JesuitBRADY MULLEN RUNS HIS WAY TO HIS FIRST STATE XC TITLE
Jesuit's Brady Boys racked up some travel miles as both competed in high-caliber competitions this weekend. Both Brady Monahan and Brady Mullen came back to New Orleans with impressive performances to add to their resume.
Sophomore Brady Monahan competed at the RunningLane Cross Country Championships where he had the fastest time of any Louisiana runner at the popular post-season meet in Birmingham, AL. His 15:48 was good enough for a No. 48 finish in the Gold division.
"Obviously, it was a very sloppy course so no spectacular time but a great experience for our kids to learn about running in different conditions," Jesuit head coach Cullen Doody said. "I believe Monahan had the fastest time of any Louisiana runner at the meet which continues to show his competitive nature and grit. I'm proud of all the guys who competed at the meet. I can see the fire in their eyes to put in the hard work it requires to be great at this sport."
Overall, Monahan enjoyed the experience.
"Definitely not PR conditions, but honestly, I had a great time," Monahan said. "I had a great time. It was good to see some familiar faces from New Orleans out there as well.
Many of those familiar faces were from Jesuit's District 9-5A rival Brother Martin, who made the podium as the third place team in the gold division.
Brady Mullen didn't have any problems with the conditions inside Boston University's Indoor Complex competing in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. Mullen competed in the 3K and finished with a time of 8:22.03. Northern Arizona's Nico Young won the event with a 7:37.
"I was trying to get a good track time while I was in shape," Mullen said. ''It was an NCAA meet with all the best college runners in the country like Nico Young and Graham Blanks, who broke NCAA records while I was there. It was cool to see how the next level gets it done in person."
While the race did not start the way Mullen would have liked, he was able to get in a groove during the late stages.
"My heat went out in 4:31 for 1600m and I knew that I had to ramp it up in order to get the time I wanted, so I closed the last 1400m in 4:24 pace." Mullen said. "I wasn't so happy with the 8:22 than I was enjoying my first indoor meet and being able to close hard."
"His time of 8:22.03 is equivalent to 8:59," Doody said. "We were honestly hoping he would run a little faster but his heat went out slow. They were at 2:18 at 800m and he had to run a big negative split from there. With optimal pacing I think he could have gone a few seconds faster but he showed an ability to close really hard the last 600m of a race and still run a great time."
Mullen's time surpasses his former teammate Patrick Dowd, who had the fastest Louisiana high school 3K time of 8:27 at the same facility at the Last Chance Indoor National Qualifier in February.