Melia Cox is upholding the Long Beach Poly tradition of speedy sprinters, and looks to win multiple medals at the California Interscholastic Federation state meet.
Photo by Kirby Lee
Melia Cox was watching an international track meet on television one day after her freshman year at
Long Beach Poly (Calif.).
Although she was an outstanding triple jumper, competing in just one event was more than a little boring, so she was looking to expand her horizons. Even though she had long jumped in junior high, that was too much like the triple jump and while she was fast, the definition of fast at Poly is in a whole different dictionary.
Suddenly on the screen came the women's 100-meter hurdles and although to this day she isn't sure who won, the event captured her imagination. When she asked the Poly track coaches if she could try it, they encouraged her.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Although she has been speeding over the unforgiving barriers for only three years, she heads into this weekend's California Interscholastic Federation Track and Field Championships in Clovis as the prohibitive favorite. She's the national leader in both the 100 hurdles at 13.34 seconds and the 300- hurdles at 40.94.
That's not all. Cox runs second leg on the Jackrabbits' 4x100 relay team that also leads the nation at 45.04 seconds and just to make it interesting, she ranks fifth in the nation and third in the state in the triple jump at 41 feet, 2¾ inches.
This state meet means a lot since last year the only medal she earned was a disappointing fifth place in the short barriers.
"I still don't know what happened, except I got left in the blocks," said Cox, whose next stop will be wearing the cardinal and gold of the University of Southern California. "I wasn't intimidated or anything. This year is a lot different because now I'm the target. What happened last year won't happen again."
The words were said with conviction because she'd like to win four gold medals and have her teammates continue their high-quality performances, so maybe this year's Jackrabbits could be considered among the best girls team ever at Poly.
"I've heard people say that this is the best team but that's crazy," she says. "That 2004 team (led by Shalonda Soloman and Jasmine Lee) was really good. But it would be fun to find out just how we compare."
Improvement came quickly in the hurdles for the 5-foot-6 speedster, who also jumped into the No. 2 leg on the 4x100 relay team as a sophomore and never relinquished it.
At Long Beach Poly, though, a time like 45.04 in the relay isn't even a school record. Not close. The all-time fastest high school time is 44.5, which also happens to be the Jackrabbits' school record set by that 2004 team. In fact, the No. 5 time is 44.9, by the 2003 Poly club.
Third on the school list, 10th all-time in the nation. Tough company. The difference is the Jackrabbits of 2011 figure to have two more chances and getting a push at the state meet could well challenge the 45-second barrier.
At least Cox has no peers in the two hurdle races, at Poly or anywhere else.
Although she didn't think she'd gone that fast, didn't believe it when she heard the announcer reveal her 13.34-second time in last week's Southern Section Masters Meet, she is now practically giddy about it.
"It's the easiest of the three events and I know I can run a lot faster," says Cox. "My goal at the beginning of the year was 13.3, but now it's 13.2."
Only Candy Young of Beaver Falls, Pa., has run faster than 13.2, topped by the national high school record of 12.95 in 1979.
It's the 300 hurdles where Cox feels she can make the most improvement, although her 40.94 is equal to the seventh-fastest performance of all-time. And as for the triple jump, which she likes just as much as the hurdles, building her leg strength by hurdling has allowed her second phase — the step — to be among the best in the nation.
Her mother, Rita, who also graduated from Poly, as did Melia's older sister Lauren, has never missed a meet and Melia says having her in the crowd is a comfort.
"She has a distinctive voice and I can hear her before and after each race," Melia says. "I know she's cheering during the race but I don't hear her then."
Rita wouldn't miss it and she is just as supportive of Melia's passion for fashion as she is with track.
"Melia will get on the computer to see what the latest fashions are and she's always writing ideas down," said Rita. "I wouldn't be surprised if after track Melia and her sister go into the fashion business together (Lauren as the designer and Melia on the marketing end).
"As for track, being a member of the booster club and going to all the meets has taught me a lot. I'm just showing my support."
Rita says Melia is already aware that if she qualifies for the 2012 U.S. Junior team, that will mean competing in Barcelona, which is just a short train ride from Paris, the fashion capitol of the world.
"I'm always blogging to see fashions," says Melia, who still manages to maintain a 3.6 grade point average. "Actually, I like vintage clothes more than the new ones. I just love to look at dresses at events like the Oscars and Emmys.
"Because of track I didn't have time to design my own prom dress but I would like to have done that. The one I had was beautiful but you wear it just once. I've been asked what I think about the Poly running outfits and the only change I'd make is maybe put some other colors in it."
And mess with the green and gold that is Long Beach Poly?
Melia says sure, but the Poly mystic is real, as she discovered when the team dominated the 117th annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field earlier this year.
"Poly is so well-known that by wearing the green and gold we're representing every runner who ever went here," she says. "At Penn, people would stare at us when we walked past wearing our Poly shirts. It's real."
And so is Melia's quest for four gold medals. Asked right after grabbing her fourth win in the Masters meet if she planned to do all four events on both days in Clovis, a yeoman-like task, her face lit up and she smiled, simply saying, "of course!"
