The fall sports season at High School South has lasted longer than usual, with exceptional performances from the school’s athletes in the past two weeks. Cross country runner Katie Kellner had a big finish at the Meet of Champions, placing 11th at Holmdel Park. The Pirate football team plays for its first state title ever this Friday, November 30, against Howell at Rutgers Stadium. And after a record-breaking season, Brian Leung became the first Mercer County student to qualify for the Foot Locker national championship on Saturday, December 8, in San Diego, California.##M:[more]##
The South senior placed third on November 24 at the regionals at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, with a time of 15:25. He was one of only three New Jersey finishers in the top 10.
Leung’s performance at the regionals came just a week after he won the individual title at the Meet of Champions on November 17 at Holmdel Park.
During the Meet of Champions race, the Princeton University-bound senior ran for a time of 15:33, 18 seconds ahead of all other competitors to become the first Mercer County male runner to ever win the race.
Going into the regional race, Leung said he was feeling confident, especially coming off winning the Meet of Champions, and he didn’t do anything differently to prepare for it because he’s been doing so all season. That includes running 75 to 80 miles for the past 18 weeks before the race — often foregoing his lunch hour to put in his road work. For Leung, it’s more about the physical training than mental.
“I don’t really have any mental techniques,” he said. “You stay tough and have confidence in your fitness going into it. You can’t be afraid to hurt going into the race.”
His coach, Kurt Wayton, said he was a little worried as Leung was heading into the regional competition because “we raced really hard for the last two weeks before that, and I was thinking he might be a little deadlegged,” but “he looked great.”
“For a little guy, he’s strong, and he had a really good kick,” Wayton added. “When it came down to the final stretch — which is long; it’s about half a mile long — he had a really gutsy finish.”
Wayton said that preparation for cross country is a lot more linear. “If you want to be good, you start preparing late June, early July.”
Going to the nationals, there’s nothing Leung should do differently because “nothing you do in two weeks is going to change your performance,” Wayton said. As long as Leung keeps working on all the elements and keeps the same schedule, he should do fine, he added.
Wayton said that before the season, believe it or not, he was a little wary about how Leung would end up performing, but he has seen him become a leader by example.
“He’s given kids a first glimpse on how you improve on anything, give your best, and throw everything you have into something you love,” Wayton said. “Nobody’s ever had the focus, dedication, the honesty that he has, and this is the reward. He’s reached a level of athletic success that few people in the history of Mercer County ever had,” not to mention few in the state have had, he added.
Even though Leung was hurt by injury and illness last year, he’s at a completely different level this year, Wayton said. “He’s learned a little more about his body. The truly great ones — it’s not a matter of motivating; it’s a matter of holding them back,” and Leung’s learned to do that, he added.
At the nationals race, Leung isn’t holding back his appetite, though. When asked what he anticipated, he said: “Top ten finishers would be nice.”
“At the end of the race, it’s all about who wants it more,” he said. “Anything’s possible.”
— Cara Latham
