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Kirby Lee report on former North HS of Riverside Hurdle star Nichole Denby - now at University of Texas

Nichole Denby has kept North High track and field coach Charles Leathers abreast of her progress in the 100-meter hurdles since heading to the University of Texas three years ago.

The telephone calls to the Inland Empire have increased in frequency during her junior season this spring.

``We keep in touch, but when I do badly I don’t want to call him,’’ Denby said. ``I only want to call him when I do well. I’ve been talking to him more often this season.’’

After a disappointing first two years at Texas, Denby is fulfilling the promise of her senior season at North when she set the national federation high school record holder in the 100-meter hurdles.

Denby, who will compete in the Big 12 championships at Texas on Saturday through Monday (5/17-19), has twice run a career-best 13.09 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, including a victory in the 109th annual Penn Relays last month.

At Penn, Denby defeated NCAA title favorites Danielle Caruthers of Indiana and Louisiana State’s Lolo Jones. Two weeks earlier, Denby ran 13.09 in the Texas Relays despite a black eye and bruises and abrasions on her shoulder and knees after suffering a fall during practice when she caught her spikes in the leg of her tight while running full speed during

Denby, who has run under her sophomore best of 13.17 in the 100 hurdles three times, started the season in the NCAA indoor championships in March with a Big 12 Conference indoor record of 8.12 in the 60-meter hurdles to finish fifth for the second consecutive season.

``It was long overdue,’’ Leathers said. ``Just talking to her she is completely different mentally. It’s night and day for her trying to find her way and get her confidence.’’

At North High, Denby was the nation’s top-ranked high school hurdler as a junior and senior. In 2000, Denby set a national high school record 13.20 in the 100 hurdles in 2000 en route to her second consecutive state title and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Her first season at Texas didn’t go as smoothly. Hampered by a lingering hamstring strain, Denby did not improve on her high school best and was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA championships. As a sophomore, Denby was fourth in the national championships.

``When you are not running well, your confidence drops,’’ said Denby, whose father Greg was the 1980 state high jump champion at Crenshaw High and sister Nachele is a sophomore shot putter at North.

``It was all those freshman things being in college and classes in a new environment. I thought I was going to come in and beat everybody. I was used to being dominant and not used to losing. People beating you in college was a whole new thing. It was a big wake-up call.’’

Denby was the head of the class at North, whose alumnae list reads like a Who’s Who on the all-time state list with Denby, Nichole Hoxie and Joanna Hayes holding the top three places.

Hoxie, the 1996 and 1997 state champion, was a four-time All-American at the University of Texas. It was Hoxie’s Big 12 conference and Texas indoor record that Denby broke in the NCAA indoor championships.

Hayes, the 1995 national female high school athlete of the year as a senior, represented the U.S. in the 1999 world championships in the 400 hurdles.

The school has produced five state champions in the 100 hurdles since 1995. This year’s team set a national record in the 400 shuttle hurdles relay.

``Before I got to coach Leathers, I didn’t know anything about hurdling,’’ Denby said. ``He instilled everything that I accomplished. He’s made all of us. It’s not just a coincidence that he’s had all that talent. He is a great man and a great coach. He took me as far I could go at the high school level.’’

The next task was up to Texas coach Bev Kearney, who nicknamed Nichole ``Baby Denby’’ as a freshman because she was the youngest on the team. Kearney attributed the breakthroughs to maturity.

``Nichole has always had the talent, but she’s finally starting to realize it,’’ Kearney said. ``With maturity, she is able to understand the technical things that it takes to get to the next level.’’

For Denby, that would include a NCAA title and Angie Vaughn’s school record of 12.63 before her collegiate eligibility is through. After college, Denby plans to continue to train with Kearney in Austin for aspirations of competing in the Olympics and world championships.

``It’s been a gradual process,’’ Denby said. ``I am just getting older and knowing what I can do. I am mentally tougher and more confident just being up there with big wins against the best in the country. They are all confidence boosters.’’

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