As he crouched in Lane 4 at the start of Saturday's 100 meter race, Trayvon Bromell knew that his biggest threat would come from Cameron Burrell, the son of former world-record holder Leroy Burrell, who was two lanes away.
With an explosive start, Bromell, a recent Gibbs graduate, sliced through a headwind to gain enough of a lead to hold off his biggest nemesis at the finish line to win in 10.41 seconds at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.
"I was really focused on getting out fast for this race," said Bromell, who Burrell by three-hundredths of a second. "I knew I had to beacuse Cameron usually gets out fast in most races. t was close at the end, but i felt I had enough of a lean at the finish to win."
For most of the season, Burrell had the fastest time in the event under any conditions, a wind-aided 10.07 seconds victory in the Texas Relays. Three weeks ago, Burrell also won the Dream 100, a race where Bromell finished fifth.
Last week, Bromell redeemed himself by winning the 100 at the Great Southwest Classic in a wind-aided 9.99 seconds, the fastest time ever recorded by an American high school sprinter under any conditions.
Another record-setting time was unlikely considering the strong wind each sprinter was battling. But Bromell's focus was more on winning.
"I really wanted this race," Bromell said. "But I didn't know if I could get it. I wasn't feeling the greatest. I didn't really eat a lot before the race, and I was woozy. It was only by the grace of God that I was able to run the race that I did."
Bromell was not the only area athlete to take gold on Saturday.
In the girls heptathlon, Admiral Farragut junior Brittany McGee won with 4,627 points.
The heptathlon consists of seven running and throwing events and is held over two days. McGee won just one event, the long jump (18 feet, 2 1/2 inches). But she placed high in the other six to accumulate enough points to beat Aminah Ghaffar of Lumberton, N.C. by 45.
"This was big for me," McGee said. "I've won the heptathlon at club nationals before, but this was a first. It was long, and it came down to the last event in the 800. I knew I had to stay close to (Ghaffar) to win the overall title, which I was able to do."
Lakewood's 4x200 relay team of Tim Holmes, Shaquill Griffin, Shaquem Griffin and Deandre Boykins won in 1 minute, 24 seconds, the second-fastest time in the nation. Officials initially disqualified the Spartans because they thought Boykins was out of his lane. Video replays proved otherwise.
Lakewood's 4x100 team of Javen Haye, the Griffin twins and Boykins had the fastest time in the preliminaries at 40.94 seconds.
Holmes took third in the 110 hurdles in a personal-best 13.84 seconds, a time that also broke the school record of 13.9 previously held by Dermillo Wise.