Teen nicknamed 'White Lightning' smashed 30-year 100m US record

Matthew Boling, the Texas high school sprinter and viral sensation dubbed 'white lightning,' has broken a nearly 30-year-old national record in the 100-meter dash.

The 18-year-old senior at Houston Strake Jesuit ran a wind-legal time of 10.13 seconds at the Texas state high school track and field championships on Saturday.

Saturday's performance broke the National Federation of High Schools record of 10.15, which was set in 1990 by another Texan, Henry Neal of Austin Greenville High School.

This is the first season that Boling has competed in the event.

Last month in the Texas 6A Region III boys meet, Boling went viral by running the race in a wind-aided 9.98 seconds, which was a national record under all conditions.

On Saturday, though, Boling didn't need the wind to make history.

We have a state champion! With a new national and state mark of 10.13, Strake Jesuit senior Matthew Boling wins the Class 6A title in front of an electric crowd here in Austin. #uiltexas pic.twitter.com/6220blNfl9

— Daniel Gotera (@DTGotera) May 12, 2019

'When I looked at the race before us and saw the wind was 1.3 (mph), I was like "Oh, I'm excited,"' Boling told reporters. 'Because after last week everyone was like, "Oh, the wind was illegal," and stuff like that. So I'm like, "All right, I'll just drop a fast time today."'

Boling also won the Texas boys 6A long jump title Saturday with a distance of 25 feet, 4.5 inches. He has signed a national letter of intent to compete for Georgia.

Boling's 9.98 mark was no fluke. He was previously clocked at 10.22 seconds earlier in March and in the 200-meter dash, he's posted an impressive time of 20.58 seconds.

For comparison, Jamaica's Usain Bolt is the current world record holder in both the 100- and 200-meter dash, with times of 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds, respectively. (Bolt recorded his 100-meter dash record despite a slight 0.9mph headwind)

Boling hopes to make it on the U.S. Olympic team ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Until then, Boling can try out some new nicknames.

'Some people call me the bogeyman,' Boling told KHOU-TV. 'I heard some people calling me the horseman. I've heard different stuff.'

Boling's father Mark joked that he would love to take credit for his son's speed, but that would be misleading.

'I would love to be able to claim that it's genetic – but he just has a work ethic that I've never seen from anybody,' Mark Boling said.