By MILOS BLAGOJEVIC Special to The Daily Press
SMC — When Robert Collins arrived here last year, no one could have possibly known what lied ahead.
Santa Monica College track and field coach Larry Silva was getting an average, inexperienced runner at best in his first season as head coach.
Collins, who ran track at North Torrance High School without a track coach, hadn’t been to big races like California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) or state meets in high school.
And at SMC, he started running average, sometimes even slow times, according to Silva.
There was no reason for excessive celebration — until he turned out the two best performances of his young career, one after another.
At the Southern California Championships in Walnut on May 12, Collins, 18, set a personal record of 53.81 seconds in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, which qualified him for the Junior National Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis last month.
There, Collins placed 13th out of 30 runners in the 400 hurdles with a time of 54.79, less than a second over his personal record.
“For it to be my first year and never going to CIF or state in high school, it’s overwhelming,” Collins said. “I never thought I would’ve got 13th place out of 30, this being my first year in junior college.”
Silva also was satisfied with Collins’ performance. “He ran a 54.79, less than a second off of his personal record at the national championships,”Silva said.“After running a long season, lots of races, he was able to put together a performance of that kind of quality with the tension that goes along with it. I was very proud of him because he put it together.”
But Collins, a freshman forensics major, was more than a pleasant surprise for the Corsairs. Silva said Collins gives him the boost in recruiting that he needs after taking over for Olympic legend Tommy Smith, who retired last year.
“I’m a new coach here so it was very important because the more successful he becomes the easier it is for me to recruit, that’s just the bottom line,” said Silva, who already has enrolled two top recruits from North Hollywood High School.“For the program, I hope the message that it sends to the local community is that there’s a coach here that knows how to develop athletes and that all he’s looking for is the talent that’s out there.”
But at the beginning of the season, Silva had his hands full developing the young Los Angeles native’s talent.
Collins, who also competes in other hurdle events and relays for SMC, was running times worse than some high school athletes Silva coached.
“His times were not spectacular but the level of dedication that the young man gave me, coupled with his natural ability made it really easy for me to help him develop,” Silva said.“The young man, if I tell him to jump off a cliff he’ll ask me which one.”
In fact, Collins never ran the 400 hurdles prior to joining the Corsair track squad, where his initial numbers in the event were around the 56-second mark.
“For me, I’m tall so it takes a lot longer to build up my speed,” Collins said.“In the 110 (meter hurdles) you only get three steps in between each hurdle. You run the 400, you have a whole lap to try and gain momentum and keep it for the whole 400 meters.
“For me that’s more my race than the 110. I still like the 110 but if it comes down to having to choose one, I choose the 400 hurdles.”
But while running the 400 hurdles in Indianapolis, things weren’t so simple. Collins had the spotlight on him at a national event and he felt the pressure.
“You get nervous because you got all these people looking at you,” Collins said. “It’s a big stadium, everybody’s watching to see what you’re going to do. You get nervous but you still have to think it’s a normal meet.
“You’ve been doing these meets for the last year and you have to go out there and calm yourself down and just focus on what you’re going to do.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 27, 2006. Read the original PDF.