His head is swirling with anxiety. He’s drowning in thoughts, lacking words.

“Focus,” he thinks. “Calm down.”

There are countless people observing him from the stands. He knows they’re there, but he can’t look up — he’s not allowed to. The red-orange track below his palms seeps its color into the tips of his fingers. He’s positioned, ready—the simulated gun goes off. Like bullets, he and seven other athletes blast off of their starting blocks, sprinting. 

When he crosses the line, the camera used for timing records a number: 10.53. 

Last school year, Cole Coppedge beat the school’s 19-year-standing 100-meter dash record after years of intense training. 

Cole’s parents have never missed one of his track meets. His father, Johnny Coppedge, said it is a high priority for them to go to every meet without fail.

“As a parent, it’s exhilarating to see him [run],” Johnny said. “Because we know he has the [power] in him, we know he has the ability. My heart just swells from watching him be successful. It’s amazing to see.”

Throughout his freshman and sophomore year, Cole dealt with a pinched nerve in his groin that caused him severe discomfort and strongly hindered his ability to run.

“I realized the importance of learning how the body talks to you,” Cole said. “I had a doctor pull my leg, pop it, and [the pain] vanished. That injury had plagued me for [so long].” 

Once he corrected the issue, Cole said he started improving significantly. He also began working with a new trainer who helped him focus on his favorite thing: sprinting.

“When he actually got that taken care of, you could tell he had this new determination to run,” Johnny said. “It was frustrating before because he couldn’t [put in as much power] as he wanted, due to his injury.”

In his training sessions, Cole went from doing long, one-hour jogs to brief, 30-meter sprints. He said that the new approach to training allowed him to build his muscles and increase his productivity.

“My idea of sprint training [before I was with my trainer] was just practicing running,” Cole said. “But whenever I realized that there were dedicated, scientifically-based, sprint-structured workouts, I really took a liking to it.”

When he achieved the record on April 12, his father, his coach and Cole all agreed it was no surprise. They said his hard work paid off.

“I told him [last year] ‘you’re probably going to be able to bust out a 10.5/10.6 or [second record] consistently at the end of the year,’” head track coach Chance Edwards said. “I thought that was where he should shoot, and he was able to do that.”

Before Cole ran his record-breaking 10.56 second time, he recorded a faster race: a 10.36 second 100-meter dash. However, it was deemed not legal because the wind speed was helping him too much. Ever since, he said he has been trying his hardest to recreate the 10.36 second record.

“[In my 10.36 second run,] there was no one in front of me, so I was just running by myself,” Cole said. “I don’t like running with people in front of me, because it makes me lose my form and I end up pushing as hard as I can, which is [an] incorrect strategy.”

Now that he’s taken down the 100-meter dash, Cole said he may try to work toward tackling the 200-meter dash to diversify his talents. His father and coaches said they’ve been trying to convince him of the idea. 

“I have been thinking of this track season ever since the previous track season ended,” Cole said. “This area in Texas is producing the fastest sprinters. It’s really competitive. I need to push myself a lot harder to make it up there.”