Tates Creek's Pipkin hopes clock doesn't strike 12

The concept is simple: run from Point A to Point B, and may the fastest athlete win.

Tates Creek's Tamyah Pipkin is simply the fastest girl in Kentucky this year in the glamorous 100-meter dash.

Her best time, 12.14 seconds, came at last weekend's Bulldog/Bearcat Invitational at Paul Dunbar. Winning time at last year's Class 3A State Meet: 12.15, by Owensboro's Mariah Murphy.

Pipkin placed fourth in the State last year, timed in 12.35, but was the first non-senior across the line.

Now a junior, she is poised to make a run for No. 1.

Poised, but not obsessed.

"Of course, everyone wants to get first, but I'm always, always happy with top three," she said Friday at Tates Creek's Relay Carnival. "Anything under that, I'm happy as long as my time is good."

According to her coach — 2008 Olympian and former University of Kentucky standout David Freeman — Pipkin's 12.14 ranks fifth all-time in Kentucky prep ranks.

The next step toward the State Meet comes Saturday, when Creek plays host to the 3A Region 6 meet. The top two finishers in each region will advance to State, with the four next-best performers in the state. Also, athletes meeting tough "automatic" performance standards in a region meet will advance.

Pipkin's times have steadily improved in the big meets. As a freshman, she won the regional in 12.75, then placed sixth at State in 12.74. Last year, she won the regional in 12.71, then hit 12.35 at State.

Already at 12.14 season, she is closing in on a barrier.

"Our goal, actually, is to get her under 12," Freeman said. "We've been working toward that all season and, hopefully, we accomplish that by (the time) State comes around. Basically, she's our workhorse, so we're just going to keep her healthy and hopefully she just runs fast on that day."

Pipkin placed sixth in last year's State 200, but has since dropped her time to 25.81.

Besides the 100 and 200, she will anchor both the 4-by-100 and 4-by-200 relays.

"I love the anchor position," she said, "especially if there's someone in front of me to chase. That's the best part. You get that adrenaline rush and it's just amazing."

The State Meet record in the 100, 11.80, was set by Ballard's Denasha Mondy in 2002. Pipkin would like to challenge that, but would settle for "anything low-12s."

One reason for Pipkin's success is her improved start. Freeman turned to former UK sprinter Gordon McKenzie and heptathlete Ashley Trimble to work with the Commodores' dash crew.

"Yeah, my biggest (deficiency) is starts," Pipkin said. "My biggest bad habit is coming up too early, not completing my drive phase. So I've been working on staying low for the first 10 meters and, after that, accelerating and bringing it home."

Home is where Pipkin inherited some of her talent.

Her father, Jabbar Pipkin, competed in high school track and played football for the University of Kentucky. Her mother, Demetria Blair, was an Ohio high school state champion at 800 meters and competed for UK.

Tamyah first tried track in the seventh grade.

"I'd always been told when I was little that I was fast," she said. "I would walk on my toes from when I was a baby. So I just thought 'let's give track a shot.'

"Not an instant success," she said. "I can remember times where I wouldn't even place. It was just not good for me. But I gradually improved. I worked hard, kept my faith in God and everything, and it worked out for me."

This story was originally published May 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Tates Creek's Pipkin hopes clock doesn't strike 12."