Thursday, April 21, 2005
Julius Jiles, freshman hurdler and sprinter, practices Monday afternoon at Memorial Stadium the for the Kansas Relays. Jiles was last year’s Relays high school MVP.
Julius Jiles is familiar with success at the Kansas Relays.
One year ago, Jiles ran the meet of his life, winning the high school boy’s 100- and 400-meter hurdles and earning Kansas Relays MVP honors. Jiles, a Kansas City, Mo., freshman, hails from the same high school as Olympian Muna Lee.
Lee traveled to Athens to compete in the 200-meter dash. She won two indoor national championships in the 60-meter dash.
From the moment Jiles entered the famous track program at Central High School, expectations were high.
“My freshman year coming in, their track program was so good,” Jiles said. “Wherever Muna Lee left off, we had to continue that.”
Jiles originally fell in love with football. Ranked No. 15 in the nation, Jiles faced a promising pigskin career. An injury his senior year forced him to make changes.
“My senior year I was a free safety, I broke my hand in 23 different places in the first game,” Jiles said. “I still tried to play on it for four games, but I wasn’t getting noticed.”
Jiles focused primarily on track and hasn’t looked back since. By the time he graduated, he had won the Missouri State championship six times, three state MVP’s and three National Championships. Jiles was named a high school all-American seven times.
By the time Jiles raced at the Kansas Relays, top-tier track programs were chomping at the bit to sign him.
Kentucky, Southern California, Louisiana State and Missouri all recruited him. When he ran the
300-meter hurdles in 37.42 seconds, he set a Kansas Relays record. The next day he ran the 110 hurdles in 14.23 seconds.
“I wasn’t ready for it. I was so surprised I even won it. I was just excited, there are no words to describe that feeling,” Jiles said.
Jiles was named high school MVP minutes after the Relays ended. He agreed to commit to Kansas after talking to coach Stanley Redwine.
“Julius has to do the same thing against Olympians, and his experience level will be different,” coach Stanley Redwine said. “Hopefully he will step up.”
Jiles said that his decision to come to Kansas came down to where he felt most comfortable.
“I just wanted to be around that crowd and that atmosphere,” Jiles said.
When Jiles steps into Memorial Stadium this weekend, last year’s success will precede him.
“I really hope that I can duplicate what I did,” Jiles said. “Hopefully I can beat some of those Olympians.”
Jiles’ confidence has come along with the races he has won. He runs with a swagger that not many freshmen possess. After running three races at the Tom Botts Invitational last weekend, Jiles said it had become easy.
“I just went off of the high school races I used to run,” Jiles said.
Hurdles coach Elisha Brewer said that Jiles absolutely hated to lose.
“He will be excited to compete against the best,” Brewer said. “He’s not one to step down. He’s got a really winning attitude that comes with his success.”
If last year’s victory is a sign of the times, losing won’t be an issue.
— Edited by John Scheirman
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