Wayne track coach Mike Fernandez will readily admit that Bogle is one of the best athletes to come through his strong program, and the native Jamaican proved it Saturday, June 5, by winning an event and placing in two others at the state track meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
But c’mon. Wouldn’t he have looked awfully good catching passes from star quarterback Braxton Miller, the big-time Ohio State recruit?
Physically not possible.
“I’m pretty much blind in my left eye,” Bogle said.
The injury, sustained as a middle schooler when a classmate tossed a book his way that struck him in the face, leaves him without a knowledge of whether opponents are sneaking up on his left side. But in the 110-meter hurdles, in his first year running the event, that hasn’t really been a problem for the Ohio State-bound burner.
Bogle won the 110 hurdles title in 14.15 seconds, and it was only the 10th time he ran the event in his life. Fernandez convinced Bogle to try it this year, knowing his athleticism and his family background (his mother, Beverley Grant, is a former Olympic representative for Jamaica and runner at Central State and Lincoln University).
Bogle also finished second in the 300 hurdles (37.28) and seventh in the 100 (10.95), solidifying himself as one of the best Fernandez has coached.
“You like to take your best athletes and use them in the hurdles,” Fernandez said. “He was warming up one day and jumping them, and my hurdles coach said, ‘Mike, you need to take a look at this.’ ”
And so Bogle will move on to likely run the hurdles for the Buckeyes, making him the second generation in his family to run in college. Speaking of which, Grant, his mother, was sitting in the lower level of the stands watching Bogle on Saturday, and I asked her if she could take him.
She playfully hesitated, so I suggested she pick her preferred event.
“The 200,” she said.
And the likely result?
“I would beat him, of course,” she said with a laugh. “In my days, I was very aggressive on the turns.”
Few in the area have been more aggressive than Bogle this season, in his number of events, his trying hurdles for the first time and his place as one of the Miami Valley’s fastest all season.
Except, even if he could have, he likely wouldn’t have tried football.
“I would have probably played soccer,” Bogle said.
About the Author
