Wind blows Duffy’s chance of state records away
Published 10:17 pm Friday, May 31, 2019
LEXINGTON— Chris Duffy walked into the University of Kentucky Track and Field Complex tired on Friday morning. He walked out a double individual state champion and a member of the overall team state champions, and a chance to come back Saturday morning for a state championship in the relay.
But he almost left as a double state record holder as well.
In the sixth race of the day, and his first, Duffy easily finished in first in the 100-meter dash. His time, 10.46 seconds, was .15 seconds faster than the 2A state record, and only .04 seconds off the overall state record. But it came with a 2.2 mph windspeed, which put it above the allowed amount. Thus, his time was not record eligible and deemed “wind assisted”.
The same thing happened in his second race, the 200-meter dash. After thunder caused a long weather delay, Duffy, again, cruised to a victory with a time of 21.40 seconds. Again, this time would have easily put him in the record book, by .13 seconds this time. Again, with wind speeds of 2.3 mph, it was deemed “wind assisted”.
The senior was glad to finish his racing career on top, both as an individual with looks from many prominent universities, and as a member of repeat state championships. But it could have been so much more. It could have ended historically.