EUGENE, Ore. — Four years ago, at an event held near his hometown of Atlanta, Tony Carpenter saw a 13-year-old Candace Hill run. It was a memorable experience: “I thought, ‘Wow,’ ” Carpenter recalled thinking. “Once this young lady matures into her body, she’s going to be a special talent.”
Then merely a bystander struck by her precocious athleticism, Carpenter now inhabits a more hands-on part in Hill’s growth. In June 2015, after she became the first female high schooler to crack the 11-second barrier in the 100 meters, Carpenter took on an advisory role in her development, helping Hill and her family carve out a long-term strategy and plan.
It can be hard to create a blueprint for one of America’s brightest young track stars — especially when given Hill’s penchant for matching and then exceeding expectations, as she has done in the year-plus since her record-breaking sprint.
“I feel like I got a lot of recognition after I broke the record,” said Hill, now 17. “That really gave me confidence and inspired me to continue in the sport — like, that I have a future.”
She has more than a future in track and field: Hill, despite her youth, has a chance to serve as part of the U.S. team’s present. She will compete this week and next in the 100 and 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials held here on the campus of University of Oregon. Heats in the 100 begin Saturday; the final is Sunday. Heats in the 200 begin next Friday.
“A lot of what she brings to the table is just natural, God-given ability,” said Carpenter, the founder and head coach of Titans Elite Track Club in Marietta, Ga. “It is extremely rare. I’ve had the good fortune of working with a number of athletes her age, both male and female, and she does some things I haven’t seen guys do at this age.
“I think a lot of it is ahead of the curve. She’s an extremely bright young lady. As a coach, she makes you think. There are a lot of things she wants to know why. And when you present it to her in a consumable fashion and she understands why, it’s very easy for her to execute it.”
She took up track and field as a seventh-grader in Conyers, Ga., and had an epiphany two years later: I’m really fast, Hill realized, even as she continued to train only during her school’s track season.
The race last June, held in Shoreline, Wash., was the impetus for a life-changing decision, as was her medal-winning showing — gold in the 100 and 200 — at the World Youth Championships last July in Cali, Colombia, a moment “that really put the icing on the cake.” After beginning her relationship with Carpenter, Hill opted in December to turn professional rather than pursue a college career, signing a 10-year contract the athletic equipment company ASICS.
It wasn’t an easy decision, fraught with questions about whether to give up her remaining eligibility as an amateur — not just college but also her final year of high school — and whether she could hold her own against the world’s best professionals.
“I didn’t think I would handle being up against the best in the world regardless of age,” Hill said. “I didn’t feel comfortable, and I didn’t feel I was that fast to handle and hang with them. But my coaches and my parents said, ‘You’re on a level that’s far above high school athletes, and if you keep on running in high school track then you wouldn’t necessarily get better. You wouldn’t work for it.’”
Carpenter, who calls himself Hill’s “director of performance,” crafted a plan to help ease her transition into the professional ranks. It began with building a training group around Hill, kept small to increase camaraderie. After years of not training in the fall months, Carpenter gave Hill an offseason program; it includes video, nutrition and technology geared toward lowering her times.
She also trains with former Olympic sprinter Sayon Cooper, who represented Liberia at the Summer Games in 1996 and 2000.
“We’ve created a plan that’s really tailored to her,” Carpenter said. “There are some things we’re leaving on the table so as to not throw too much at her too soon. Because we are interested in her long-term development, growth, success.
“She’s a quick study. So in addition to being physically gifted, she has that very unique mental approach to where she can look at something and she can just grasp it.”
Other routines have remained the same. Hill still listens to the same music before meets, beginning with fast-paced songs before switching to slower, more calming selections — helping her go from “amped up to focused.” She still has the same pre-meet breakfast of Fruit Loops, apple juice and a blueberry muffin. She still gets nervous before meets: “I don’t feel in it if I’m not nervous,” Hill said.
And despite her initial misgivings, Hill’s decision to give up her amateur status has been justified by her growth in months since, including a 100-meter win at last week’s U.S. Junior Championships in Clovis, Calif. — a blistering 11.24 time that blew away the rest of the eight-person field and put wind in Hill’s sails heading into the Olympic trials.
“So I think that going pro prepared me for the trials, because I have no excuses,” she said. “I know how professional meets are run. I’ve competed against some of the girls I’ll see.”
That leads into the trials, where a mindset has shifted: Not just making any Olympic Games — the 2020 games, maybe — but this summer’s Rio Games, potentially filling the vacuum left by Carmelita Jeter, a three-time Olympic medalist who pulled out of the trials after aggravating a quadriceps injury.
“That’s our goal,” Carpenter said. “We started off with the idea that it’d be great to get the experience. But she’s advanced very fast. And she’s here with the goal of making the team. She doesn’t care if it’s on the relay or what the time is or whatever. That’s her goal.”
