Anthony Schwartz has remained steadfast all season that he was going after history in the 100m.
And to the many who asked, the answer always came out the same. The Plantation American Heritage (FL) High senior, recruited to double in both football and track and field at Auburn University this coming fall, would always respond that he was going after the never-been-done before wind-legal sub-10 second 100 meter run.
Well, Schwartz was agonizingly close on Saturday in Jacksonville on the second day of the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A Championships, winning his first title in two seasons in a personal record of 10.07 (+2.05) seconds on the University of North Florida track.
The wind reading was barely over a legal mark (0.05), giving Schwartz an all-conditions effort. He ran 10.57 (-2.1) in the preliminaries and also has the 200m final on Saturday.
Schwartz won a state title in the 100m as a sophomore, though he came up limping to the finish as a junior after a slight tweak in his hamstring.
Schwartz was healthy for the entirety of the spring 2018 season, however, and his times have been dropping as a result, with the senior cutting down his remarkable efforts with nearly every performance.
In February, he ran 10.33 (-1.1). In March, he went 10.13 (+2.1) and 10.16 (+1.7). In April, he grabbed a wind-legal 10.13 (+2.0) mark at the FHSAA Region 2A-4 Championships, tying for the fifth-fastest performance of all time -- his time was initially 10.14, but it was rounded down in ensuing days.
Schwartz's all-conditions mark ever is among the fastest ever recorded for a high schooler. Had it been wind-legal, it would have been US No. 3 all-time, just behind fellow Floridian Jeff Demps (10.01) and Trentavis Friday (10.00).
And yet there are still a few opportunities for Schwartz to hit that time.
A year ago, he competed at the adidas Boost Boston Games in June -- it's in May this time around -- and then followed with New Balance Nationals Outdoor and the USATF Junior National Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
This June, Schwartz will have an opportunity to qualify for the World U20 Championships -- held in Finland in July -- at the USA Junior Championships.
