Nasir Bland used to shake before races last year because he would get so nervous.
Now the Ewing High School junior is making opponents shake as the top hurdler in the area. Bland earned that title with a win in the 110-meter hurdles in a personal-record 14.62 seconds at the Mercer County Championships on May 12.
“It means a lot,” Bland said. “Indoor season, I was really pushing for it. I came up short by a tenth of a second. I felt like I ran the best race I could have that day, and I thought, ‘Outdoors, there’s a lot I have to do and I have to work as hard as I can.’”
Bland’s times have started to drop as he prepares for the biggest races of the year. The sectional championships were scheduled for May 25-26 with the top six in each event moving on to the state group meet June 1-2. He’s looking forward to the toughest competition.
“Surprisingly I love having pressure on me,” Bland said. “I do get a little nervous before my races, but I have to take a deep breath and calm down. I have to trust myself to do what I have to do and trust my teammates to do what they have to do.”
Bland has grown plenty in his third season of outdoor track. He started running track in eighth grade as a sprinter. He added hurdles to his resume as a freshman in his first outdoor season, but he never could have foreseen being a county champion. He was third in the Freshman-Sophomore Mercer County Championships as a freshman, then won it last year while finishing fifth in the open Mercer County Championships finals. His experience has helped this year.
“Last year, I would get really nervous so my hands would start shaking and I couldn’t stop,” Bland said. “This year, it’s more me taking a deep breath and calming my nerves.
“I had a bad habit of worrying about what everyone else was running instead of focusing on myself. Now I’m trying to just push myself.”
Ewing pushed itself to seventh in a hotly contested Mercer County Championships with 41 points, only four points out of finishing fourth. Bland was the only Blue Devils athlete to win an event, but the team did well overall.
“I was very happy with how we competed,” said Ewing head coach Matt Dalessio. “Nas going and finally getting a county championship in the 110s was awesome to see, especially in the fashion he did it. He came over the last hurdle easily out in front smiling ear to ear and came through the line and still went 14.6. It’s something he’s been aiming for since he was a freshman.”
Other highlights on the day came from A’irrion Scott, who took third in the 400 meters in 51.00 seconds and jumped 6-feet-2 for third in the high jump. Michael Ilesanmi was fourth in the triple jump after leaping 42-1½. Noah Castor took third in the javelin at 157-feet, and Mark Rogers was sixth in the discus with a 128-1 throw. The 4×400 relay of Scott, Dahvae’ Edward-Chew, Michael Conover and Bland were fifth in 3:28.07, and the 4×100 relay of Gabe Abel, AJ Jolicoeur, Edward-Chew and Bland took seventh in 44.82 seconds. The boys 4×800 of Conover, Scott, Lucas Vasquez and Will Bolmer was third in 8:23.39. The top finishers on the girls side were Mya Grimes, who was third in the shot put at 34-10¾ and Machaya Williams-Traylor was sixth in the 400 meters in 1:02.06.
“We opened up the meet very strong by taking third place in the 4×8, which was a bit of a surprise,” Dalessio said. “We thought we could place, we didn’t know if we could get top three. That’s a team of two freshmen and two seniors so there should be good turnover there and we think we can continue that success. Part of that team is A’irrion Scott who ended up taking third in the 4×8, third in the high jump and third in the 400. He wasn’t necessarily thrilled with his time in the 400. He wanted to go under 50, and I think he can go win a sectional title. For where we were all year dual meet wise, especially early on, and how young we are on the track, I was very pleased with how we performed.”
The strong start to May has Bland ready for the state meets. He broke 15 minutes for the first time this season at the Mercer Coaches Classic to start the month, then went faster at the county meet. Those improvements bode well for Bland, who advanced all the way to the Meet of Champions last spring.
“I feel like my confidence is way higher than it was last year,” Bland said. “Just the effort I put into practice, once I realized I can really get this title or win this, now is the time to put work into it.”
Katie Lindacher has noticed the change in Bland this year. She joined the Ewing track staff last year and is enjoying coaching the hurdlers for a second season.
“Last year being my first year, everyone was getting used to me,” Lindacher said. “I was getting used to them as well. We’ve had some changes in mentally preparing. With workouts, it used to a little different and a bit of a struggle. Now we’re better prepared. I tell Nas’ the day before meets to visualize a strong, clean race and going over the hurdles clean and well. He’s realized he can be at the top. Going to the Meet of Champions gave him a boost of confidence for this year.
“It was important. It was also more Nas maturing and getting older and realizing how good he can become. I think we formed a good relationship and he trusted me that I could show him the right way to keep working hard.”
It’s paid off this spring after Bland wasn’t happy with his winter season. He lost to Nottingham’s Alix Oge in the indoor county meet. That set him up for the rematch in the outdoor county meet.
“I didn’t feel like I was the favorite,” Bland said. “After the Twilight meet, we ran a similar time, and I used me losing him to indoor as motivation and pushed through it.”
Bland’s times have started to come down where he wanted them with the bigger meets. He owes some of his progression to the strong competition.
“It’s really helped me a lot,” Bland said. “Coming into dual meets, there aren’t many hurdlers in the county so there’s not much pressure to run fast times. My main competition is Alix from Nottingham. Knowing he’s there, I know I have to run fast.”
Said Lindacher: “He wanted that race really bad and went out super hard. I’m happy for his times and this is a perfect time to keep improving and getting better. He has sectionals coming up and I’m excited for him.”
Ewing is hoping Bland will also compete in the 400-meter hurdles in the sectionals. The hurdles are set to a lower height, but the distance of the race makes it a grueling test of fitness and focus.
“I don’t like running them, but I think I do a pretty good job of running them,” Bland said. “When you run them, you have to be really mentally prepared for the race.”
Bland also is a vital part of two Blue Devils relays. He enjoys being a part of the relay teams, which are both aiming for significant improvements at states after medaling at counties.
“The 4×1, I was really nervous because the order was new,” Bland said. “I just had to trust my teammates, AJ, Gabe and Dahvea’. I feel like we’ve run better in the beginning of the season, so I know we can go faster. We just have to clean up some things and do some work. AJ and Dahvea’ have improved a lot, and Gabe is already running 11 seconds in his freshman year.”
The 4×400 is a more experienced group than the 4×100, and Bland sees big things ahead for the group.
“The 4×4, that relay team is like my brothers,” Bland said. “In the beginning of the season, we weren’t running as fast. Penn Relays, that boosted our confidence up high. I think we ran 3:27. Now we’re trying to lower that and run faster. Once we get the right pressure on us, coming into sectionals, we can do our best.”
Sectionals will give Ewing the competition and drive it needs to produce seasons bests, and that will help them compete as a team.
“I want to see more of the same from what we had at counties,” Dalessio said. “I just hope it’s a warm day because our times keep getting faster. If we can sneak in that top three, and be in contention for that title, it’d be great. I don’t think we have the horses to win a sectional title, but we can make it interesting.”
Bland is taking aim at finishing stronger than he did a year ago when he advanced through sectionals and groups to the Meet of Champions. His county win gives him confidence that he can compete with the best in the state.
“I realize I can run the times I should,” Bland said. “Coming into the state meets, the pressure is there so I have to use it.
“This year I was ranked 15th coming into the season. Definitely lowering that ranking was the biggest goal I had besides the times. It was more of me not putting too much pressure on myself, and the times would come. Now my biggest goal is medaling at Meet of Champs and possibly qualifying for nationals.”
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