When Nevada Mareno raised her arms in celebration at the end of the Girls Championship Mile, she was not the North Carolina girl that most pundits predicted to break the tape at New Balance Nationals Indoor.
The win came seemingly out of nowhere over pre-race favorite Ryen Frazier (Ravenscroft, NC), who owns the fastest time in the country this year at 4:41.56. Frazier, a veteran championship racer, also earned the Two Mile title in US #3 All-Time 10:02.86 and runner-up honors in the 5k at US #3 All-Time 16:12.81.
In their only other race this year, Frazier blew Mareno out of the water, 4:49.78 to 5:00.63 over 1,600m, at the NC Runners Holiday Invitational in December.
What changed?
An ancient running proverb says the sport is 10% physical, 90% mental.
For sophomore Mareno, the journey to believing started on Saturday night during the Girls Championship 4x800m Relay.
Mareno and her Leesville Road, NC teammates were ranked No. 9 heading into the relay final. Last year, the squad placed 11th in 9:19.93, five seconds out of the All-American honors awarded to the top six in each event.
“Last year, we were a little starstruck," said Leesville Road head coach Jerry Canada. “This year, all the girls went up there with business on their minds. 'We need to let them know we're here.'"
The 4x800m is the last championship event of the evening on Saturday, Day 2 of NBN Indoors. The gun starts the first section at 6:00 p.m.
Before the starting quartet of Mareno, Taylor Hemming, G'Jasmyne Butler and Sydney Winchel toed the line, Canada asked his athletes what they wanted to accomplish.
“I said, 'I think we should be All-Americans, we have to beat three teams in front of us to do that,'" said Mareno. “And he said, 'oh really? I don't think that's good enough.' G'Jasmyne said, 'I want to be top three,' and Sydney said, 'I want to win.' He said, 'I think we can do that.'"
Leesville Road stayed in the mix with the top group through the entire relay. Western Branch (VA) star Faith Ross pulled away from the pack on the third leg with a 2:10.43 split, giving Amanda Thomas, a sub-2:10 performer, a solid lead. But somehow, Mareno - who received the baton in third place - maintained contact and even seemed to gain ground. But she just did not have enough track to catch Thomas, who ultimately split 2:08.2 for her anchor leg. The Bruins took the title over Leesville Road, 9:02.27 to 9:03.63.
Mareno nearly apologized for the effort.
“I thought I had run 2:13 or 2:14," she said. “My breathing was okay but legs, during that last 200m, they were not going to go any faster. I could breathe fine and that's why I was disappointed, because to cross the finish line and be able to talk to [my teammates] just fine, I thought I had not given them my all."
Mareno did not have quite enough track to catch Amanda Thomas on the anchor leg of the Championship 4x800m Relay. Western Branch set a new Virginia State Record of 9:02.27. Mareno ran the fastest split of the evening in 2:07.60.
In fact, she ran the fastest split of the entire night in 2:07.60 - a seven-second personal best.
After that performance - which would stand as the second-fastest 800m of the entire meet after 800m Champion Sammy Watson's 2:06.78 SMR split - there was no question in anyone's mind that Mareno could go for the individual title.
“She was on a mission," Canada said of Mareno's work ethic between the state championship and nationals.
In North Carolina, the spring soccer season starts right after the state meet. As a freshman, Mareno went straight into soccer training before nationals. This year, she attended soccer practice but met Canada for track workouts either before or after her soccer sessions.
The regimen is not high mileage - Mareno probably runs about 25 to 30 miles per week - but it is high intensity. Canada has his girls in the weight room four days per week and on the track most weekdays.
The Girls Championship Mile started at 2:29 p.m. on Sunday, March 15 - about an hour after Frazier's US #3 All-Time 10:02.83 Championship Two Mile run.
Canada knew the nation's top-ranked miler had to be feeling fatigued. He just had to convince Mareno to stay on her tail this go-round.
“We'll take All-American and be just fine. I said, 'that's not how I'm training you, I want you to go to the next level,'" he said. “You have to compete against these athletes with no fear… I knew she was gonna run sub-4:50. Now, how low, I figured between 4:41 and 4:45. Ryan, coming off the Two Mile, I said, 'she's playing the wrong game here, she's got 10 seconds on the field [but] she doesn't know about you.'"
After Desert Vista, AZ senior Dani Jones won the slow section in a blistering 4:44, the fast heat knew they could not fool around. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar, IA) took the pace out with a 69-second first quarter, but it was soon enough the Ryen Frazier show. As the lap counter ticked down, only Mareno kept pace with the NC State recruit. With 150m remaining, the sophomore powered ahead straight through to the finish ribbon.
“I wanted to break the ribbon," she said in an interview immediately after the race. “I've never had a ribbon before.
“My idea was just to go in, I'm a sophomore and I could do something crazy if I wanted to. There's nothing at risk here, really, I decided, why not put myself in the front and see how long I could hold on for? Turns out, I could hold on until the end when I decided to break."
Mareno and Frazier both closed in under 70 seconds to break Jones' leading time from Section 2. Mareno's 4:43.23 was not only a 15-second best in the Mile, but set a new National Sophomore Class Record.
"I knew [Frazier] was going to react and I didn't know how she would react, I couldn't tell from behind," Mareno said. "I just gave it as much speed as I could."
The race marked a historic 1-2 sweep by North Carolina preps. Fellow in-state rival Malia Ellington (Community School of Davidson) finished eighth in the race in 4:53.48.
“Watching her run and particularly her and Ryen at the same time, it was a North Carolina thing," said Canada, who was not shocked at all by the victory. “It was much bigger than her and Leesville or her and me," said Canada. “It was much bigger than that and people may not understand but it was a Tar Heel pride kind of thing going on, more than just watching her individually.
Nevada Mareno passed Ryen Frazier with 150 meters to go.
“Knowing the kind of work she put in during the season and the sweat and the tears and the fight, all of that pain and loss and that moment, I was so… I don't like to use the word 'proud' but it was more so, I was just so happy that she saw the effort pay off for her."
The effort paid off - but not enough for the new star to consider racing outdoor track. At least, not this year. She will star as a midfielder on Leesville Road's soccer team this spring alongside her older sister, Jordan, a senior.
"When I start something, I want to make sure I finish it," Mareno said. "I did soccer last year, I committed to doing it this year. My first track season was last year. I really wanted to make sure I got closure. I know I'll have more time to dedicate to track and I know next year, I'm gonna give track all I got."
Track and field fans will have to wait until August or September to catch a glimpse of the talent again. She plans to begin her summer cross country training much earlier - last year, she did not start until July - in hopes of qualifying for Foot Locker or Nike Cross Nationals.
For Canada, coaching Mareno is a game of careful patience.
He first realized he had a star on his hands last year, when she won the NCHSAA 4A Indoor State Championship 1k over senior Casey Greenwalt, 2:56.24 to 2:56.27, as a freshman with just a few months of track experience under her belt.
“She won by three-thousandths of a second," Canada said. “We're talking about two girls competing to the best of their ability. The girl she beat was a senior and it was down to the wire and it was an omen then, I realized she had something in her that most runners don't, it was just this drive to compete and I don't want to say to win but to compete, to do her best.
“She will not be denied. She is just fierce."
