Alexander Robinson has only been running track for three years, but the strides he has made in those three years have impressed those around him and resulted in the East Limestone graduate being able to receive a scholarship from Troy University to continue his track career at the next level.

Robinson’s Huntsville-based private coach, Rob Wheeler, said about 50 of his students have accepted college scholarships over the last 12 years, but Robinson is a special case due to the late start he got in the sport.

“For a kid like Alex, it’s extra special, because I didn’t have him as long as I had others,” Wheeler said. “He’s gone from obscure to super elite in a short amount of time. It’s very special for him to go from where he was three years ago to now.”

Robinson placed third in the 400-meter dash in the 2019 Class 4A-7A state track meet in Gulf Shores and performed even better in the fall indoor season. Robinson was ranked No. 1 in the state in the 400 meters and was ranked No. 8 in the country in the event. While the 400 meters is Robinson’s best event, he also runs the 200-meter dash, which Wheeler thinks will improve in college.

He was able to receive a scholarship offer from Troy despite not being able to run in the 2020 outdoor spring season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think in the 400 meters, Alex has a bottomless pit of ability,” Wheeler said. “I think that gives him a certain confidence that he can either get out really hard (from the start) or come from behind. There are some races where, with 180 meters left to go, he’ll be 90 meters behind the kid that’s in front. But the risk in him is he understands he can get out slack and let them get that far in front of him and still have them before they cross the finish line. I don’t feel that he feels there’s anything he can’t do.”

Robinson said he competes in track like he does everything else, with a desire to constantly improve.

“No matter what I do, whether it be school or sports, I always want to get better, no matter what,” Robinson said. “I never want to be the same. I always want to progress forward and never go backwards. That makes me happy as a person to be able to compete at my level. But even when I compete with people above my level, that pushes me to be better.”

Robinson said he didn’t know what his college options would be with the spring outdoor track season canceled but was happy when Troy came through with a scholarship offer.

“When the track season ended for outdoor, I thought I was going to have go to a Division II school, and I was fine with that,” Robinson said. “But, luckily, I was gifted the opportunity to get a scholarship to a great Division I school like Troy. It’s pretty exciting.”