Moorestown High's Brandon Outlaw Sets Eyes On 'Meet Of Champions'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Moorestown High School senior Brandon Outlaw has exploded to be in the running to claim outright the title as New Jersey's best 400-meter sprinter.
And the speedy Outlaw uses personal adversity to fuel him and propel him to victory and glory.
"I had a grandmother's death that I took hard; that gets me emotional and intense and ready to run hard," Outlaw said.
Riding the highs of his 400 meters performance this past weekend, in which he earned New Jersey's Group 3 Championship and the number one seed for this coming weekend's "Meet of Champions," Outlaw is poised to outpace his peers as he accomplishes greater feats.
But before the showdown, the young man is putting in that work.
"He's not the number one 400-meter runner in the state of New Jersey because of a lack of work ethic; he works very hard, day in and day out," Troy Pappas, Moorestown High School boys track coach, said.
Such commitment and determination is why Outlaw will have the opportunity to show off his gift of running at the University of Virginia.
"It is a big change because in high school I'm not really going to race people that are close to my speed until I get to states or national meets, compared to college where you race someone like that every day even in practice," he said.
Regardless of the competition to come and hurdles ahead, Coach Pappas believes Outlaw is headed down the right path by going to UVA.
"For Brandon (Outlaw) to be recognized by the University of Virginia as somebody they want, (it) makes me feel excellent as a coach," he said.