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Brianna Schwartz crawled over the line and moved to No. 8 all-time in the mile

Published by
DyeStat.com   Mar 2nd 2014, 8:30pm
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Despite crash, Schwartz No. 8 all-time miler

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

 
Brianna Schwartz remembers sprinting with every bit of energy she had. And then her legs wobbled and faltered. She hit the track, and then looked up and saw the finish line right in front of her face.

 

"It was like slow motion," she said.

 
On Saturday at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships at Penn State, the junior from Shaler Area (outside Pittsburgh) crawled across the finish line and still clocked a dramatic 4:42.58 in the mile. That performance raises Schwartz to No. 8 all-time and fourth among athletes still in high school (behind Mary Cain, Alexa Efraimson and Elise Cranny).


"The (finish line) official said I probably lost two seconds," Schwartz said.


Schwartz, who was sixth at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in December, didn't foresee the collapse at the end. But she did have a low 4:40s time in mind. After all, she ran 4:42.10 for 1,600 on the oversized track at Ohio's Spire Institute on Feb. 15, her first race of the indoor season. And that same day she also ran US#6 2:10.77 for 800.


"After Foot Locker my coach had me focus on strength," Schwartz said, referring to former sub-four miler Sam Bair. "Then we worked on speed. My races helped me (develop speed) and in the first race I ran my best time."


Schwartz appears to be rising to an elite level. On Saturday at Penn State, she knew she would have her hands full with Kennedy Weisner of Elk County Catholic, but it was the first time that the two had ever raced.


"She took the lead early," Schwartz said. "I was staying behind her the whole time. Then with 400 to go I went past and the gap between us was three for four meters. (Weisner) was setting the perfect pace I wanted to run. She was 2:20 at the half and I was (a little bit) behind her."


When Schwartz fell, one of her first thoughts was that she might lose the race. She figured Weisner could go right past her. As it turned out, she had a big lead. Schwartz's penultimate 200 was 34 seconds, and the last one 36 (including the fall). Weisner, the Millrose Games mile runner-up, placed second in 4:51.87.


Overall, Schwartz said she has no regrets. She gave it everything she had.


"I'm pretty happy," she said. "I wanted to win and get my best time and I did. I ran a good race. I didn't know what Kennedy was going to do but I had confidence in myself."


Schwartz said she was not planning to run at New Balance Indoors but was gearing up for what her coach said would be a "long" outdoor season. She said that it's unclear whether that means the target is World Juniors in July.



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