Lakewood's Dais clears hurdles on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

When Lakewood's Quinton Dais lined up for the 110m and 400m hurdles at the Sumter County Championships last week, he wasn't sure what to expect.

The Gator senior had never competed in either event before. In fact, he hadn't properly trained on the hurdles until two days prior. That didn't seem to matter, as he won the 400m event and narrowly finished second in the 110m race.

That performance was enough to earn recognition as the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week.

"It felt pretty good after trying hurdles for the first meet," Dais said of the honor. "I was kinda nervous, but it was good to see everyone support me and vote me for Athlete of the Week."

Lakewood head coach Youshi Kirkland was blown away by his performance.

"He actually did better than I expected. I knew, watching him in practice, that he was going over the hurdles, but I didn't know he was going to excel so well," Kirkland said. "He did a phenomenal job, and he shocked the entire county."

Dais was a natural fit for hurdling, even though he'd never competed in the event. He was a strong sprinter for the Gators and thrived as a jumper in both the long and triple jumps. He spent hours on Tuesday and Wednesday before the event trying to get the right form to thrive against the best runners Sumter County had to offer.

"I was a good 400 runner, so he just kinda threw me in the hurdles because I do pretty well with jumping, so he just kinda threw it in, and we took the approach of running it like a regular race, and the hurdles are just a barrier you're jumping over," Dais said. "I just drilled hurdle drills during practice, and I stayed late until like 7 one day, just focusing on getting over and making sure my lead leg and trail leg were OK."

When Dais stepped to the line, the fear of a clipped hurdle definitely came to mind, but he didn't let that stop him.

"I snagged one with my trail leg, and I was kinda scared, but I just kept going," he said.

He finished the 110m hurdles in 15.94 seconds, just missing out on first place, as Sumter High's Tymaries Thompson-Durant won with a time of 15.73. The two weren't in the same heat, which Dais saw as the main reason he didn't come away with the win.

"We figured if I was in the heat with him, I probably would've run faster, or me and him maybe would've tied," Dais said. "I didn't have anyone to push me in my heat, so I just ran that 15.9 with all luck."

Kirkland agreed.

"He's so competitive, so if he was in that heat with someone closer to him, that's going to push him more," he said. "If he was in that final heat, he would've won, in my opinion, and run a low 15."

Dais then won the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.41. He was the only runner to finish in less than a minute.

"I didn't even believe my coach when he told me I ran the 58 for the 400. I had to wait until they posted the results on the wall before I even believed it," Dais said. "I was so star struck."

Kirkland was shocked by the way Dais was able to nearly match his times in the 400m dash when there were hurdles in his path.

"Throughout the year, in the open 400, he was averaging a 53-54, so for the 400 hurdles, I was expecting a minute or 1:01, same with the 110 hurdles," Kirkland said. "He was definitely a second from my expectations in the 110 hurdles and one or two seconds better than my expectations in the 400 hurdles. He definitely wasn't close to my expectations."

Dais also won the triple jump, clearing 42'2.5" to win by more than two inches. The triple is a reliable event for Dais. After starting his leaping career as a long jumper, he picked up the triple last year and has continued to thrive this year.

"He's been consistent with jumping 42s, so that was expected for him to perform the way he did," Kirkland said.

After such a great showing in his first attempt at the hurdles, Dais can feel his confidence continue to grow as he gears up for the home stretch of his senior season. The Region VI-3A meet is just a few days away on May 1 before the lower state and state meets on May 11 and 18.

"I feel like the county meet helps prepare you for the big three meets coming up and getting out of the county," Dais said. "Placing high and PRing, I feel better going into region and lower state than I did going into Sumter County."