Jesuit junior-to-be Brady Mullen is proud to have finished a 3,200-meter race in less than 9 minutes, making him the third Louisiana prep runner credited with the feat.
He crossed the finish May 26 at the RunningLane track championships in Huntsville, Alabama, making a strong push over the final lap to achieve a time of 8 minutes, 59 seconds. The other two Louisiana runners credited with posting a better time earned their marks more than 40 years ago, according to the Milesplit website.
Salmen’s Bobby Beck posted a converted time of 8:43.84 after he ran 3,000 meters in 1978 at the AAU Junior Olympics in Lincoln, Nebraska. Four years later, Bonnabel’s John Ratcliffe ran a converted time of 8:53.9 in 1982 at the Golden West Invitational in Rancho Cordova, California.
Mullen finished the first seven laps in 7:54.
“I knew I had to run faster than how fast we were going (in the first seven laps) to break 9 minutes,” Mullen said.
With other runners from Jesuit cheering him on, Mullen heard coach Cullen Doody shout midway through the final lap that he needed to run the final 200 meters in 33 seconds. Mullen ran down the front straightaway and kept his focus on a clock positioned near the finish.
“I was looking at it,” he said, “trying to see how far under 9 I could get.”
He beat the mark by one second.
Doody said Mullen ran the sixth-fastest time among sophomores nationally. Mullen ran the ninth-fastest time among all runners at the national-level meet. He finished first in the second-fastest heat. All eight runners in the championship heat posted a faster time.
“He’s a good runner on a national level,” Doody said. “He knows he can compete now.”
Mullen welcomed the chance to post a fast time. He did not compete at the LHSAA state meet because of a numbers crunch. The LHSAA does not allow more than two competitors per school in any single event.
The two Jesuit runners each in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races all finished first or second, with junior Michael Vocke and senior Jack DesRoches winning the 1,600 and seniors Patrick Dowd and Robert Buisson winning the 3,200.
“I wasn’t really in the shape I could have been for state,” Mullen said. “Bob and Dowd probably were in better shape than I was at the time. Also, they’re seniors. They deserve that opportunity. It was their last opportunity for them to take in that state atmosphere. It was the right opportunity. It worked out for everyone.”
Jesuit has one of the top distance running programs in the country. The Blue Jays have won LHSAA state cross country championships in each of the past two seasons. Mullen, who placed second behind teammate DesRoches at the state meet, had a good enough season for Gatorade to select him as the Louisiana cross country runner of the year.
LHSAA state track and field records are based on state-meet performances. The composite state record of 9:08.67 in the 3,200 was set in 1996 by Catholic-Baton Rouge’s Robby LeBlanc.