With Arkansas signee and running back Alex Collins running the third leg, South Plantation High School in Florida won the state title in the 4x100 meter relay with a time of 41.98 seconds.
He and three other football players also won the 4x100 meter relay titles at the County, District and Regional track meets on their way to the state. Collins embraces running the most difficult part of the relay, the third leg which is mostly curve.
"I prefer to run the curve," Collins said. "I actually like to run a curve. People don't know it actually takes technique to run a curve."
Collins and his teammates saved the best for last and broke the 4x100 meter relay school record of 41.59 at the County meet by recording a 41.54 and a 41.28 at the Regional finals. He said most don't have the right technique when running the curve.
"You actually have to lean in," said Collins, who ran a 9.5 seconds split during the Regional meet. "You have to learn and master it and once I got that down pat I could see the potential I had at the curve and ended up being better and better at it."
Not long after winning the state title, Collins received congratulations from Arkansas defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and running backs coach Joel Thomas.
"I'm trying to report May 26," said Collins of Arkansas. "That's when I want to come up."
Collins enjoyed the interaction with Razorback fans on Twitter during the recruiting process and that back and forth has continued after signing day. He said winning the state title for the Hog fans was part of his motivation.
"That's actually my favorite part," Collins said. "I actually look forward to sharing all my news with all the fans. It felt like that's what I was doing it for (fans). Everyone knew I was going up there and everyone was wishing me good luck."
Collins, 5-11, 210 pound, 4.4 seconds in the 40 yard dash, knows the goodbyes will be difficult before boarding his flight to Fayetteville but he's' anxious to start training for next season.
"It's going to be really tough knowing I won't be coming back anytime soon," Collins said. "That will be tough but I'm so excited that I'm ready to leave If I had the opportunity. I would say my goodbyes now and leave today but unfortunately I can't. It's going to be tough but it's a decision that I made at the beginning. I knew I was going to have to say goodbye eventually but I'm ready for it."
After completing his junior season, Collins added 30 pounds to his frame and played at 210 this past season. He's confident in Arkansas strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert's ability to fine tune his body.
"That's why I get so excited," said Collins, who visualizes weighing between 215 and 220 pounds before the start of the season. "Before I actually started gaining weight I was afraid I would lose my speed. I really didn't want to but then I just trust coach and trust the system and I gained weight and got faster and got stronger. I started to see better results and started to break tackles and finish runs harder ."