THEY SAY LIGHTNING doesn’t strike twice, but Georgia fans now have proof that it does. The first bolt hit on a January Saturday afternoon at the Clemson Invitational, when frosh Sidi Njie (rhymes with “rye”) blistered 300m in 32.10. That destroyed the WJR of 32.49 that Jacory Patterson set 7 years ago and makes Njie the No. 2 collegian ever. Only 9 men worldwide have ever run faster.
Then, a mere half-hour later, frosh teammate Jonathan Simms cruised two laps in a stunning 44.62. Another WJR, this one breaking the 44.80 that Kirani James set in ’11, as well as the AJR 44.93 that LaShawn Merritt ran in ’05. The time puts Simms No. 4 on the world ATL. He followed up his record with a 44.35 spin on the 4×4, admitting, “I think I ran a little too hard for their liking… I was supposed to just relax a little more than I did.”
That the two yearlings are capable of big things is no surprise to fans who followed their high school exploits. That they are reaching that potential as Georgia Bulldogs is not a shocker to any who has witnessed the results of coaches Caryl Smith Gilbert and sprint assistant Karim Abdel Wahab.
Njie hails from Atlanta, where he attended Westlake High. He had run age-group track for years with the encouragement of his mother, a former hurdler. However, he also spent plenty of time on the basketball court, and track was mainly a summer thing. “That really kept my body fresh,” he says.
Success came quickly in high school, even though he played basketball through his junior year. “I played basketball all the way up until March. And then I would go out there and run track until May. I just came in with the mentality of being hungry. And that’s where I really taught myself that as long as I train hard, it’s going to come.”
As a frosh he won his state title in 46.41. The next year he won again, improving to 45.46. Junior year he took 2nd to current Bulldog teammate Ervin Pearson, but he cut his time to 45.37. In the summer, he won the USATF U20 title and then bronze in the World Juniors before getting relay gold. Last year, struggling with injuries, he ran 45.75 and ended his season before the big meets of summer.
Njie made the decision to go to Georgia early, taking summer classes. “It really changed my mindset. I was up here alone the majority of the time, so I was able to do stuff on my own and just teach myself earlier, so it wasn’t really a shock to me when school really started.”
Georgia is the right fit, he says. The team culture allows him “not to be looked at as just an asset, but as a human being and being able to just run, have fun, and also be healthy.”
Simms is a Texan who attended Allen High, outside of Dallas. He too focused on other sports early, taekwondo and soccer. His father, a former hurdler for Iowa State and Tuskegee, saw promising speed and got him into track also.
As a 9th-grader he got attention with his 47.68. The next year he got a lot more when he broke the 10th-grade record with his 45.12 at the Junior Olympics. That came after winning the State and Nike National titles. However, his fans who thought a sub-45 was imminent would have to wait; recurrent hamstring injuries made the rest of his high school career a frustrating mix of highs and lows, emphasis on the latter. He managed only 46.37 in an injury-shortened junior year. As a senior he finished 6th at State then bounced back with a USATF U20 win in 45.44.
To cut a half second off his best in his first race as a Bulldog, he says, “was a long time coming. My junior and senior years of high school were riddled with repeat injuries at inconvenient times. So it was nice to get a full, good, solid training season in and then open up healthy this year.”
As kids, the two encountered each other over the years at age-group meets and summer events. Recalls Njie, “We used to race. He was running faster than me when we were young. But there’s no smoke, no beef or nothing. Me and him, we’re real cool. And we just want the same goal.”
The training is different than what either of them did in high school. Simms says it is what has gotten him healthy finally. “Before I even got here, Coach Caryl told me I better be in that training room. It’s really the trainers, everybody in there. I’ve been there almost every day and it’s been a big help. Just fleshing me out before practice, after practice, making sure the little aches and little pains are dealt with on a daily basis. And then really just their advice about what to stretch, when to stretch, how to stretch, things like that. And the consistency, stretching on my own and rolling out and things like that.”
Says Njie, “Honestly, I didn’t take the sport seriously until I got to college. The stuff that I was doing in high school, I felt like I really wasn’t 100%. I probably only was in the weightroom every two months or so. But now I definitely see the difference in my body. And I’m actually very grateful because I love being in the weightroom.”
As high-profile prep prospects, both had to learn how to deal with big expectations early. Says Simms, “I feel like that kind of pressure I’ve gotten used to just because I’ve been running for so long, over a decade now in my life. I knew there were people looking in saying, seeing that I ran 45.12 as a sophomore, that they expected more from me. But I really tried to keep within myself and just work hard and make sure I’m good to go mentally. I try to stay focus oriented and not focus on outside pressures and just try to do what I know that I can do.”
For his part, Njie says, “I deal with pressure by reading books. I’m one of those guys, if I can just see a quote or something that’ll motivate me, it’ll put a switch in my mind. I’ve been reading a lot of books lately to help control my mind because I know that’s going to be very important.”
He adds, “Being on the track and running against those big guys, my mind has got to be in a spot where I’m in the zone and I’m not scared or nervous to be in those moments.”
Working with the Bulldog sprint crew has been a big boost for both. “When I’m having an off-day,” says Simms, “somebody is always going to pick me up and drive me along with them for the practice. And we all do the same for each other. We always pull each other along and make sure that we can finish the workout, make sure that we’re good to go. And even off the track, we get along.”
The 400 can hurt, but not as much if you’re prepared. “I’m trusting the hard work that I put in,” says Simms, “because the coach is always saying if I run it correctly, it’s always going to hurt, but you know it’s going to hurt. You’ve just got to conquer it.
“And Coach Caryl said one practice, ’If you’re going to die, make sure you die in glory.’”
Soon there may be two young Bulldogs under 45. Says Njie, “I know that if he can run 44.62, then I should be somewhere around that time because we do train the same in practice. We’re doing all the same things.
“We’re coming hot this year, for sure.”
