Gilbert’s Nilsson sets state 300 hurdles mark
One week after coming painstakingly close to breaking the Arizona state record in the 300-meter hurdles at the Arcadia Invitational in Southern California, Gilbert High senior Vance Nilsson entered uncharted territory as he ran 35.67 seconds at the Hohokam Invitational held at Westwood High School in Mesa Friday to become the fastest Arizona athlete ever in the event.
Nilsson becomes the first athlete from Arizona to run under 36 seconds. Phoenix Brophy Preparatory’s Robert Grant set the previous state record of 36.24 in 2014 — Nilsson’s record comes almost 10 years to the exact date when Grant set it.
“I can’t believe I did that, I can’t believe I just dropped that much time,” Nilsson said. “It’s great. I wanted to run it at Arcadia, but my friend just reminded me — you broke the state record in Arizona. This is where I train for (my club), Flames, everybody’s here, all my friends, family are watching me so I think it’s the perfect place to do it.”
Entering the meet, Nilsson was already the national leader in the 300meter hurdles. He improves on that ranking and now is currently the only athlete in the United States to have dipped into the 35-second range.
The time comes after Nilsson already ran 13.54 in the 110-meter hurdles earlier in the day, which is the second consecutive
week he’s recorded that exact time. Nilsson is only .05 seconds away from breaking Devon Allen’s 2013 state record in that event.
Nilsson’s club track and field coach, James Smith, was at the meet since his school was the host. Smith’s son, James Smith II, is No. 4 all-time in state history for the event at 36.40. Smith has been coaching Nilsson at the club level for about a year with the Arizona Flames.
“I’m just happy to see him develop,” Smith said. “As a coach, you’re at practice
with these guys, two, three hours four times a week since October. And to see stuff like this with him, it’s amazing.”
Also in the stands watching was Jayson Vazquez, whose son Yan almost broke the state record in 2022 at Mesa Red Mountain when he ran 36.40 and also was coached by Smith. Yan is now competing at Arizona after transferring from UCLA.
“It’s been an honor to be at the meet that he actually did a 35 and he’s been wanting to,” Vazquez said. “All season, he’s been talking about being the first one to do 35. It’s one of those things, like when they first broke that four-minute mile and everyone started doing it, I think people that are freshmen, sophomores, and then seeing this, they’re seeing it’s a possibility. They’re going to go ahead and try.”
Grant weighed on his state record being broken in a message to The Republic: “Records are made to be broken and I’ve been really fortunate to own the state record for the last 10 years. Whenever a record is broken it’s a good thing for AZ track and field and a good thing for our sport. Going under 36 seconds is no joke, Vance is a great athlete and a great kid. I couldn’t be happier to hand the torch to him. I’ve been following him this year and saw how much time he’s dropped since he’s was a freshman. He’s earned this record, each year improving. I’m really looking forward to watching him now throughout his college career and beyond. It’s a great night for AZ track.”
Those around Nilsson believe the sky is the limit for him.
Nilsson’s only been seriously training for the sport for just over a year. In the track and field world, he’s relatively new.
Now, there’s talk of the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer.
“I think he’s going to keep going forward,” Smith said.
“God willing, just keep him healthy. He’s going to crush it.”