The 2024 UIL track and field 6A 100-meter hurdle race ended with both Lillian Harden and Rylee Hampton standing on top of the award stand. Harden, a senior from Bridgeland High School, ran 13.52 and won gold, while Hampton, a senior from Cypress Ridge High School, ran 13.86 and won silver.
“Winning felt like a relief. I had been stressing since regionals about racing because I’ve never gone into a big meet being the top dawg. Being able to go out there and do what was expected made my day,” said Harden.
Harden won her first UIL 6A gold medal as she raced against a crowded field including the defending 2023 UIL 6A gold medalist, Rylee Hampton.
“I’ve never been a person to lock in. I’m always joking and acting the same but at this meet, I was insanely nervous. I caught myself shaking for the first time in years before the race,” said Harden.
Harden and Hampton began with similar journeys leading to their senior season face-off. Both athletes began their athletic careers as gymnasts doing all four events, beam, bars, floor and vault. Hampton attended Stars Gymnastics and Harden attended Woodlands Gymnastics Academy.
Going over a hurdle requires a great amount of flexibility in the hips, lower back and hamstrings. It is this skill that these ladies learned early through gymnastics that unknowingly helped them to maneuver over hurdles at high rates of speed.
However, gymnastics can be mentally draining, and both Harden and Hampton reached that point when enough was enough.
“I decided to end my gymnastics career after going through many of the mental and physical aspects of the sport and focus primarily on track,” said Hampton.
After dedicating themselves to track and field, Harden and Hampton found themselves training with Coach Nathan Walker, a hurdle coach at Performance Hurdling.
“I found track easier on me mentally and I ultimately fell out of love with gymnastics to pursue track,” said Harden.
Coach Walker understood that to be a great hurdler an athlete needs speed and technique, both of which Harden and Hampton have.
After winning gold last season in the 100-meter hurdles, Hampton decided to take time off and let her body rest before attending the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon in July. Rest is an essential part of track and training as many runners find it hard to balance the two during the season.
Shortly after training, Hampton tweaked her back and was forced to take more time off. The district meet was her first meet back her senior season.
“Senior season has been a rollercoaster,” said Hampton. “The injury I suffered before going to U20 is called Osteitis pubis. It’s rare in athletes but it deals a lot with the pelvic, hip area. It made it very sensitive while I was hurdling. Trying to navigate that while trying to practice and trying to get back was a little bit challenging, however, I had to learn to trust my body and put my faith in God.”
Harden also found herself battling the mental aspect of injury after finishing her junior season a regional medalist and qualifying for state in the 100-meter hurdles.
“I finished the year with a PR of 13.74 in 100-meter hurdles. I went to the Great Southwest Meet but afterward, I was battling a foot injury all summer,” said Harden.
Both Hampton and Harden are now back healthy and making full strides while on the track. This summer Hampton plans on attending The Brooks PR Invitational, Nike Outdoor, and The Great Southwest Meet in New Mexico. Harden also plans to attend The Brooks PR Invitational along with the U20 meet in Eugene, Oregon hopefully qualifying for the U20 Worlds meet in Peru.
Both Hampton and Harden acknowledge the university culture as a piece of why they chose where they will be attending next season, but ultimately it was the coaching staff that swayed their final decision.
Hampton will be attending the University of Georgia where she will be focusing on running the 100-meter hurdles, while Harden will be attending the University of Iowa where she will be competing in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles.
“Of course the University is amazing, but I’ve always wanted to go where I could become better as a hurdler,” said Hampton. “I saw many Olympic hurdlers were trained by Caryl Smith Gilbert while at USC. When I met her it was an automatic connection. I’ve never had a woman coach before. Her being a Black woman and just seeing me for who I am, not just an athlete but as a person helped my decision.”
“Iowa is a big campus with great facilities. Coach Joey Woody and Coach Chyna Davis are great,” said Harden. “They have a great history of developing hurdlers. Coach Woody has an average of dropping one second from every 100-meter hurdler that comes in and this is crucial because one day I hope to become not only a Nike Athlete but an Olympian.”
Both athletes are incredible, hardworking, proven winners. As they look back to encourage the younger generation they reflect on these sentiments.
“Keep working hard,” said Hampton. “The fruits of your labor will be shown eventually, but keep working. Communicate with your coaches and make sure that you’re on your grind, taking care of your body and doing everything you can in your power to be the best person you can be.”
“Coach Fisher always told me, ‘The man who says he can’t and the man who says he can are both right. Choose which one you want to be,’ its all up to you,” said Harden.
