Four Laps, Four Minutes and Eleven Seconds
Brady Mullen sets the top 1600m time in Louisiana and the 5th fastest time in the country with a blazing fast 4:11.
Four laps, 1600 meters, four minutes and eleven seconds - Brady Mullen was flying. Always blazing fast, Brady set the top time in Louisiana in the outdoor 1600m race, which also happened to place him in the top five in the country at the distance. Impressive stuff. However, there is another layer to this story that makes this early season feat even more impressive - Mullen is not focusing on the mile race, he’s training to defend his 3200m crown.
As a sophomore, Brady broke through in the 3200m in an astonishing 8 minutes and 59 seconds, showcasing his exceptional talent at a young age. Now a junior and coming off that crazy fast mile, Mullen is looking to push the expectations of what is possible for distance running in Louisiana by dropping that 3200m time even lower. With such early season speed under his belt, there is not telling how fast Brady can go in the near two-mile distance event.
Brady, who is always quick to point out the team aspects of even his individual successes, was backed up by his Coach, Cullen Doody ‘08, who made special mention of senior track star Michael Vocke, who paced Brady through the first 800m of the race. “Big shout out to Michael Vocke, who sacrificed his race today to pace this one,” said Doody, “that won’t show up in the stat sheet, [Michael] was a great teammate today.” Vocke, who recently committed to run cross country and track for LSU, is the three time defending outdoor state champion in the 1600m and recently won the LHSAA indoor state championships in the 1600m. Known for speed and focus, Vocke’s task in this race was to make sure Mullen got off to a fast start and he did just that. In the ultra-competitive race, second place was a full 12 seconds behind Brady; whereas there was 10 seconds separating 2nd from 12th.
According to Coach Cullen Doody this is all part of the plan. This strategic approach to Mullen's training has proven fruitful, as evidenced by Mullen's stellar performances on the track. "We skipped indoors for him and focused on building a big engine for Brady," said Coach Doody, reflecting on their training regimen. "That race was very fast."
