Late last night, Parkway's Brennan Robin was a part of the fastest 3200m every run by high school boys. It was the Arcadia Invitational, one of the nation's premiere track meets held near Los Angeles, California. Robin ran an 8:54.28. It's a personal record for Robin, and he becomes the first distance runner in Louisiana to break the 9:00 barrier in the race this year.
Only four other distance runners in Louisiana history have ever run sub 9:00, and only of them did it when he was a junior. Brady Mullen ran an 8:47 at the Arcadia Invitational when he was junior. Robin's performance Saturday night is now at No. 2 on that list.
And yet Robin's coach, Parkway's Kent Falting, who knows his athlete, knows Robin is not satisfied.
"I'm sure it wasn't the result Brennan hoped for but that was the fastest 3200m in Arcadia history and stayed connected to the pack throughout the race. 29 runners broke 9:00 in the heat. Brennan opened in 4:24 while often running in lane 2 or 3, closed in 4:30, and in what he felt was a rough race still ran the No. 1 time for the year in La., #2 all-time for La. juniors, and #5 in state history overall in his first 3200m of the season. He also continued his streak of breaking of breaking school records in every race he has run in 2026. Brennan absolutely belongs on the national stage and is only missing some of the national experience that often comes more easily for those athletes who live in Colorado, Utah, or California, who can easily travel to national class meets on a regular basis. For Brennan--or any other Louisiana or Mississippi--those opportunities don't come as often and are only available by traveling to major competition in Boston or Los Angeles. The great thing about Brennan is he only needs a few of these experiences to learn what it takes to be the best. I imagine we're going to see some incredible things from his in his final 14 months in high school! And I'm excited to have a front row seat."
Jackson Spencer won with a meet record time of 8:31.80, junior Marcelo Mantecon 8:35.22.
While Robin works his way on the Mt. Rushmore of Louisiana high school distance running on the boys' side, Northshore sophomore distance runner Grace Keene has found herself on the top of the mountain after running the fastest 1600m in Louisiana history at the Texas Relays. Keene's time was 4:50.30 is four seconds faster than Benton's Katlin Flattman's all-time No. 1 of 4:54.47 in 2011.
Keene's coach Joe Guyton weighed in on her performance.
"Grace Keene ran a remarkable race at the Texas Relays. She led the pack for the first two laps. Her first lap was 1:12 and at the half mile mark she was at 2:27. She placed fifth overall with a 4:50.30. And I believe that is the Louisiana composite time for the girls 1600m. She has the fastest time to date in the 1600m. Grace has put a lot of work in to get to this point and she is far from finished."
Late last night, Parkway's Brennan Robin was a part of the fastest 3200m every run by high school boys. It was the Arcadia Invitational, one of the nation's premiere track meets held near Los Angeles, California. Robin ran an 8:54.28. It's a personal record for Robin, and he becomes the first distance runner in Louisiana to break the 9:00 barrier in the race this year.
Only four other distance runners in Louisiana history have ever run sub 9:00, and only of them did it when he was a junior. Brady Mullen ran an 8:47 at the Arcadia Invitational when he was junior. Robin's performance Saturday night is now at No. 2 on that list.
And yet Robin's coach, Parkway's Kent Falting, who knows his athlete, knows Robin is not satisfied.
