Colby Lowe, Julie Amthor Take Puma Congress Avenue Mile Titles
The dogs outnumbered the runners 2-1 at the Puma Congress Avenue Mile on Saturday, but the milers were a lot faster.
Especially the high-school milers.
Most of the dogs and their owners (who were on Congress for the Mighty Texas Dog Walk) watched in awe as the high-school milers took center stage for the festival of mile races that started and finished on the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. The fastest high-schoolers came from all around the state to Austin for their chance with Congress Avenue. Many had been in town the week before for the State Championship so they were primed and ready to roll down Congress.
Except for one thing: The traditional north to south course starting on the Capitol steps was unavailable due to a conflict with the Paramount Theatre.
So RunTex race directors Paul Carrozza and Michelle Graham had to improvise and they came up with a loop course which started on the Ann Richards Bridge, took a short turn east on Cesar Chavez and then headed north for a quarter mile on Brazos. From there, it was a short stretch on 4th Street before turning onto Congress and heading south for the final half mile.
Clearly, the course wasn’t as fast as the almost entirely downhill Congress course (it was about 10-12 seconds slower) which has been used for years. There wasn’t nearly as much downhill on the ’08 course and the quarter-mile section on Brazos had a moderate incline which was the slowest portion of the race.
It didn’t seem to matter much to Colby Lowe, a senior at Southlake Carroll HS near Dallas, who won the state 1600-meter championship last week at UT in 4:06. Lowe and C.J. Brown, his teammate at Southlake, flew through the first quarter in 61 seconds. Brown took over the lead on the slowish Brazos portion (reaching the half in 2:11), but as they made the turn onto Congress for the final half mile, Blake Shaw came into the picture and blew past the Southlake teammates. Shaw of Cypress Falls HS in Houston is more of an 800-meter runner than miler (he was second in the 800 state champ last weekend in 1:52.17) and just wanted to stay close to the leaders so he could use his kick.
Nevertheless, Shaw pushed the pace as the three headed toward the finish on Congress, but he faded. Then, with about 200 meters to go, Lowe turned on the after burners and got his chest in front of Brown to win in 4:15.5. Brown was second 4:15.9 and Reed Connor of The Woodlands was third in 4:16.6 with Shaw fourth in 4:17.2. Rory Tunningley of Lockhart (who is going to UT) was fifth in 4:17.8
“This was so cool, ” said Lowe who will run cross-country for Oklahoma State in the fall. “This was my last race in high school so I didn’t want to have anything left. I wanted to race this as hard as I could. I mean, it was a hard race and kinda painful, but as a distance runner, we look for the pain. We aren’t afraid of that.”
Neither were the girls…er, women. This race matched up two-time state champ Kristie Krueger who was defending her Congress Avenue mile title against Julie Amthor. Krueger was second in the state championship mile last weekend, while Amthor was third in the 800-meter final in a PR of 2:11.
It was the classic matchup: Strength versus speed. Krueger certainly has the distance runner’s’s strength. A senior at Argyle HS near Dallas, Krueger was the most coveted distance runner in the state this year (second in the 1600 at states) and is ticketed to go to the University of Georgia on a scholarship. Amthor, a senior at Spring Branch Smithson Valley HS, just north of San Antonio has the wheels.
The two seniors rocketed north on Congress to Cesar Chavez in 66 seconds for the first quarter and, like everyone else, slowed on the grade up Brazos (reaching the half in 2:24).
“I just wanted to stay close to Kristie,” said Amthor. “I knew if I could, I could use my 800 power and hopefully, maybe get her at the end.”
Which is exactly what she did. Amthor was two strides better, winning in 4:54.4 to Krueger’s 4:55.8. Cate Westenhover of Austin (who is home schooled) was third in 4:59.5.
“I just got outkicked,” said Krueger who ran 4:46.8 last year. “Julie had the better leg speed than I did.”
Fastest mile of the day was turned in by 26-year-old Adam Davis. The former Rice star ran 4:14.3 to edge out Cesar Figueroa of Baytown in 4:17.9. Andrew Strong of Austin was third in 4:27. Collin Smith, 18 of Austin was fourth in 4:30. David O’Meara, a 45-year-from Sarasota, Florida, who is running 20 one-mile races in 20 cities in 20 weeks, was first master in 4:50.
The women were led by Emiliano Magullanez, a 15-year-old from Luling, who ran 5:03. Alicia Sankar, 42, was the first masters in 5:54.
2008 results (May 17, 2008)
