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Boys All-County Cross Country

Sports

Thursday, 14 January 2010 03:03

Swanson’s sprint resulted in conference championship
By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
In four seasons of cross country competition at Gateway High, one meet and one sprint to the finish line stand out in senior Matt Swanson’s memory. The meet was at Harmony High in October, the Orange Belt Conference championship.
The sprint involved Swanson and meet favorite Robbie Johnroe, of Liberty High.
“I knew I could take it if I could stay close,” Swanson said. “Early in the year, he was beating me by a minute, then I got it down to 20 seconds, so I knew I would have a chance, especially since it was on a course I’m familiar with.”
Swanson and Johnroe engaged in one of the most memorable races in OBC history as they swapped the lead over the last mile. Swanson sprinted down Harmony’s track to the finish line as Johnroe bravely gave chase, but on that day, the Panther senior was one second better: 16:55 to 16:56.
“That will be the race I remember, definitely,” Swanson said.
The victory, which helped Gateway defend its OBC team championship, also made Swanson the Osceola News-Gazette Male Runner of the Year.
Liberty Coach Robert Pauley said it was one of the best finishes to a cross country race he has seen.
“You have to give Matt all the credit, he ran a great race,” Pauley said. “I hated it for Robbie and Liberty, but I’m happy for Matt.”
Swanson said one factor working for him on that steamy afternoon was that the race was being held later in the day.
“Historically, I run better in the afternoons,” he said. “It was hot that day, but the heat wasn’t a factor. I’m used to it. My goal was to go out, run smart and stay close.”
Swanson began running in middle school, when his parents told him to pick a sport to participate in.
“It was either running or swimming,” he said. “I did all right in middle school, then I started to take it more seriously when I got to high school.
Swanson ran on the JV team as a freshman, but as many of the varsity runners graduated he stepped up his training that summer.
“All summer, all I did was train,” he said. “When I got back to school, I was like 2 or 3 minutes faster.”
Swanson and teammate John Powers pushed one another through their varsity careers.
“It helps to have John there, because he’s one of a few guys who can keep up with me (in Osceola County),” Swanson said. “We’ve been 1-2 for most of our time here.”
The 16:55 that Swanson ran at the OBC meet was his career best. The Panthers advanced to the regional meet as Swanson placed 12th at the district meet in 17:22. He clocked a 17:07 at the regional meet and placed 26th.
“Our times weren’t real great this year, because our coach (Tane Crossley) scheduled us at the hardest courses he could find,” Swanson said. “He told us that he was going to do that because then when we got to the normal courses, they would seem easy.”
Crossley wasn’t surprised that Swanson beat Johnroe at the OBC meet.
“Matt was capable, he just had to decide to do it,” he said.
As hard as Swanson trained, he knew that he would fall behind elite runners from schools like state champion Melbourne.
“Yeah, there’s two or three from Melbourne that you’d be foolish to try and keep up with,” he said. “It makes you wonder when you’re out there running against them, and you’re hot and tired and running as hard as you can, and you still can’t come close to them. I guess it’s something about the tradition they have at those schools. Cross country is a good sport in Osceola County, but not at that level.”
Swanson again will compete for the Panthers track team in a few weeks, where he plans to run the distance races and perhaps the 4 x 800 relay.
After that, he will concentrate on college. He applied to MIT and Georgia Tech, where he will study mechanical engineering. He said he will continue to run.
“I almost did a half-marathon when a friend of mine dropped out, but we had a cross country meet like two days later and I didn’t think my coach would think that’s a good idea,” he said. “It’s something I’d definitely love to do, though.”

Runner of the Year: Matt Swanson (Sr., GHS).
All-county team: Gateway: John Powers (Sr.), Jairo Salazar (Sr.). St. Cloud: Bailey Morgan (Soph.), Carlos Perez (Soph.).
Liberty: Robbie Johnroe (Jr.). Poinciana: Widmaier Jean (Sr.).