The greatest stories that you hear are those of someone that was once looked over but has now risen to the top. This is exactly one of those stories. Justin Horne of John Curtis has put his nose to the grindstone and has dropped unrealistic amounts of time year after year.
Justin Horne (far left in red)
Two years go, Horne attempted the indoor hurdles for the first time at the LSU HS Qualifier and ran a personal best of 9.25. He finished 21st in the preliminaries, with no qualifying time for the state meet in sight. At that point, Horne blended into the crowd and was just another runner, but something changed in just a matter of a year.
The very next season, Horne became a legitimate threat. He made it out of the preliminaries for the first time and ran a new personal best every meet he performed at. In a span of one year, Horne was able to shed 0.53 seconds off of his hurdle time and was ranked among the best in the state.
He qualified for the state meet for the first time and ran a personal best of 8.72 in the preliminaries. Unfortunately, he did not move on to the finals but it was still an excellent cap to his indoor season.
During the outdoor season, he became one of the best short hurdlers in the state with his time of 14.62. This ranked him as the fourth-best in the state and allowed him to compete at the LHSAA Outdoor State Championships. He competed in his first state final there and took home a sixth-place finish.
That brings us to this year, Horne's junior year. He established his dominance over the rest of the state immediately at the LSU High School Classic. The preliminary heat was impressive enough with his massive personal best of 8.18, but he went ahead and blew his previous performance out of the water with his final time of 8.09. Horne managed to shave off 0.63 seconds in just another year!
The performance is currently the state lead and ranks him as US #25. On top of that, it beats out the top hurdle performances from last year run by familiar names such as Lanard Harris and Kashie Crockett. Those two runners went on to be some of the very best hurdlers in that nation during the outdoor season, who knows if the same will be in store for Horne.
It is clear that Jusin Horne's hard work has paid off. He went from just being another name in the crowd to one of the best athletes in the nation. More will surely be in store for this young man as he finishes out his last two years of high school.