Chamberlain High senior-to-be Dentarius Locke keeps tearing up the summer youth track and field circuit. After taking second at last month’s Nike Outdoor Championships in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, Locke, the Tampa Tribune’s Male Track Athlete of the Year, is closing in on a national title in the event at the AAU Junior Olympic National Championships in Detroit.

Wednesday, Locke topped the semifinals field of 24 sprinters with his time of 10.55 seconds. His closest competitor is Herman Kirkland of Philadelphia, who clocked 10.64. All eight qualifiers for Saturday’s 100-meter finals ran 10.87 or faster. Hillsborough’s Lindsey Lamar was also in the semifinals and ran 10.84, but because he was not among the top two in his qualifying heat, he did not qualify for the finals. Locke and Lamar are competing for the Tampa-based Matrix Track Club this summer.

Locke is also entered in the 200, where he is the top qualifier for Friday’s semifinals. In Tuesday’s opening round, he ran 21.42, fastest of the 58 qualifiers for JO Nationals. He and Lamar, along with Terrence Mitchell of Hillsborough and Chris Watson of Wharton, are also on the 4x100 relay for The Matrix.