AA States Preview: Brendan Shearn

It seems like an all too common story. Runners never seem immeaditley drawn to track and field or cross country when they are in their elementary school days. We dabble in local sports, intermural soccer or baseball or basketball. But those sports all have their drawbacks. There is the battle for playing time, the politics with coach's children and all sorts of subjective behavior. But not running. Everyone lines up together and the fastest kid wins. Each person can not only race the field, but race themself, make themselves the best they can be.

That's what attracted Brendan Shearn to the sport. For him, it's about getting in a race with confidence and not letting anyone beat you, wanting it more than the guy next to you.

It is this attitude that has propelled Shearn to the front of a lot of people's prediction boards this November and has earned him a slew of PRs, gold medals, and impressive finishes. But it didn't start out with instant success and glory.

In his middle school days Shearn can specifically remember using a front running strategy, but getting outkicked at the end by guys who maybe had more natural talent and speed. And even natural, innate ability was not the only obstacle Shearn faced while running.

His freshman year at states, Shearn fell about 200m into the race and was brutally spiked. However, with blood trickling down his leg, he still perserved and not only finished the race, but outkicked a few guys on the way finishing in the top 50. Later Shearn would spend about 400m of one of his distance runs trying to avoid a bear attack. And to top it all off Brendan recently was hit by a car pulling out of a parking lot in the middle of a race. He still managed to finish first.

All these things make Jon Trueman's kid look slightly less horrifying.

So after facing all this, what kind of problems could a simple cross country race present? With the motivation of pass disappointments and big goals for this fall, Shearn ran to a huge victory at the very competitive Carlisle Invitational. It was a race that now holds a special place in his running memories.

But the story does not stop at Carlisle, and Brendan has no intention of making Carlisle the highlight of his career. He has big goals for this upcoming state meet and the footlocker regional meet. He wants to win his first state championship that he just missed outdoors in the 3200 last spring, therefore establishing himself at the front of a great AA field of Juniors. Then in New York Brendan has his sights set on booking a flight to California for the Footlocker Championships in San Diego.

Having goals is a big part of success in this sport, and Brendan is not afraid to shoot for the stars. He's put in the work over the summer with 70+ mile weeks and heavy doses of mileage and he has seen the results after his recent 3200m time drop into the 9:20s adn of course his breakout wins at PTXC and Carlisle.

Brendan looks to be at the top of his game right now and it is going to take more than a bear or a car to knock him down.