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Dior Hall feature and 2014 Great Southwest Preview - DyeStat

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DyeStat.com   Jun 5th 2014, 8:02pm
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Hall's quest for perfection returns to Great SW

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor


Dior Hall is working hard at honing her hurdles technique with the idea that she can still run faster this summer and also make a seamless transition to from the Denver School of Science and Technology to USC.


Hall is the all-time indoor 60 hurdles record holder and is No. 3 all-time in the 100-meter hurdles after clocking a personal best 13.09 at the Colorado state championships on May 17.


This weekend, she will travel to Albuquerque for her third trip to the Great Southwest Classic.


"I like competing against all the different states that come (to Great Southwest)," Hall said. "I like seeing all my friends that I used to run against all the time. It's a great atmosphere and that gets me pumped up."


In some ways, this week's Great Southwest brings Hall full circle. It was here in 2011 that a freshman Hall first pinged the national radar with a huge PR of 13.18. (Her previous best had been 13.73).


The Great Southwest is in its 39th year and brings together national-caliber fields highly concentrated with athletes from Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada. Athletes compete for their home state and relays become all-star squads.


For Hall and other athletes focused on trying to make the U.S. junior national team this summer, Great SW serves as a steppingstone. The level of competition is elevated from a state meet and there is a chance to gain experience and confidence before moving forward.


Hall and her mother and coach Yolanda Johnson are working on technical details. She wants to pull her trail leg over the hurdle faster and she wants to maintain a steady rhythm throughout the race.


"We're putting my race plan together before I compete for the World (Juniors) team," Hall said.


But she also wants to iron out some of her technical weak points before she leaves her mother's coaching and goes to USC. Hall is already thinking about earning a spot at the 2015 NCAA Championships.


At the Colorado state meet, Hall said she was surprised to get a time like 13.09. And when she reviewed the video she saw mistakes that can fix.


"I don't have the best form," Hall admitted. "Me and my mom, when we talk about fixing something, we think (correcting it) will drop my time a lot more. I want to tweak (my technique) before my mom hands me off to Caryl (Smith Gilbert, of USC). I want to try and break 13 (seconds) so that I will be more confident going to college."


Hall graduated from DSST two weeks ago and has been able to devote her newfound free time to training. Her school didn't offer track and field so she was allowed to compete for George Washington High of Denver.


Instead, DSST offered a vigorous college prep curriculum that placed considerable demands on Hall's time and energy.


She plans to major in Human Biology at USC.


This weekend, she will also get re-aquainted with a few of her friends. She roomed with Mikiah Brisco of Baton Rouge, La. last summer in Ukraine at the World Youth Championships.


The Great Southwest began with multis on Thursday and there is some action on the track Friday evening before the meat of the schedule, which is Saturday.


The girls field events feature US leader Keturah Orji of New Jersey in triple jump and Colorado's Chyna Ries in the long jump. UPDATE: Pole vaulter Desiree Freier is not coming to the meet.


Ja'Mari Ward of Illinois and Keandre Bates of Texas have both surpassed 50 feet in the triple jump this season. But the premier matchup in the field events could come in the boys discus, where Carlos Davis of Missouri puts his US#1 ranking on the line against Kord Ferguson of Kansas. UPDATE: Pole vaulter Brandon Bray of Texas is not in the meet, either.



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