Dundee-Crown freshman wins national running title

Sleepy Hollow resident Anthony Manfrin's first high school running season was already a huge success.

As a freshman this past school year, Manfrin was part of Dundee-Crown's boys cross country team that qualified for the state finals and finished 10th in Class 3A. He also ran in two events (1,600 run and the 3,200 relay) at the state track and field finals in May.

And this past Saturday, June 21, Manfrin really put the icing on the cake.

Manfrin won the freshman mile run title at the prestigious Nike national meet held at the University of North Carolina A & T in Greensboro.

Manfrin won the national title with a freshman race meet-record time of 4:23.27 (this was a regular mile time and not a 1,600-meter time). Manfrin won the championship by over six seconds.

"It's really exciting," said Manfrin. "The whole year, my coach (Tom Smith) was talking about me going down there. It was definitely something I wanted to do."

Manfrin won his heat race at Nike by over eight seconds.

"He was in front as soon as the gun went off," said Smith of the finals race. "We knew in the fall and spring that he had one of the fastest times for a freshman in the state."

Manfrin had his own cheering section in Greensboro. That helped, he said, due to the caliber of runners he was competing against.

"My family was there. I could hear them cheering," said Manfrin. "I knew I had to run a good race in order to win. I knew the kids I was running with were good."

Manfrin said he did not feel a lot of pressure at the meet.

"I wasn't sure of anybody's times, so there wasn't a lot of pressure," said Manfrin. "I thought as long as I do what I have to do, I thought I had a chance to do pretty well."

Manfrin's success at Nike nationals came on the heels of a strong performance at the Midwest Distance Gala at Benedictine University in Lisle. Manfrin ran a seeded heat at the Gala with older runners. He finished second in section with a time of 4:19.98.

"That translates into a 4:18, 1,600," said Smith. "Holy cow."

"That (Midwest Distance Gala) was really fun," said Manfrin. "At first, I was going to run in the freshman mile and then my coach talked me into running with the older kids. There was no pressure. I just went out and ran."

Manfrin qualified for the Nike national meet during the 2008 track season. He was later invited by officials to participate in the meet.

"Going to Nike was definitely one of my goals," said Manfrin. "I wanted to place in the top three at Nike. Winning it is a pretty good feeling."

Smith feels the best is still ahead for Manfrin.

"This was a great culmination to a good year for him," said Smith. "The key for Anthony was he kept running and training up to those 2 meets (Midwest Distance Gala and Nike). What an accomplishment. He works hard and is dedicated. He has good things ahead of him."