BRADFORD ON THE TRACK AND FIELD
After displaying his speed on the football field, Bradford was approached about running track in seventh grade.
He started running the 100 meters, the 200 and the 4x100 relay, and quickly gained attention from the coaches.
"They noticed the speed that I have and they wanted to make it better," said Bradford.
Bradford is one of the nation's best sprinters.
Photo by John Godwin
Once in high school, Bradford continued to excel in sprinting events and also branched out into the long jump, where he broke the school record as a freshman in 2012 with a 22-foot mark.
As a sophomore Bradford simply exploded,
taking 3A state titles in the 100 and the long jump. He improved his freshman distance by nearly two feet (23-11.5, 11 inches better than the second-place jump) and his winning 100 time of 10.49 seconds was the second-best in the state and placed No. 13 nationally in 2013.
Bradford's drastic improvement can be traced to his performance in the weight room.
"Our football program and our track program are integrated with their workouts," said Milam. "So that allows us to do a lot of cross-training when it comes to building both the track team and the football team."
Despite his success in the individual sprints and long jump, Bradford maintains that his favorite race is also his most grueling and difficult.
"My favorite race — when it comes down to doing it I dislike it — but it's the 4x400. It's my favorite race, but I just hate training for it."
Given Bradford's determination, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the Splendora track team take home a state title in that event in 2015.
