The University of Tennessee junior sprinter Christian Coleman (Our Lady of Mercy High School graduate) created some buzz this week when he posted a 4.12-second time in the 40-yard dash. If Coleman were shooting for a spot in the NFL Draft, his time would have broken the NFL Combine record by a full tenth of a second.
Coleman may be purely a track star at the moment, but his blazing speed caught the eye of one of UT’s coaches who would like to see him on the field in another sport.
During Coleman’s time at Our Lady of Mercy, he dominated short sprints at the Class A level. During his senior year, he set Class A state records in the 100 meters (10.38 seconds), 200 meters (21.12 seconds) and anchored OLM’s 4X100 squad to a gold in 41.88 seconds, setting a Class A team record.
On Saturday, Coleman ran the 100 meters in 9.93 seconds at the SEC Relays. That time is the fastest for any American this year and is the sixth-fastest in the world to date in 2017. For that performance, Coleman was chosen SEC co-Runner of the Week. This marks the ninth time he has won that award.
He is the NCAA indoor champion this year in the 60 and 200 meters.
Coleman participated in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as a member of the 4x100-meter relay team.
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