Merritt Leaves MJ’s Indoor WR Safe For Another Year

Merritt Leaves MJ’s Indoor WR
Safe For Another Year

T&FN special report by Steve Bailey
This year’s threat to Michael Johnson’s indoor World Record in the 400 is gone and the race to shape the future of the sport’s hottest rising star ended before it ever began.

Nike caught everybody by surprise by sitting down and crafting an agreement with LaShawn Merritt and his family (which acted as his agent) before the undercover season had ended.

In a deal rumored to be in the mid 6-figure range, the East Carolina frosh phenom was bound to jettison his collegiate eligibility before the NCAA Indoor Championships, concluding an indoor campaign just five meets and three World Junior Records (44.93 in the 400, 20.40 and 20.39 in the 200) after it was launched. In becoming only the second man ever to break 45 indoors, Merritt produced a mark that trails only MJ’s 44.63 and 44.66 times from a decade ago.

While it is anyone’s guess where he will be after a year on the professional circuit, he plans to remain at school through this semester.

“I’m just going to keep doing my thing,” he says. “I’m not changing it right now. I’ll be training for whatever race I’ve got coming up next. I’m going to stay focused, keep doing my schoolwork and just keep training.”

When recruiting Merritt, recalls East Carolina coach Bill Carson, “I told his mother we might be able to keep him at school for two years, but [by the time his high school career ended] I realized it was only going to be one year.” Carson will continue to guide Merritt’s training, but admits that he was as surprised as anyone that Merritt signed when he did.

“I was setting him up to set the World Record at the NCAA nationals,” Carson divulges. “I had every expectation that he could do it. We had already raced Kerron [Clement of Florida] down there and beat him. Even if [Merritt] faltered a little, we felt Kerron wouldn’t get him. Get that World Record, then work towards the Helsinki World Championships. Beat Jeremy Wariner at the USATF Championships and then what are you worth?!

“That was my game plan, but Nike’s was different. He was very partial to them. I don’t fault them. He could hurt a hamstring and it all goes down the drain. It was a good decision on their part and he’s going to get a lot out of it.”

Like Nike, Carson had the good fortune of connecting with Merritt before a real bidding war could begin. He had run 47.90 as an 11th-grader and was passed over by most of the college recruiters--including Carson--in the early stages. “I hadn’t seen him,’ the Pirate coach told T&FN last November, “had I seen him, I would have gone after him right away.”

Carson was able to catch up to Merritt at the Virginia Tech Invite in February of ’04, where he saw him set a state record of 1:04:30 for 500m on a flat track. “Right there I knew he was something real special and he had gone under the radar. He clicked well in what we were looking for and we held our own in the recruiting process.”

Carson and East Carolina was just what Merritt was looking for: a coach with a good reputation for taking high school quartermilers and knocking a couple of seconds off their time and developing their skills across the sprint relays. And it didn’t hurt that Greenville, North Carolina, was a relatively short drive to Merritt’s home in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Merritt signed with the Pirates and then went on to win the 100, 200 and 400 at the Virginia State Championships and had tremendous success in August as part of Carson’s World Junior Championships team in Italy.

Merritt was the meet’s outstanding performer, winning the 400 in 45.25 and then in less than an hour anchored the U.S. to a World Junior Record in the 4 x 100 and had the fastest split (44.8 on the second leg) in a World Junior Record in the 4x4.

During his brief tenure at ECU Merritt had little trouble adjusting to being a real part of a school team for the first time. (While a prep he mainly trained by himself with some assistance from Dwayne Miller, coach of his summer track program, The Real Deal Track Club.) For the first time he was doing workouts in the fall instead of technical drills and by November he felt faster and stronger than ever.

Until recently, Merritt hasn’t been too concerned with times. He’s an athlete who runs from the heart--and runs intelligently. “I haven’t thought of things time wise or about winning this or winning that,” he says, “if I gave 110% and lost I couldn’t be upset with myself.”

Carson says of Merritt’s approach, “He’s very intelligent. He catches on right away. You tell him to do something and he gets it straight the first time and doesn’t mess it up.”

The times that Merritt was going to run weren’t so much of a surprise. “I knew last year that in the 200 and 400 I was never pushed to the max,” he says. “I knew I was faster than the [2004] times and that when I got in the right race with the right field I would run the faster times. The shock I had was that I ran so fast so soon.”

Carson points out what Merritt can win outdoors: “It’s $125,000 if he wins the World Championships; it’s $25,000 if he wins Nationals.” That money isn’t available to a collegian; nor is an WR bonus money.

Merritt knew he was headed down the road to professional running. “I knew eventually it was what I wanted to do,” he says. “I’m running good; my Mom’s comfortable with me still in school. If I’m going to be running these times, why don’t I get paid for it?”

Exactly what Nike must have been thinking. He’s exactly the type of athlete you would want representing your company; he’s the type of athlete you could launch a product line with.

Carson analyzes, “He’s friendly, smiling, outgoing. Will talk to anybody well. Is a real good person. People will just fall for the kid in a minute. He is as clean as a boy can be. He can run a World Record on absolutely nothing. He is an outstanding young man. Nike has got a gold mine in him and it’s a good thing. They have done so much to promote track & field.”

Of course, the signing puts a bit dent in the ECU program. “My plans went up in smoke today,” Carson admits. “But I love the boy. He is such a great kid and has a real good mother. Track & field will soon realize that he will be a great ambassador to the sport.”