Bowman’s Strickland sprints into spotlight

Updated: June 24, 2011 3:00PM

A state medal in the 100 meters would normally be a pretty big deal.

But when a guy from down the road finishes first in that event — and the 200 and 400 as well, an unprecedented feat by an Indiana boy — well, the guy who “only” won a medal might get overlooked.

So it was for Bowman’s Cornelius Strickland at the 2010 boys track state meet, when Hobart’s Jarvis McMillian stole the show with his amazing triple.

“He was driven by the fact that he didn’t get ... a lot of accolades,” Bowman coach Toure Douglas said of Strickland. “Fourth place (at state) is very good. But when you have a kid in the very same year who wins all three (sprints), you get left behind.”

That changed this spring. When depth in the sprints was impressive in the region, no one had a better showing downstate than Strickland.

The Bowman junior was runner-up to Indiana football recruit Nick Stoner of Center Grove in the 100, and took third behind Stoner and another senior, Lawrence Central’s Tyrennsie Burgess, in the 200. Strickland also helped the Eagles finish sixth in the 400 relay. For his breakthrough performance at state, Strickland is the Post-Tribune’s Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

The goal when Strickland headed down I-65 to Bloomington was a state title. Though that didn’t happen, neither he nor Douglas is looking back with regret.

“I felt I had a pretty good day,” Strickland said. “I made history again for my school” with the best finish at state for a Bowman athlete.

“In the end, we have to say we’re happy,” Douglas said. “He had high expectations after sectional, going to regional. The one thing I have to remind him of, you might have got second or third, but that’s better than a lot of people.”

In fact, it’s better than anyone else who didn’t graduate this year. So now the burden of expectations has passed from McMillian — whose efforts to repeat his titles were foiled by a nagging hamstring injury — to his region rival. It’s something Strickland is aware of, and doesn’t shy away from.

“A lot of people were coming up to me, (saying), ‘He’s just a junior, coming back next year. He’s going to do this or that,’” Strickland said. “I’ve got to stay humble.”

McMillian’s experience is a cautionary tale that nothing is guaranteed, and Strickland won’t ignore it.

“I should come back with a bang,” he said. “(But) a lot of seniors get an injury or something happens. I want to make sure ... I come back harder.”

“I said basically, ‘You’re the champ now,’” Douglas said. “‘You’re the guy with the target on your back now.’”

There are other things on Strickland’s mind besides preparing for another downstate run, as recruiting is starting to heat up. A few days after state, Douglas had fielded a call from Brown, an Ivy League school intrigued both by Strickland’s potential on the track and in the classroom. A likely sociology major in college, he has a 3.6 grade-point average.

But before he thinks about the next level, Strickland has some unfinished business in high school. He’s setting high goals for next spring: not just titles in the 100 and 200, but runs at the state-meet records. Those have been around for a long time — Jeffersonville’s Jerome Harrison went 10.31 in the 100 in 1981 and Roosevelt’s Jeffrey Patrick ran 21.10 in the 200 a year later.

But Strickland has big dreams and aims to keep pushing his limits.

“I just want to stay up,” he said. “I don’t want to fall back.”

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