ARLINGTON — Eagle senior Cordell Cummings specializes in the 3oo-meter hurdles, but he really is a four-event guy.
“He’s a workhorse, and he gets the job done every time,” coach Judd Hunter said.
Cordell won the 300 hurdles at the 3A district meet May 20 in a personal best time of 39.39 seconds. But he also did well in his other three events: the 4×100 and 4×400 relays, and the 110 hurdles.
The 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams placed second in 43.68 and 3:30.55 respectively, and he was third in the 110 in 15.13.
In all four events, he qualified for state, which is taking place this weekend at the Mount Tahoma Athletic Center.
As a result, he is the Arlington Times-Marysville Globe Athlete of the Week.
“All day I was there, I wanted to get first in the hurdles,” Cordell said of the district meet. He stuck to his strategy, focusing on the corner hurdles to keep his stride.
“He takes people coming off the corner,” Hunter said. “He just destroys people there.”
The part of the run he struggles with is the final straightaway, but the real challenge of it all is the mental aspect.
“It’s just the mindset really,” he said. “Your mind can make or break it.”
To cope with that pressure, Hunter has his athletes say a word or phrase over and over again throughout the week prior to an event. Basically they’ll say anything that will positively reassure a good performance on the day of the event. It’s worked so far, and state shouldn’t be any different for Cummings, Hunter said.
“They have to do a little bit of it on there own,” Hunter said.
Ranked third in the state for the 300, he’s ready to display his skills against state-level competition. His goal isn’t to worry about the competition, but keeping his mind competitive and achieve a personal record, which could win him the state title.
Running four events can be exhausting, but his events are spaced out generously across the three-day meet, Hunter said.
“He’ll probably have his best performances because of howit’s scheduled,” Hunter said of state.
Cordell began his career in track as a seventh grader.
“My dad ran hurdles in college,” Cordell said. “I liked the idea of if it and took a liking to it.”
He also played football, and was an all-league defensive back. He said likes track more because of the thrill of the one-on-one competition.
Cordell’s dad went to Western Washington University in Bellingham and had a long-standing 110 hurdle record, which was finally broken a few years ago. Cordell plans to walk on at WWU and get a partial scholarship his first year.
“I think he’ll fit right in. Hopefully Cordell can beat his dad’s records,” Hunter said.
