Abigail Dollins/Statesman Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
You’re usually going to have a tough time winning a race as a hurdler if you trip over one of those obstacles while running toward the finish line. However, a high schooler in Oregon managed to win a state title by nailing the perfect somersault after falling victim to what had the potential to be a disastrous mistake.
The world of track and field boasts a number of different events that are pretty strange from an objective standpoint but have nonetheless managed to stand the test of time.
I’d argue steeplechase firmly takes the cake when it comes to the weirdest event (the water aspect really takes it over the top), but hurdling also sticks out while talking about competitions that start to make less sense the more you ponder their existence.
That particular discipline is a bit less perplexing when you realize it can trace its origins back to “hedge-hopping” races that were popularized in rural England, and students at Eton College are credited with formalizing those competitions with the races they began to hold toward the end of the 19th century.
As someone who is still traumatized by the time I skinned both of my knees during an awkward slide into home plate in a Little League game when I was seven, I never had the faintest interest in hurdling, and I can’t help but respect the athletes who’ve been able to master it.
That includes the Oregon high school students who earned the right to compete for a state title in the events that were held at Hayward Field last Saturday, and Brooklyn Anderson, a junior at Springfield’s Thurston High School, ended up edging out the second-place finisher Maisy Scanlan in the 100m hurdle by .22 seconds with a time of 14.93.
It didn’t look like the race was going to be that close, as Anderson had a seemingly overwhelming lead with just a couple of hurdles to go before things took an unexpected turn when she fell on the track after tripping over the final one.
However, she kept her wits about her and flawlessly pivoted to the somersault she used to propel herself across the finish line to get the win that was much closer than it looked like it was going to be a few seconds before she took a tumble.
🤸 🤸 pic.twitter.com/V5VlZ0CxMo
— MileSplit US (@milesplit) June 1, 2025
Anderson spoke to ˆ after the victory to share what went through her head after the misstep occurred, saying:
“All I remember is resorting back to my gymnastics career. I wasn’t sure how far back everybody else was behind me, so I just knew to just keep rolling, because I wanted to get first.
The emotion was confusion, because I wasn’t sure if anyone had caught me yet. And then once I saw it up there, I was just so proud, just very, very happy. Nobody’s ever cheered for me that loud before.”
Well played.