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Football: Cal signee Muhammad blazes in SoCal

Posted on by Jeff Faraudo

Cal football signee Khalfani Muhammad had another spectacular day on the track for Notre Dame HS of Sherman Oaks.

The senior two-sport star won both sprint events at the CIF Southern Section Masters meet at Cerritos College on Friday night in times that were spectacular, albeit wind-aided.

Muhammad, who will play running back for the Bears next fall, repeated as 100-meter champion, running 10.22 seconds, backed by a wind of 2.1 meters per second — barely over the allowable limit of 2.0. His time, while not eligible for record purposes, was faster than the Southern Section mark of 10.25 set by Hawthorne’s Henry Thomas in 1984.

It’s also faster than any wind-legal time run by a prep sprinter in the country this season, according to the website Dyestat.com.  Only five sprinters nationwide have run faster this season under any conditions.

In the 200, Muhammad ran a wind-legal 20.73 to break his own school record. It was the third-fastest legal time in the country this season by a high school runner and the fastest mark by a San Fernando Valley spring since 1987, when future Olympian Quincy Watts ran 20.50.

How fast are his times?

Consider that Muhammad’s 10.22 — if wind-legal — would rank No. 2 on Cal’s all-time career list for the 100. His 20.73 mark in the 200 would sit at No. 3 all-time.  

Muhammad will be the favorite in both events next weekend at the CIF State Meet in Clovis, where he will attempt to defend his titles in the two sprint races.

“I like being the favorite because there’s more pressure and that brings out the best in me,” Muhammad told the Los Angeles Times.

It  will be interesting to see how Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin can utilize the speed that Muhammad and Brendan Bigelow bring to the field.

And whether Dykes will let Muhammad find his way to Edwards Stadium to run track for the Bears.

Jeff Faraudo

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  • Juancho

    Eric?

  • wehofx

    I know next to nothing about track but doesn’t this:

    >>>Only five sprinters nationwide have run faster this season under any conditions.
    >>>

    Make KM a real deal candidate for the Olympics?

  • Eric

    I was there (see my posts on Cal track yesterday). He is super fast – on the 100, two other guys ran under 10.50, and it didn’t look close. He also anchored the 4×100 to qualify for the State prelims (after a terrible hand-off between the first and second legs, he came from behind to catch two guys to qualify – I am annoyed with the ND track coach for switching out a very talented sophomore in favor of a freshman; the freshman has a faster 100 meter time, but the team runs better with the sophomore). On the 4×400, the team didn’t qualify for State (it was always going to be a stretch, and they didn’t have a great run).

    The scary thing is that CIF Southern Section is the deepest and fastest section in the US – other than a few Texas guys, no one comes close.

    State prelims at Buchanan High in Clovis are Friday, with the State championships on Saturday. Annoyingly, ND’s graduation is also on Saturday, so I need to be at the graduation, but I’ll get text updates during the State meet.

  • The Wisdom Cow

    Don’t put too much stock into the wind-aided times except as proof that the kid is fast. Even if not “wind-aided,” putting too much stock in the times themselves (as far as “fastest ever”) is kinda like trusting the 40 times in an unofficial NFL workout.

    Unless the regionals are using state of the art methods, they have a decent +/- error on those times, regardless of winds (which they also may not be so great at measuring).

    Safe to say, however, Muhammad is fast. Hopefully, he’s fast in pads, too.

  • rotfogel

    What about the NorCal championships at Cal yesterday? Love Muhammad but my man Takkarist McKinley tore it up yesterday as well…
    “Kennedy-Richmond’s Takkarist McKinley was strong in the last 50 of the 100 to win in 11.09 seconds against a 2.7 mps head-wind and a talented field.
    “North Coast is my section, and I went out and proved it,” he said after the 100.”

  • Eric

    @Rot

    It will be interesting seeing our guys on the track together at the State prelims (first time since the Arcadia Relays). TM is a mountain. KM, well, not the biggest guy out there. But both are ours.

  • Eric

    @Wisdom

    I can’t comment on what typical track meets do, but given the talent that comes out of the Southern Section, CIF invests a lot of resources into timing – I think you can watch these races on the web, and see for yourself.

  • The Wisdom Cow

    Since when has talent in track had any correlation with the state investing dollars into high schools? If anything, the opposite would be more correlational.

    I’m not doubting they are fast. I’m just saying that comparisons coming down to tenths and hundredths of seconds, with “wind aided” as a variable, should be taken with a grain of salt.

    Of course, he is a Cal commit, so obviously the timing is accurate (if anything, too slow), the fool that decided it was wind-aided must have been a Stanfurd mole, and anyone that thinks otherwise should watch for themselves and let their own eyes determine the hundredths of seconds at issue.

  • Eric

    In case anyone wants to check out KM’s win last weekend (not this past Friday), see the attached link:

    http://cif-ss-finals.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=2537&do=videos&video_id=88835

    @Wisdom – I am trying to figure out what’s the thrust of your post, other than to seem negative on any times because of the potential for flawed instruments. Does that apply at the college level, or US Olympic qualifying, or the Olympics themselves? My point was that because the CIF Southern Section happens to produce an unusually large number of world-class track athletes, it has an incentive to invest in high quality officiating. Think of it as the difference between SEC football referees and Pac-12 football referees.

  • Eric

    The LA Times recently published the CIF Southern Section’s Top 100 athletes over the last 100 years. Check out the names (16 are track, including Marion Jones, Allyson Felix, and Mike Powell).

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/varsitytimesinsider/2013/04/cif-southern-section-announces-its-100-greatest-athletes.html

  • Jeff Faraudo

    Regarding Muhammad’s time being wind-aided, any sprint time or horizontal jump accomplished with more than 2.0 meters-per-second wind behind it is classified as wind-aided. But note that the wind reading on his race was 2.1 mps — barely above the limit. That’s a FAST high school time. Doesn’t promise that he’ll be a great FB player, but you’d rather have a fast guy than a slow one, right?

  • Juancho

    Jeff I wish you a happy Memorial Day.

    But I’m worried that the ratio of Khalfani vs Kline blog posts is not what it should be. Kilne is probably faster than Khalfani, he just chooses not to run.

  • ScottyBear

    Wind aided? Who cares! I hope Muhammad gets a nice 5 mile per hour breeze at his back every time he carries the ball against Ohio State and USC. Does the touchdown get called back??!! Go Bears! Glad he is one of us!!

  • c98

    10.22? Jahvid Best ran a 10.36 100 meter.

    Sold.

  • rob bear

    Ability to pull away from oncoming secondary in helmets 10 – 20 yards from the LOS is what we look forward to.

    Good luck to all future Bears at Buchanan (Clovis, CA) State Meet.

  • wehofx

    Twitter:

    >>>Cal Football ‏@CalFootball 11m

    Questions about #BearRaid? @CALCoachDykes will take your questions through Friday! His video responses will be posted on Monday! #AskSonny
    >>>
    Finally Googled 100 meter times. RE: KM’s 10.22:

    Fastest time in US in ’13 is 10.06.

    Fastest World Record Junior Times: 10.01 to 10.06.

    Usain Bolt’s record: 9.58

  • rotfogel

    Fastest high school athlete at 6-3 240lbs in the 100M? 10.7 seconds…Muhammad is a great sprinter and I’m happy he’s coming to the Bears. Takkarist McKinley is a human freak of nature and I cannot believe how lucky the Bears are to have landed him.

  • Juancho

    Rotfo is it just me or are you outJuanchoing me?

  • rotfogel

    I might be Juancho…I just find it funny that this blog seems to not notice the crazy insane athlete who is outa Richmond, CA and more enamored with the little fast guy from SoCal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Mohammed will be great. Takkarist McKinley is the biggest freak of nature that Cal has ever landed however. He’s so big that his 40 time may not be that great…and when I say not that great I mean like 4.5. AT 6-3 240LBS!!!! Once he’s up to speed there isn’t any as fast at that size in ALL OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL…

  • ScottyBear

    Takkarist could be the next Chuck Muncie!! Put him on offense!

  • BlueNGold

    It sounds like Muhammad is a rare and special talent. Hopefully he will be permitted to continue to run track while at Cal. Talent like that should be encouraged.