leath also ran a personal best time earlier Saturday in winning the 110 meter hurdles and qualified for the NCAA regionals in that event too -- even without a shout out from his dad!
Doug Ireland, SID
