Top-notch hurdling requires speed, technique

Running and jumping are two fundamental staples of any track & field meet.

Tripping and skidding across a track are not, but are a possibility for any athlete who undertakes the challenge of running the 110-meter high hurdles (boys) and 100-meter high hurdles (girls). It’s that thrills and spills element that makes it a must-see event, according to Sterling boys hurdles coach Tom DePasquale.

“There’s a little bit more excitement because you leave the ground every 9, 10 meters,” DePasquale said. “I’ve often said to the boys, ‘It doesn’t matter what track meet, as soon as you put the hurdles up, everybody sits up and takes notice.’”

DePasquale has been around the event for most of his life. He’s coached it for 41 years – 6 at Bettendorf, Iowa, 10 in Tampico, and the last 25 in Sterling. He ran it at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, and before that, at Newman. He wasn’t a hurdler then, but leisurely hopped over a hurdle one day in practice – and the rest is history.

“My coach said, ‘If you’re going to hurdle, you might as well do it right,’ and that’s how I got started,” DePasquale said.

The two primary things a hurdler needs to be effective are speed and form. The jury is out on which one carries more weight.

For Sterling girls track head coach Tyler Gaumer, the school record holder in both the 110 highs (shared with Greg Dietz) and 300 intermediate hurdles, speed is of the utmost importance.

“Speed is the pure part of track and field,” Gaumer said, “and we can teach the hurdling part.”

The area’s top 110 hurdler is Newman senior Regan Todhunter, who has a top time of 14.98 seconds, achieved at the Art Carlson Classic in Oregon on May 1. For Todhunter, who plans to run hurdles at Loyola University next season, form is the key.

“For the 110s, if you’re fast, but you don’t know how to hurdle, then you’re not going to do that well,” he said.

Dixon senior Brittani Sohn, who placed fifth in the 100 high hurdles at the Big Northern Conference Meet on May 7 with a time of 18.08, a mixture of the two is what she strives for.

“You need speed with a little bit of technique,” Sohn said. “You can’t just jump over the hurdles. You’ve got to know how to bring your trail leg over.”

For boys and girls 110/100 hurdlers, there are 10 hurdles to clear. For the boys, it is 13.65 meters from the starting line to the first hurdle, and from the last hurdle to the finish line. There are 9.14 meters between each hurdle, which are 39 inches high.

The girls race is slightly different. It is 13 meters from the starting line to the first hurdle, and from the last hurdle to the finish line. There are 8.5 meters in between each hurdle, which are 33 inches high.

The optimal way to cover that ground are eight steps from the starting line to the first hurdle – a stretch, according to DePasquale that calls for “controlled speed,” building up to the first hurdle. In between each hurdle, the quickest way to cover the ground is by taking three steps, with the first step being when the trail leg hits the ground.

After clearing the last hurdle, five more steps are needed to reach the finish line. DePasquale hopes to have hurdlers running this type of race by the end of their sophomore seasons.

The key to executing a proper 110/100 hurdles race, all agreed, is to get off to a proper start.

“I’ve always believed if you get number one, you can get number two,” DePasquale said. “If you get number two, you can get number three. If you get number three, you can get number four. It’s a succession, and then it becomes, for lack of a better term, like dancing. It becomes a rhythm run. It’s no different than a three-step dropback that a quarterback makes. It’s all about rhythm.”

Todhunter has been coached by DePasquale over the years, and agrees the early portion of the race sets the tone.

“When I’m aggressive for the first hurdle and through the second one, it just carries through the race,” Todhunter said.

Neither Todhunter, who is listed at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, or the 5-4 Sohn, have ideal frames for hurdling. Todhunter mentioned hurdlers are often “taller, lankier speed guys” but he makes up for whatever physical shortcomings he might have with superior technique.

That means attacking with a stride that barely clears the hurdle. In fact, he hopes his trail leg (in his case, his right leg) barely grazes the top of the hurdle.

When he ran his career-best 14.98 at Oregon on May 1, he noted he got off to a slow start, and actually clipped the fourth and fifth hurdles a bit more than he would have liked.

“There’s always stuff that you can work on,” said Todhunter, who actually coaches one of the Newman freshman girls, Bella Bettner, in hurdling. “In hurdles, you’ll never have a perfect race. There’s always little things you can change and make better.”

Sohn is largely finding things out about hurdling for herself. Prior to this year, there was a coach on staff, ex-Dixon standout Whitney Didier, with a hurdling background. She’s not coaching this season, however, and a current assistant, Allison Fox, is learning about the event as the season progresses.

Due to her small stature, Sohn is a four-stepper between the hurdles, which means her lead leg alternates from hurdle to hurdle. Sohn noted that hasn’t been too much of an issue, but an area that needs improvement is her arm swing.

Her arms flail from side-to-side, a no-no for hurdlers.

“My arms tend to fly,” Sohn said, “so that’s something I need to work on.”

Much like a sprinter, a hurdler’s arms should be tucked close to the their bodies. When going over a hurdle, for someone that leads with their left leg, the left arm should be in front of their body, with the right arm behind.

DePasquale teaches the lead arm position should be as if “reading a watch”, with the back arm as if “reaching for a wallet.” The first thing a hurdler should see when going over a hurdle is his knee. If it’s the toes, he’s running too stiff-legged.

Greg Hendrix, the Sterling girls hurdles coach, and like Gaumer, a hurdler who was coached by DePasquale, noted the importance of proper arm position when hurdling.

“I tell the girls to imagine there’s a line going down the center of their body,” Hendrix said, “and you don’t want your arms to cross that line. If they do, they’re going to start swinging, and they’re going to be inefficient when they go over the hurdles.”

Making contact with other hurdlers in smaller duals or invitationals is somewhat common, Hendrix noted, but in bigger meets, such as the state finals, where there are more officials observing what happens each race, an athlete could get disqualified.

“It doesn’t happen too often,” he said, “but I’ve seen it happen. You have to be under control out there.”

There is also a quality of being slightly out of control that coaches look for in hurdlers. Hendrix says he wants his hurdlers to be a bit of a “daredevil” who isn’t afraid of failure.

“Girls crash and burn all of the time,” Hendrix said. “Some of them get right back up and try it again, and some of them don’t. Speed and being fearless is a good combination for hurdles.”

Gaumer noted it’s a challenge each year to find enough hurdlers. He needs four to compete in the Sterling Night Relays hurdling events, and wants to have at least one spare, should anything happen to the top four. Much like Hendrix said, it takes a special breed.

“It’s a fine line of almost crazy, reckless, aggressiveness,” Gaumer said, “and then calculated measurement of where you’re at in the race. If you don’t care about time, you can get through a full flight of 10 hurdles no problem. If you care about your time, you have to be pretty aggressive, almost out of control.”

110/100 hurdles

Athletes who compete in the 110-meter high hurdles (boys) or 100-meter high hurdles (girls) must possess a combination of speed and technique that is unique in track & field. Those who don’t have both will fall behind. There is also a danger element, as clipping hurdles can result in spectacular crashes. A properly executed run, however, can be among a track meet’s best races to watch.