Last modified: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 2:58 AM EDT Mansfield’s Matthew Callanan was the MIAA state champion in the 110 hurdles and will be running for the Syracuse University team as a freshman this fall. (Staff photo by Tom Maguire) GOBIS: Olympics have this Hornet all abuzz Matt Callanan knew what a struggle it was just to crack 16 seconds, then 15 seconds in the 110 hurdles. So when the recent Mansfield High School graduate not only won the MIAA State Meet title, then the New England Meet title and finished fifth at the NIKE Interscholastic Outdoor Championship Meet in Greensboro, N.C., the glory, the pride were as fleeting as his feet. In pursuit of the finish line, the Syracuse University-bound Callanan rewrote the Hornet record, clocking a 14.14 second time at the Hartford, Conn. Invitational Meet. That time, those performances put him in select company - the first track-athlete representing Mansfield High School during the spring, outdoor season to be honored by the National Track Coaches Association as an All-America selection. But, it didn't take Callanan long to put it all in perspective. Cuba's Dayron Rhodes was timed at a world record 12.87 second time, nudging past China's Liu Xiang by one one-hundredth of a second in the 110 hurdles. Xiang, the former world 110-meter hurdle record holder (12.88) had clocked a world "junior" record time of 13.12 seconds. "I'm like a second off of his time, but a second is like a lifetime," related Callanan over the weekend, his high school career ended, his collegiate career about to begin. His dreams of participating in the 2012 Olympic Games percolated this week with China's favorite son, Xiang stepping into the starting blocks next week in Beijing, perhaps, to run another record-setting race. "I'll be watching the trials, I have all the dates marked down," said Callanan of the Olympic Games, especially the hurdle events - his calling card to success as a schoolboy, hopefully as an Orangeman, hopefully, one day, as an Olympian. "That's one of the reasons that I chose Syracuse, I wanted to go to a school with a successful team, that has had kids in the (Olympic) Trials. I'll be a senior in 2012 and if I can have a healthy four years, who knows what can happen? "When you think of track and field, it's (the Olympics) like the Super Bowl." Super, sensational - that's been Callanan's career. And to think that when he was a freshman at Mansfield High, Callanan's interests were football and lacrosse. And to think that Callanan had qualified for national track meets three times and could not compete due to back, hamstring and ankle injuries. And to think that Callanan, just 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds, does not possess the classic physique or stature of a hurdler. Callanan has shattered the eight-second mark in the 55-meter hurdles at 7.62 seconds. He has eclipsed the 40-second mark in the 300 hurdles at 39.8 seconds. "I was kind of surprised that I had as good a spring as I did," said Callanan, who had recurring back problems from a football injury, then strained the hamstring muscle in his right, lead leg during an indoor season practice session at Wheaton College. "It was kind of nerve-wracking when the spring season began, I didn't want to re-injure myself," said Callanan, who joined distance runner Ryan Collins and shot putter Mike McPherson (both indoor selections) as Mansfield High All-American track-athletes. The only reason that Callanan began running (indoor track as a freshman) was to serve as a bridge between the football and lacrosse seasons. "I wanted to go to Syracuse to play lacrosse! Then once I got into hurdling, I thought that I'd like it and I started to devote my time to it." And like many a track event, technique is rewarded more often than sheer speed or endurance. "It took me a while to figure it out," said Callanan, who tried the high hurdles as a freshman, then began to figure out his footing (and spacing) during his sophomore spring season. "I just drilled myself, it not on the track at school, in the driveway or on the street," said Callanan, who credits former Wheaton College hurdler and Hornet assistant coach Kim Smith as being a major mentor and motivator. "It's all about form," added Callanan, who would walk over hurdles and visualize his steps and strides; who adjusted his leans and leg spacing in the starting blocks waiting for the gun. That's what worried Callanan, losing all that he had gained by having to sit out virtually all of his senior indoor season. He underwent extensive physical therapy every other day - tissue massage and stretching. "It was intense, but I would do anything to get better." In his first outdoor meet, Callanan clocked a personal best in the 300 low hurdles. "You want it so you have a rhythm, kind of like a drum so that you get that beat down." Callanan won the MSTCA Freshmen-Sophomore Meet high hurdle title in a record time as a sophomore, "that's when I knew that I was getting the hang of it," he continued. "After that I wanted to see how far I could go with it." Since then, "I've made changes," he said. "Like with my blocks, I was not getting the start that I wanted. It was just the setting (of his feet and legs). They were too close. I was taller than the settings were for." He changed his training methods. "I had the form down, so I did less hurdling in practice - I worked on my speed more." Three days a week, Callanan would run 200 and 400 sprints. Another day he would concentrate just on his form for the hurdles. "Sometimes, I'd be breaking down by the seventh or eighth hurdles, I'd be sloppy - I'd be dropping my arms and not getting my knees up." Another day, it would be conditioning and some short runs. "That made my base stronger," said Callanan. "I got a lot more push." At one time, Callanan consider sprinting, but once he started jumping up and over obstacles, " I can't imagine running straight - it's so boring. When I run now, I go into a state of mind where I couldn't tell you what happened." PETER GOBIS may be contacted at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com