If you are Lynnfield High senior track star Kate Mitchell, it just keeps getting better and better.
She began the weekend with a surprise third place finish with fellow senior Juliana Passatempo and freshman twins sisters Ashley and Lauren Mitchell in the Emerging Elites sprint medley relay at the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships at The Armory Track and Field Center in New York.
Sunday morning was back at The Armory, bright and early for the Championship 800. Mitchell cranked it up a notch, running a career-best 2:10.60 to finish ninth in a star-studded field of 23 of the best high school runners in the nation.
The race was a redemption of sorts for Mitchell, who finished 36th in the lower Emerging Elites division as a junior last year.
“The whole weekend was just incredible, but to finish top-10 in the championship division was such a feeling of total satisfaction after last year,” Mitchell said. “Last year was not a good year at all. I peaked too early and had a lack of proper training and it was so hectic as I had to leave the meet right after the race to get home to take my SATs the next day, so I was determined to be better prepared this year and I think I my training just paid off. It feels just great.”
This year, Mitchell did face a handful of obstacles along the way, one of them being the race time of 10:10 a.m. and the overnight switch to Daylight Savings Time.
“We don’t usually run at that hour, so it totally changes your preparation, plus losing an hour the night before didn’t help,” Mitchell said. “We got up early, but nothing was open for breakfast, so I just had a nutrition bar, but all in all, I would say, everything worked out well. It was a little stressful at the time, but once I got to the track, everything worked out, I would have to say.”
Mitchell, running in the first of two unseeded heats, came from behind to finish third, then had to wait for the next heat to finish and the seeded heat to finish some four hours later before the final results were posted.
“I knew my heat would go out fast, and they were even faster than I expected,” she said. “It was kind of crowded at the start so I just did my thing and let everyone else go out. I was 63 or 64 my first 400, then was 1:38 or so after 600, which was right where I wanted to be.”
As she had in the sprint medley race on Friday, Mitchell methodically made her move with 300 meters to go and systematically picked off all but two competitors by the time she hit the finish line.
After that, it was just watch, wait and hope.
“It’s hard because when you are watching it’s natural to hope that everyone running after you slows down,” she joked. “Actually, we were staying anyway to watch Samantha (Friborg) run in the seeded heat, so it was great to see her make All-American.”
Friborg, who edged out Mitchell at the MIAA All-States meet this year, will be running at Yale in the fall.
Mitchell received another piece of good news over the weekend.
“I just found out that our sprint medley team qualified for the outdoor nationals in the championship division, so that will be an awesome experience to run with my sisters and Juliana, plus you get cooler backpacks and stuff when you are in the championship division.”
