Life moves fast in the world of high school distance running.
In two short months, Parkway's Brennan Robin has gone from a high school freshman competing in his first indoor meet, to one of the best young runners in the nation travelling to New York to compete against the best in the nation.
Friday, Robin finished third in the freshman mile at the Nike Indoor Nationals running a time of 4:24.
"Going into the race, I was very anxious and just ready to get out there and run. The race opened slower than I wanted but it eventually got quick. I got in a good spot but fell back towards the end but I got a second wind and really wanted to podium, so I just finished on empty."
To say his coach was proud would be an understatement.
"You never know what a freshman is going to do on a national stage, let alone one who got off the plane less than 24 hours ago, but Brennan is not an ordinary freshman," Parkway head coach Kent Falting said. "He ran smart, controlled, and he made the moves he needed to make to finish among the best freshmen in the nation!"
But it wasn't just about the race for Robin. It was about the experience.
"Heading to New York itself was a really exciting experience but going to the Armory to run at Nike Indoor Nationals against the best freshman in the country was something else because I can race next level competition against kids I"ll be seeing for the rest of my high school career," Robin said.
The experience is not over. Tomorrow, Robin will run a leg on Parkway's 4xmile team. Other members of the include Gabe Falting, Alex Gomez, and Ben Ruliffson.
"I'm super thrilled to get to run a 4xmile relay with my teammates tomorrow and I'm feeling like we're going to do something great."
Falting is excited to see what the fastest collection of distance runners in school history is able to do on a national state in the Big Apple.
"I'm very excited to see where these boys stack up in the first 4xmile in school history and the first national championship as well," Falting said. "Anything we do will be the school record, but we're hoping to set a bar for future Parkway runners to have to push hard to get over."
