Keegan Smith - 800m, 1600m
From Cory Mull:
Keegan Smith didn't enter Friday's race thinking about who he was facing, or whether it was part of the championship section at New Balance Nationals Indoor.
Instead, he focused on the moment in front of him. On a race that was his.
"They say you're only a freshman once, so I really wanted to take advantage of it," Smith said on Friday inside the Armory.
"I've been running up a lot this season, running with some really good upperclassmen. And I just wanted one race to myself, one that I go into mentally and say, 'This is your race. Go get it done.'"
And so that's exactly what the Knoxville Catholic (TN) freshman did, setting a new national class record in the mile with a time of 4:14.63.
It was the eighth-best time in Tennessee indoor history. It was a full six seconds faster than his previous best.
"I'm really grateful," Smith said. "All the glory to God. That was a very good race for myself. I shocked myself. I think I shocked a lot of people."
That was from an article posted Saturday after Smith won the Freshman Mile. Below is an interview after that performance. On Sunday he won the Freshman 800m with a 1:58.57.
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