Tyrese Cooper Breaks Own National Freshman Record, Wins First National Title
Freshman phenom Tyrese Cooper broke his own national freshman class record in the 400m by winning New Balance Nationals Outdoor in 45.69 for his first high school-level national title.
Cooper took advantage of the Emerging Elite/Championship race schedule at New Balance Nationals Outdoor to enter the 400m fresh and ready to go.
On Saturday, he won the Emerging Elite 200m in 20.9 (+0.1). With the absence of indoor national champion Noah Lyles, perhaps the 200m final didn't mean that much to Cooper, though he said he entered the EE section in order to have a full day's recovery before the 400m final. The time would have placed third overall in the Championship section.
"I dropped out of the 200m [and switched to Emerging Elite] because last year I didn't have enough rest time," he said to Nolan Jez of MileSplit VA. Watch the full interview video below.
He was rested and ready to go for Sunday afternoon's 400m Championship, where the Florida native distanced Jamal Walton, 45.69 to 46.23, as the top five broke 47 seconds.
After the race, Cooper said he was motivated to win here after finishing third as an eighth-grader last year. He was also seventh in the 200m in 2015. Watch the post-race interview below:
With national high school records for 200m and 400m now in his name, Cooper sets his sights on the sophomore class records.
"[I want to] become the first sophomore to go 44," he said.