Senior cross-country and track captain Garrett O'Toole qualified for the one mile championship at New Balance Nationals Indoor, held March 14-16th at The Armory in New York City. It was Garrett's second appearance at Nationals Indoor. One of 35 boys from around the country to race the mile, Garrett ran in the fastest heat of the day. The runners seemed to share a common strategy, remaining in a tight pack at a conservative pace for the first half of the race. With just a few laps to go, Garrett and a few others broke away and never looked back. Garrett finished third with a time of 4:13.6, just shy of his personal best.
Sophomore Viraj Deokar also competed at Nationals Indoor, in the Emerging Elite two mile event. The Emerging Elite Division is open to any high school athlete who has made the Emerging Elite standards. Despite being only a sophomore, Viraj ran head-to-head with state championship-level runners. He staged a remarkable move from the back of the pack to finish third overall in 9:21.6. Check out a video of Viraj's race (he is in the red jersey):
Congratulations to both Garrett and Viraj on their remarkable achievements!
photo courtesy of New Balance