This weekend, Jesuit's Brady Mullen traveled to Los Angeles, California where he competed in the Arcadia Invitational. Mullen's time of 8:47.59 is the fastest 3200m time ever run by a Louisiana high school distance runner.
Salmen's Bobby Beck ran two miles at the AAU Junior Olympics in the summer after his senior year in 1979. His time in that meet converts to a 8:43.84 in the 3200m.
Mullen finished in the No. 24 spot. There were only six juniors in the field who had faster times. Daniel Simmons of American Fork (Utah) won the race with a time of 8:34.96.
According to his Jesuit distance coach Cullen Doody, Mullen ran a 4:25 for his first and finished the last mile in 4:22.
"I estimate he ran at least 30 extra meters due to the field size," Doody said. "38 guys in the race. 37 broke 9 minutes."
"The invitational section was a who's who of high school distance running," Doody said. "38 of the fastest runners in the country. Some kids even finished lower at Arcadia than they did at NXN (Nike Cross Nationals)."
Doody was proud of the way Mullen handled the pressure from the nation's best.
"Brady stuck his nose in the action and wasn't scared to compete with the best," Doody said. "We are happy with the result, but hungry for more."
"All in all, it was probably the most fun I've had in a race to date because of running against that level of competition," Mullen said. "It definitely speaks to my coach and my consistent dedication to getting better and never being satisfied."
As far as the extra meters, Mullen said the conditions were the same for everyone.
"I couldn't really complain about running longer than the normal 3200m because everyone else had to deal with the great crowd of people." Mullen said. "I did think it was harder to make moves. If I were to have made a move, it would have needed to be a big and definitive one to be competitive with the top guys in that race."
When congratulated on running the fastest 3200m time in Louisiana history, Mullen reminds people of Beck. But then again, Mullen isn't chasing Beck. He is chasing himself. If he stays healthy there will be no doubt in anyone's mind who the greatest high school runner of all-time is.
And this bears mentioning...
Beck ran his time in late July after he graduated from Salmen High School. It was not during the school year, like Mullen's performance on Saturday. Mullen also has another year of eligibility.
And looking at the Top 14 3200m runners in Louisiana history, another note needs to be mentioned. Doody has coached five of the Top 14 runners since taking over the distance program in the Spring of 2020.
