RECREATION

Track athletes have one last fast mile in them

By Brom Hoban
AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT
Tuesday, June 09, 2009

For Texas' top high school distance runners, the competition wasn't over when the state track meet ended Saturday night at Myers Stadium. On Sunday morning, many of them headed a few blocks south for the Congress Avenue Mile.

Concerns that the runners might be fatigued from the weekend's earlier efforts were quickly banished when the starting horn blew for the girls' race, which started near the Capitol and proceeded to the Ann Richards Bridge.

Alyse Goldsmith, a senior at Katy Cinco Ranch, moved to the front early, leading the pack through the first quarter-mile in 1:10. Runners hit the half-mile mark in 2:27, and the pack swallowed Goldsmith.

That's when Tara Upshaw of Southlake Carroll and Chelsey Sviensson of Greenhill pulled up with Sarah Andrews of The Woodlands to control the pace for the second half, with Kim Kirby (Coppell High School) a step behind.

"Last year I was the girl that led for the first half, and then died at the end," said Sviensson, who has a career best of 4:46 for the mile. "I just wanted to make sure that I was in a good position at the half, and ready to go to a full sprint with less than 400 to go."

And as the lead pack passed through the three-quarter mark at Cesar Chavez Street, that's just what Sviensson did. Making a bold move to the front as they hit the bridge, she powered home in 4:54, four seconds ahead of Upshaw. Coppell's Kim Kirby and Andrews both clocked 4:59 for third and fourth, the last girls under five minutes.

"Chelsey just kind of left us on the bridge," said Upshaw, who posted a 10:37 for second place in the Class 5A 3,200 meters at the UIL meet on Friday. "But 4:58 is the fastest I've ever gone for the mile, so I'm happy."

The boys elite high school race saw some fierce competition, as Colin Slattery of San Antonio McArthur pulled the group through a blazing 59-second first quarter.

With the morning sun hitting the avenue, Slattery's lead quickly evaporated, and he was lost in the pack when Lockhart 's James Bonn, Cedar Park's Parker Stinson and Southlake Carroll's CJ Brown moved to the front for a 2:05 halfway split.

After the three-quarter mark passed in 3:06, Bonn figured he might have the leg speed to outkick Brown on the bridge. But Brown had other plans.

Launching into a full-scale sprint, Brown passed Bonn and flew ahead with 200 meters to go, breaking the tape in 4:07 and nipping Bonn by one second. Stinson, who won the Class 5A 3,200 Saturday in a stellar 8:54, took third in 4:10.

"It hurt a lot. My legs are still dead from (Saturday)," said Brown, who won the Class 5A 1,600 meters in 4:14, and took fifth in the 3,200 in 9:14. "But I found another gear when Parker pulled next to me," said Brown, who heads to Texas A&M next fall.

bhoban@earthlink.net