The beauty (or curse) of the mile is it’s never over until…well, it’s over and done with. That was exemplified on Saturday morning as the 21st running of the Congress Avenue Mile had plenty of high drama.

Both races were won with late moves by Emily Dunn of San Antonio in 4:47.96 and Justin Brinkley of perennial Texas power Kingswood in 4:06.31.

This race annually brings together the top high school milers and two-milers from around Texas for one last race before summer hits. With its proximity to the State Champs, all the top high-school studs in Texas are still primed, tapered and ready to roll.

All those except Emily Dunn and her identical twin sister Janessa—both seniors—but since the Dunns are home schooled, neither was eligible for the State Meet last weekend and had only run in a low-key meet instead.

No problema. Emily and Janessa immediately too the lead ahead of the other 50 girls after dropping down from 12th Street onto Congress Avenue, right in front of the Capitol for the mile-long plunge down to the finish on the Congress Avenue Ann Richards Bridge.

Emily, wearing number 11, and Janessa, in number 12, matched each other stride for stride in near perfect cadence. The two went through the 400-meter mark in 1:12 (but the spot was wrong) and motored through halfway in 2:20. But Emily has better mile speed than her sister and as soon as they hit the bridge with 300 meters to go, she found another gear.

“I was scared,” said Emily, “because Janessa looked so strong. She’s better at the longer distances than me and I do better at the mile than she does so I thought maybe I could pick it up and if I could, I might be able to drop her.”

Drop here she did. While Janessa faded in the last 300 meters (all the way to ninth), Emily was able to accelerate and finished in a PR of 4:47.96.

“That final stretch on the bridge felt awfully long,” said Dunn who, along with her sister, will run for the University of Tulsa next season. “The finish line seemed like it would never get there.”

Coming in second was Arin Rice of Canyon HS, the 4A 800-meter champ, in 4:50.60 and Rachel Baptista, the senior from Austin HS, grabbed third in 4:50.76.

For Baptista, who had her senior track season interrupted by

mononucleosis (she was fourth in the 2-mile at States), the Congress Mile was a fitting end to her stellar high-school running career. She had run Congress Avenue three times, but had never placed.

“I’m happy with the way I ran this morning,” said Baptista who will attend the University of Colorado. “Anytime you run a PR, you have to be happy.”

Among the happiest of all the runners on Saturday morning was Justin Brinkley, a lanky junior at Kingswood HS in Humble. Brinkley was third in States in the mile in 4:09 and was severely disappointed.

“I was too aggressive and went out too fast,” said Brinkley. “I didn’t want to make that mistake again.”

On Saturday, Brinkley, running for the second time on the fast Congress Avenue course, was determined to be more patient.

Sure enough, Daniel Vertiz of San Antonio Reagan bolted into the lead and tried stealing the race from the front as the leaders went through the quarter in 60 seconds.

Meanwhile, lurking just off the pace was UT-bound Craig Lutz of Flower Mound who was inexplicably wearing a pair of spikes without the spikes. But Lutz is more of a 2-miler than miler and he could never close the gap on Vertiz.

Then, on the Congress Bridge, with less than 150 meters to go, Brinkley made his one and only move and rocketed into the lead, seemingly from out of nowhere.

“When I ran Congress last year, I made the same mistake everyone seems to make here—I went out too fast and ended up running 4:17,” said Brinkley after his victory in 4:06.31. “This time, I just wanted to relax and let the other guys worry about who was in front.”

The leaders went through halfway in 1:55 which was way too rich, but only Brinkley with an 800-meter best of 1:52, sensed the pace was too fast.

“I was way in the back, but I really felt that they would come back to me,” said Brinkley, “and once they did, I could pick them off.”

Which is exactly what he did.

Troy Taylor got second in 4:08.06 and Vertiz hung on for third in 4:09. Lutz finished 12th in 4:13.

“This is my second time on Congress Avenue and I plan to come back next year,” Brinkley who runs every distance for Kingswood and refuses to label himself as a miler. “I don’t limit myself to any one distance. I’m just a distance runner.”

Results: http://www.cadencesportsonline.com/results.cfm

Open elite competition actually had the fastest times of the day, with Houston’s Adam Davis winning the men’s race in 4:06.74, ahead of Baytown’s Sesar Figueroa, in 4:09.68.  Austin’s Lennie Waite had the fastest women’s time of the day, with a sizzling 4:46, ahead of Liz Shelton’s 4:55.

One of the most spectacular times of the day belonged to Crayton Carrozza, you guessed it, the 10-year old son of RunTex’s Paul and Sheila Carrozza. Crayton, who’s main sport is swimming, ran a 5:36 mile.

But back to the high school competition which was the race’s showcase. Craig Lutz (Marcus High School), who took second in the Capitol 10,000 last year, towed the field through slowish 1:08 first quarter, along with Adams, Ethan Doherty (Boerne Champion), and Neil Smith (Southlake Carroll) tightly bunched in a lead pack.

After the halfway mark, Lutz fell off the pace, while Cedar Park’s Parker Stinson joined the fray as they neared the three-quarter mark.

Once on the Anne Richards Bridge, Adams and Smith went into overdrive, when suddenly Doherty launched a blazing kick and took the lead.

But Adams, found another gear, passing Doherty to break the tape in 4:07.69, just ahead of Doherty’s 4:08.09, while Stinson grabbed third in 4:09.07. helping Team North took the overall win.

““I was really tired. But when I get passed, I’m a real competitive guy. I don’t like losing. said Adams, a signee for the University of Miami next fall.

Amanda Russell, a senior at Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park, dominated the girls high school race, pacing front runners, Rachel Johnson (Plano), and Colbea Harris (Argyle Richardson), through a 1:15 quarter.

Russell, who was racing competing on Team North, passed the halfway marker in 2:22, and cruised home to win in 4:51.39. Johnson, was second in 4:59.07, a step ahead of Meredith Gamble (St. Johns). Team East, lead by Gamble took the girls win.

View Slideshow

But, front and center, are the high school boys and girls. The best milers come from all around the state and their two races were the centerpiece for all the other miles on a warm, windy Sunday morning.

Most of the crème de la crème of the high-schoolers (but not all) were in town anyway for the delayed UIL Championships Friday and Saturday at UT. And most of them ran yesterday.

King of the day was C.J. Brown, a senior from Southlake Carroll, who finished second to Colby Lowe at Congress Avenue last year. Brown had a big weekend in Austin. He was fifth in the 3200 yesterday (9:14) and also won the mile at states in 4:10.

Now certainly the mostly downhill Congress Avenue course is faster than a flat track, but on Sunday Brown won in a remarkable 4:07.95. on legs that were anything but fresh.

The Congress Avenue course was slightly different than in years past. The course used to begin on the steps of the Capitol with a steep—too steep– downhill first mile. The new course began on 11th Street near Lavaca, right next to the rehabbing Governor’s Mansion. All the races began on a downhill but it wasn’t as precipitous as the old course which made for some saner splits in the first 400 meters.

James Bonn, a big, easy running senior from distance power Lockhart HS, took the pace out in a relatively easy 57 seconds for the first 400. Although the huge pack was tightly bunched, Bonn was in command for the first half mile, but after passing the 800-meter mark (in 2:05), Brown assumed the lead.

But it wasn’t much of a lead and with 400 meters to go, Bonn took it back and began to open up his huge, loping stride. He put three or four meters on Brown and Parker Stinson of Cedar Park (winner of the two-mile yesterday) who was just back in third.

Bonn, brother of former Lockhart great Tommy who was in one of the pace cars, pushed the pace on the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, but with the finish only 100 meters away, Brown took the lead and the victory in 4:07.95. James Bonn, who finished third in the 800 at states and sixth in the mile, finished in 4:08.20 with Stinson, only a junior, in third in 4:10:10.

“My legs were dead,” said Brown who will go to Texas A&M in the fall along with Bonn. “I was running with the other guys on the West team and was just trying to hang in there for the first 5-600 meters, but then my teammates told me to go for it. Still, I wanted to wait before I made any move. I thought James might have me, but then I was able to get next to him and just get him at the finish. It was fun, but I’m really pretty tired.”

He should be.

Significantly, the most rested girl among the high-school milers was Chelsey Sveinsson, the fabulous junior to be from Greenhills School in Addison. But because Greenhills is a private school, Sveinsson didn’t run in the state meet. Instead of running against high-school girls in Texas, the 16-year-old has been running in open competition against world-class women in such major meets as the Texas Relays, Penn Relays and Reebok Grand Prix meet in New York where she ran 4:16 for 1500 meters.

Although Sveinsson was clearly the class of the girls field (rested or not), she went out fairly conservatively and didn’t put herself into contention until 800 meters (reached in 2:27). “The beginning of the race was really fast,” said Sveinsson who drove down from Dallas on Sunday morning with her parents, “but we just kept rolling. I wanted to be up near the front after 800 meters.”

From there, Sveinsson motored to the finish in 4:54.60 to claim the victory over Tara Upshaw of Southlake Carroll in 4:59 and Kim Kirby of Coppell in 4:59.

“This was a really good race for me,” said Sveinsson’s who was fourth last year at Congress Avenue. “I’ve really been looking forward to it because I got to meet so many of the girls. I don’t get to race against them much so I really didn’t know many of them, other than to just say hi.

“Last year I was a little disappointed so it was great to move up and win Congress Avenue. But I really did have an advantage because I didn’t have a race on Friday or Saturday like most of the girls did.”

Not that it would have mattered because this is a girl with something special. Sveinsson, who races next at the Nike Nationals, is clearly the class of Texas and, in the next couple of years, might well prove she’s the class of the country.

Boy’s Rankings in adobe acrobat format.

Girl’s Rankings in adobe acrobat format.

Questions about the Elite race should be directed to Timo Sheard.

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.

See Slideshow here

2008 results (May 17, 2008)

• Congress Ave Mile – High School Elites
• Congress Avenue Mile
• Boys Team Results
• Girls Team Results

But here, in Austin, we have Congress Avenue. It’s the most well-known stretch of road in Texas and runners of various sizes and shapes came to town from all over the state on Saturday to put the pedal to the floor for bragging rights in the Congress Avenue Mile, sponsored by Mercedes, Puma and RunTex.

Road racers, cross-country runners, kids and their parents and even some elite milers tested themselves on the lightening fast, north to south Congress Mile track.

The course starts practically on the Capitol steps and plunges south to the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. But just because it’s a mostly downhill course doesn’t mean it’s a snap. It’s fast, but hardly an easy course.

“The trick is controlling your speed in the first quarter,” said Scott Hippensteel, the coach of Lockhart HS. “You have to go out under control almost all the way through the 800-meter mark before cutting it loose. If you go out even a little too fast, you’re going to find yourself in trouble.”

Nobody controlled their respective races—the elite boys and girls high school mile—better than C.J. Brown of Southlake Carroll and Kristie Krueger of Argyle HS in Dallas.

The top milers came from around the state, fresh off the State Meet and in peak condition. Still at the top of her game, Krueger, a 17-year-old junior, running her first Congress Avenue Mile. At States, she won the 1600 (4:57) and 3200 meters (10:41) which set state marks in each event.

On Saturday, she was clearly the favorite and didn’t disappoint. She blew through the half-mile mark in 2:20 and was able to hold on all the way to win in 4:46.08 overy Allison Pye in 4:47.38 and Erica Parker in third in 4:48.

“That’s a big-time PR for me,” said the excited Krueger. “I didn’t think I could run that fast, but I was just able to keep going. When I saw my split at halfway, I thought I had gone out way too fast. By the time I hit the flat part on the bridge, my legs felt like they were going to collapse.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” she added, “so this was fun for me. The mile is just the right distance for me and to win a race like this in a 10-second PR is something I’ll always remember.”

Congress Avenue will certainly rank high in C.J. Brown’s memory banks too. The sophomore didn’t quite have the credentials Krueger had coming in—he was second in the State mile and sixth in the deuce—and admittedly had no idea how to run the downhill road course.

“I didn’t have any plan coming in,” said Brown who won in 4:07.63—a six-second PR. “I didn’t know what to expect so I just followed some of the guys who had run here before. Maybe next year I’ll know what to do.”

It looked like Brown was doing just fine. He went through the first 400 in 58 seconds, but Brian Downey of The Woodlands was in the lead. Brown was just a few strides back and then with 400 meters to go, he floored it and caught  Alex Neff on the bridge with 50 meters left to earn a very narrow win. Neff was second in 4:07.68 with Colby Lowe close behind in 4:08.54.

“I know this doesn’t count as a PR,” said Brown, “but it feels like one.”

There was even a sub-four minute sighting on Saturday morning. Joe Thorne, a UT miler who just finished his final season of eligibility for Jason Vigilante, busted up the elite division with a 3:59.16 to edge out Adam Davis of Houston by half a second. Cesar Figueroa of Baytown was third in 4:07.

In the women’s open, Jill O’Neal of Georgetown (4:58) beat comebacking Carmen Troncoso (5:08) who was pleased her first fast effort in several months. Troncoso, 48, was also the first women’s masters. Dee Giles was third in 5:18.

Among the age-groupers, Susan Walters of Wallis won the 40-44 in 5:40 and Rochelle WEbb earned the 50-54 title with a 6:44.

The men’s masters were led by 45-year-old Richard Mendez who ran a sparkling 4:35.26. Scott Birk earned another 40-44 victory with a 4:44.01, followed by Jesse Devyln in 4:51.1 (one of three Devlyns who earned miler’s medals) and Larry Bright was third in 4:55.46. Bright also placed second in the accompanying 5-K earlier in the morning.

Brian Smyth won the 50-54 in 5:02.71 with Jesus Montaya of Round Rock coming in second in 5:08.01. Tony Zapata was third in 5:25.

Wish paced the old guys (55-59) in 5:37 with Joe Bernald second in 5:55 and Sergio Madrigan third in 6:03. Jackson Battle won the…battle of really, really old guys (60-64) in 5:49 over Dick Wilkowski in 5:53.

View Slide Show

2007 results (May 19, 2007)

• Age Groups (All Divisions)
• Overall (All Divisions)
• Middle/High School Open
• High School Elite
• Elite Milers
• High School Elite Boys Teams
• High School Elite Girls Teams
• High School Open Teams
• Training Group Competition
• Searchable Results

Starting at the Capitol, the milers flew down Congress and despite humid conditions and a slight breeze in their face, PRs fell all morning long.
Leading the way, was Duncan Phillips of College Station. The junior, who won the state championship just a week ago, took the lead just past the half-mile mark (reached in 1:57) and was an easy winner in 4:06.7 over Dan Gerber in 4:09.8. Blake Shaw was third in 4:10.4. Phillips had such a lead that he was able to ease up coming across the flat section on the Congress bridge and enjoy the victory.

“This was really fun,” said Phillips who has a track best of 4:10. “I’ve never run a race like this before so it was really a good experience, coming so soon right after states.”

Loren Hodges, a senior from Paradise who is Baylor-bound, also won the state title, but she had a little more competition on Saturday morning. She was in a dog fight with Jillian Rosen all the way down Congress before winning by an eyelash in 4:49.9 to Rosen’s 4:50.5. Allison Pye was third in 4:53.6.

“Two girls went out so fast in the first quarter,” said Hodges, who set her mile PR of 4:53 at the Texas Relays, “that I decided to hang back a little. They went through in something like 60 seconds so I just stayed patient and caught them about halfway. From there, I was just trying to stay ahead of Jillian. This is a lot different than the track because none of us knew how to pace ourselves but it was very exciting to be part of this.”

In the open division, Bernard Manirakiza of Austin was an easy winner in 4:07.85 with Carl Stones, a sophomore from Round Rock (he won Chuy’s last Saturday) in second, in 4:26. Miles O’Neill, a 17-year-old, was third in 4:28.2.

“I needed some competition. I should have run in the high-school division,” Manirakiza joked afterward.

So should Ashley Isham. The 14-year-old phenom from Cedar Park was the overall women’s winner (if a 14-year-old counts as a woman) with a sparkling 4:59.7. Isham’s time would have placed in the top 15 among the top girls in Texas. Wait ‘til next year. Lea Schrader paced the masters women with a 5:46.

Other great age-group times were a 5:25 by another 14-year-old from Cedar Park—Amanda Russell—who took the 11-14 age group. Russell’s time would have won every female age group up to the 25-29 year olds. She’ll have plenty of competition in the next few years with Isham up in Cedar Park.

Among the old guys, former Russian stud Sergey Karasev was an easy winner in the masters with a 4:34 followed by the always tough Richard Mendez, 44, in 4:35 with Scott Birk third in 4:46. Mark Townsend, 50, in 4:59 eclipsed Bill Patience in 5:19 to win the really gold guys with Wish, 56, chugging home in 5:40 to win the really, really old guys. Jackson Battle, 60, won the ancients in 5:41.

Sitting this one out was His Excellency, The First Runner of Texas—Governor Rick Perry—who busied himself with taking photographs and greeting every runner to cross the finish line. The Gov who ran “in the neighborhood of 5:30” in ’04 (the last time the race was held) pledged to run the next Congress Mile.

Chances are it won’t be his last campaign promise.

Fox 7 filmed the race and will televise many of the heats next Saturday morning (May27th) at 11:30 a.m.

2006 results (May 20, 2006)

• Open Overall
• Open Age Groups
• High School Boys & Girls Overall
• High School Boys Teams
• High School Girls Teams
• Searchable

A record field of more than 1000 started the mile-long race from the steps of the Capitol, down Congress to the finish on the Congress Avenue Bridge. Even though a world-class field was missing, there were still some scintillating times.

Leading the way was Chris Dugan, a 25-yerar-old steeplechaser, who ran 4:17.8 to just edge out Barry Kahn by less than a half second to record the fastest time of the morning in the final heat. Dugan and Kahn were followed to the finish by two former UT runners; Steve Sisson in 4:24.5 and Donnie O’Neal two seconds later.

The fastest woman miler on the warm, humid morning was 22-year-old Nora Colligan with a time of 5:02.6. Colligan, who recently moved to town, ran in college for Northwestern University of the Big 10.

Top masters were Richard Mendez, 40, who ran a superb 4:33.1 and Cathy Smith who recorded a 5:17 mile to lead the women.

PRs were the order of the day for many of the milers/marathoners, but possibly the most outstanding time was by 90-year-old Jerzy Kuszakiewicz who turned in a 8:52 mile which is a world age group road record (although the record could not be confirmed).

Results

• Fall 2004 results
• Fall Race – Overall
• Fall Race – Searchable
• Fall Race – Age Group