By Emily Jones
Keshun Reed is just like any other high school senior when it comes to going off to college and excitement about what the future holds. However, one thing is a little bit different about Reed: He is the 2015 International Association of Athletics Federations World Youth Championships bronze medalist in the 400 meters.
Going into the Prefontaine Classic Friday night, Reed had the fastest personal best of 45.75 seconds, over a second faster than the rest of the boys high school elite field. That best came in his junior year at the Texas University Interscholastic League State meet.
In a sprint for the line, Reed out-leaned Elija Goodwin to win in 46.71. Goodwin finished in 46.89.
“I saw Elija was with me coming around the home stretch,” Reed said. “I thought, ‘Just hold your form, finish and that will take care of the rest,’ and it ended up paying off.”
Goodwin, a Georgia native who recently switched from the 100 meters to the 400 meters this year, was not pleased with his performance.
“I felt him up on my hood a little bit,” Goodwin said. “We were battling back and forth. I tried to catch him with more foot speed, but that’s where I messed up. I kind of lost my footing, and he capitalized on it. And he got the finish.”
Reed committed to Louisiana State University for the fall and is looking forward to what is to come, although he knows there will be a lot of hard work ahead of him.
“It will probably be more intense,” Reed said, laughing. “After my coach sees this race, he’s probably going to be harder on me in practice.”
LSU was an attractive school to Reed because of the strength of his future teammates. “The people I’d be training with are all around the same speed, so I’d be working with someone that’s going to push me every day,” Reed said. “Day in and day out.”
When asked what it was like to compete at such a high profile meet, the last before he begins his collegiate career, Reed had three simple words: “It was amazing.”
