* Burley High School's Gatlin Bair has fast become one of the can't-miss prospects on the track nationally
Photo Credit: Texas MileSplit
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By Cory Mull - MileSplit
The mythology of an all-time sprinter starts with a hand-time, and it's often one you can't quite believe.
This year in Idaho, in a town of just over 10,000 people, Gatlin Bair invited that mystery when he clocked a time of 10.15 for 100 meters in 30 degree weather during a dual meet.
No one had ever run 10.1 in Idaho. In fact, no one had even run 10.2.
You could imagine the skepticism. Here comes a 17-year-old, the youngest in a family of track and field stars, born in Kimberly and now residing in Burley, barreling down the straightaway in a state record time.
But the funny thing was ...no one quite noticed?
"I guess I'm a well known person in Idaho," Bair, a four-star football player with major NCAA Division I offers, said. "I don't think anyone was super surprised by the time."
His father, Brad, certainly knew how important that performance was. He had been coaching for over 20 years. Gatlin's brothers, Peyton and Jaxon, probably did, too. They are both collegiate athletes -- the former is a decathlete at Mississippi, while the latter, also a decathlete, will join Arkansas after his LDS mission in Bolivia.
Of course, it's what Bair did next that altered things dramatically.
The so-called myth was shattered on April 1 after he ran a wind-legal 10.25 at The Texas Relays, clocking the fastest time any athlete in Idaho has ever seen. Moreover, he nearly legitimized that hand-time, running 10.18 (+2.1) in the prelims. Just last year, his 100m PR was 10.54.
"Just finishing the race and looking up and seeing 10.1 flash on the board was super cool moment," he said.
Bair is no outlier, though. Right now in the U.S., the state of high school sprinting is changing drastically. Seventeen athletes have broken 10.40 seconds in the 100m, seven more have dropped times under 10.3 and another, lssam Asinga, has gone 10.10 -- not to mention a wind-assisted 9.83 seconds, the fastest any American teenager has ever run, and a national record of 19.97 seconds for 200m.
Just five years ago, only 11 sprinters broke 10.40. Ten years ago, that number was 10.
"It's like two sides to a puzzle, you have to have both. And once you have both clicking, that's when you start to click off."
Bair's development might speak to the larger evolution of the sprinting discipline. Maybe it's a combination of factors, from coaching, to track surfaces, to spikes or maybe even strength. There's no doubt, though, that times are getting faster all around -- even in Idaho, a state not typically known to produce national-level sprint performances.
But while Bair may not be a national anomaly, he's certainly a one-of-one in Idaho. A former multis athlete like his brothers -- who were all-time great high school decathletes, with top 30 U.S. performances -- he decided to focus on the sprints in 2022, winning two state titles in the 100m and 200m. But neither time of 10.72w or 21.54 (+2.8) really impressed him.
"I didn't have a great meet last year," he said of the Idaho State Championships, which were windy and cold.
His competition may beg to differ. Bair's strength out of the blocks, and his ability to maintain posture and speed, has so far been career-defining, and it might be what separates him from previous sprinters in the state. Bair stands at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds and can bench press 245 pounds, squat 405 and deadlift 545.
"I've always been elastic, very explosive and bouncy," he said. "But adding the pure strength to that elastic-ness. It's like two sides to a puzzle, you have to have both. And once you have both clicking, that's when you start to click off."
Before Bair, the state's top time was 10.34 (+1.9) seconds. Now, that time may soon be surpassed.
Technically, Idaho's state record time will stand as the top mark unless Bair, a high school junior, can break it at the state meet. But even if he doesn't, he could break it unofficially elsewhere.
Nearly two weeks ago, he ran a wind-legal 20.83 (+0.1) in the 200m at The Oregon Relays. That was also faster than any Idaho athlete in history, better than Dallas Burrough's 21.06 (+1.0), who broke both 100m and 200m state records in 2011 for Rocky Mountain.
There's no question Bair will go after both in 2023. He credits his offseason work as a reason why he's in a position to do so this spring.
"I was just missing a lot of the strength component of track and field," he said. "Obviously, I got in the weight room and I started moving a lot more weight. And then my max strength was a lot higher."
But like a selection of very similar athletes in his position, his time in track and field will soon escape him.
Bair says he's concentrating on football in college and will commit before his senior football season. There will be no collegiate track in his future, unlike his brothers.
"Not planning that, no," he said.
Ironically enough, though, it's his sprint resume that's giving him a great deal of added exposure -- though his 1,000-plus receiving yards and his touchdown-heavy junior season also did the trick.
Hours after that wind-legal 10.25 in Texas, Bair was receiving texts and calls from collegiate recruiters he had never talked to before.
"There were a lot of people who hit me up afterward," he said.
Bair says he's a loyalist, though.
Those who saw his talent before he started hitting big times hold stronger reference in his eyes. Bair doesn't deny, however, that his 100m is allowing him to be seen by a wider demographic.
"My 100m time was what got me recruited," he said. "Being from Idaho, you have to do something to bring that recognition. They always diss the talent level in Idaho. But you can't argue with a fast FAT time. Track and the 100m dash has always been, that's what's set me apart and allowed me to get that recognition."
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* Burley High School's Gatlin Bair has fast become one of the can't-miss prospects on the track nationally
Photo Credit: Texas MileSplit
