A hurdle in high school track measures 39 inches. In college, it’s 42. While three inches isn’t much in horseshoes and hand grenades, in the world of a precisely trained athlete the difference can be daunting.
When Mitchellville’s Dominic Berger went from DeMatha High to the University of Maryland, he found those three inches downright insurmountable. But Berger is used to overcoming barriers. As a high school freshman, he fractured his foot. As a sophomore, he shattered his ankle.
Four years later, however, Berger is among the nation’s best hurdlers. This week, when he faces the toughest competition of his life in the 110 hurdles in the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, he can look back on his career for inspiration.
“In hurdles, anything can happen, anyone can go down” said Berger, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound sophomore. “Look at Allen Johnson in the Olympics. He was the favorite, but he hit a hurdle and didn’t even make the finals.”
Berger earned an NCAA berth by finishing second (13.63 seconds) in the East Region Championships last weekend at North Carolina A&T.
It was a vast improvement from his 14th-place showing in the same meet last year. But that was before a stunning turnaround last summer when he won the USA Junior Nationals (19-and-under) and followed with third place in the Pan Am Junior Games.
How did Berger do it?
“There’s an adjustment from high school to college, especially for a guy who’s not 6-foot-4,” said Maryland coach Andrew Valmon. “When you have a higher hip level, you can make some mistakes. When you’re shorter, you have to have perfect technique.”
Along with legendary assistant coach Frank Costello, Valmon has helped Berger adjust. The three-year coach — who won Olympic gold medals as a member of the U.S. 4×400 relay team in 1988 and 1992 — is intent on restoring track as a major sport at Maryland. Led by world-class hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah, the Terps won five straight ACC titles in the late 1970s.
Coming out of DeMatha, Berger had offers to play football at Penn State and Richmond. Several top track programs – including Tennessee, Florida State and Georgia Tech – were interested. But Berger chose Maryland, a program at the time that had only three men’s scholarships.
“A lot of people make the mistake of going to too big a school,” said Berger. “I was comfortable with the staff at Maryland. And I wanted to help bring back the tradition.”
Ironically, it also was football that helped chart Berger’s path. On the final play of a junior varsity game in his sophomore year, Berger made a cut and blew out his ankle. The injury was so severe it required surgery.
“I still have the screw in my ankle,” said Berger, who attacked his rehab with such gusto he believes it helped make him faster. It was at the Bishop Loughlin Games in Berger’s junior year that DeMatha track coach Anthony Bryant realized he had special ability.
“We had an injury in the 4×200 and had to move Dominic from the B team to the A team,” said Bryant. “In that race, he made it clear that he wasn’t going back to the B team.”
Local Qualifiers
NCAA Track and Field Championships
June 7-11, Sacramento
George Mason
Murielle Ahoure (100, 200)
Richard Phillips (110 hurdles)
Marc Kellman (triple jump)
Maryland
Kierra Foster (long jump)
Lynn Hernandez (long jump)
Georgetown
Nana Hansen-Hall (800)
Andrew Bumbalough (5000)
Rod Koborsi (10,000)
Elizabeth Maloy (1500)
Buky Bamigboye (heptathlon)
Virginia
Erin Crawford
(intermediate hurdles)
Soeren Linder (steeplechase)
Jan Foerster (steeplechase)
Billie Jo Grant (shot put)
Andy Biladeau (5000)
Navy
Paul Harris (800)
Howard
Lauren McNary (400)
Jacoby DuBose (110 hurdles)
