Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010

Collinsville's Dominique Manley goes from Kahok to Jayhawk

COLLINSVILLE -- In less time then it took to capture the Class 3A 800-meter state championship, Collinsville native Dominique Manley has gone from being a Kahok to a Jayhawk.

A 2010 graduate of Collinsville High School and one of the top middle distance runners in the state the past three years, Manley has signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of Kansas beginning next month.

Manley, who earlier this spring gave a verbal commitment to attend Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, visited the Lawrence-based KU campus a few weeks ago and made the decision to compete for one of the elite track and field programs in the Midwest.

"This isn't anything against (SIU) Carbondale. I went out to the (Kansas) campus, met with the coaches who were all really nice and I also had the opportunity to meet and hang out with some of the athletes," Manley said. "I came home, thought about it for a few days, talked it over with my family and Al Joyner, and just decided it that it was a place I wanted to go."

"Kansas is a place where there have been a lot of great runners, including Jim Ryan. It's a place where there is a lot of tradition. I am looking forward to hopefully being part of that tradition."

Manley, who will major in physical therapy, also considered McKendree University.

A three-time state champion at Collinsville Junior High, Manley won the Class 3A 800-meter state championship in Charleston in May, finishing with a time of 1:52.3, and was also one of the state's top 400-meter runners last season.

Manley's grandfather, former East St. Louis Athletic Director Leonard Manley, joined Dominique Manley on his visit to Kansas and said he feels his grandson is ready for the challenge of being a student-athlete at a major NCAA D-1 program.

"I had felt that Dominique was better suited for a smaller program, but he assured me that he was just shy and that he would be able to handle himself well at Kansas. I have all the confidence that he will be just fine," Leonard Manley said. "When we were here, we had a chance to tour the University Hall of Fame and facilities. It is very impressive."

Manley will also have the opportunity to work with one of the top middle-distance coaches in the nation -- Kansas head coach Stanley Redwine.

"Coach (Redwine) was a 400, and I think he ran the 800 meters as well when he was a world-class athlete, and so I'm looking forward to working with him and the entire staff," Manley said. "I'll be running the 400 and 800 meters, but I won't be in the mile. No more 1,600 meters. I'm not disappointed about that at all.

"My goal is to go 1:45 or 1:46 in the 800 meters and hopefully win a Big 12 championship. I feel like I'm ready for this challenge. Academically, they have tutors who are there every day, and so I just feel like this is the place for me to be."