Reese leads 7 New Yorkers in Boston

Reese leads 7 New Yorkers in Boston

By Christopher Hunt

It’s not that Carmel senior Kristin Reese hasn’t been in big races before. She has. But for all the stories of leaving runners struggling in her wake, for all the tales of Reese producing bone-chilling relay legs it was those big races, the ones were everyone’s watching, that she became a footnote.

It’s not that she hadn’t run fast times either. It’s just that she beat people she was supposed to beat. That wasn’t the runner that ran at the New Balance Games last Saturday. Reese says it won’t be the runner that shows up in the girls invitational mile at the Boston Indoor Games tomorrow either.

Reese, who won the mile at the New Balance Games in a nation-leading time of 4:52.65, could be considerate the favorite for the mile in Boston’s Reggie Lewis Center tomorrow.

“I don’t think I’m the favorite,” Reese said, “maybe one of them. But I think if I have a good race then I have a good shot.”

Her performance at the New Balance Games may have proved that Reese isn’t bound to fading in the more competitive races as she had be prone to do in the previous seasons. Reese took over the pace at the 400 mark against a top-notch field that included Melanie Thompson of Voorhees and Jaclyn Marshall of Kings Park. She trudged into the lead at the 400 mark and never let the pack back into the race. Even when Thompson made a surge to challenge in the last 200 meters, Reese never relented.

The field at the Boston Indoor Games will be even more competitive. Jillian Smith of South Regional (N.J.) finished second last year. Sarah McCurdy of Bay Shore, who has run 2:10.40 in the 800 meters this season, has also been invited along with Bridget Dahlberg of Newton South, Mass. Dahlberg ran 4:51.75 last winter season.  Six runners from New York were invited in a field of 11 including Caitlin Lane of Greenwich and Brianna Welch of North Shore.

Although Reese has shown she can be successful running from the front, she said she isn’t sure what her gameplan is. In fact, she won’t even let her coaches talk about the race.

“When they talk about it, it makes me nervous,” she said. “I’m not ready to be nervous yet.”

She noted that in major races such as this one, sometimes the tendency is for the race to start slow, no one wanting to bear the burden of leading. If that is the case she may be inclined to force the tempo.

No matter how the race plays out, Reese expects one thing.

“I expect fast times from me and everyone else,” she said.

Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.

NY Runners in Boston Indoor Games Invitational mile