Centrowitz's Late Kick Wins the Mile
First HS Athlete to Win 3K and Mile Events
04/29/2007
It's not uncommon to see Matt Centrowitz winning, and it's not uncommon to see him winning the way he did Friday in the Penn Relays mile.

Centrowitz, a senior at Broadneck, employed the running style that has been the trademark of his successful career -- he paced himself at the back of the lead pack for the first 400 meters, used an effortless kick to make up seven spots on the third lap and unleashed a final surge on the bell lap, leaving many of the country's top milers in his wake.

He won in a meet-record 4 minutes 8.38 seconds, a year after winning the 3,000 in 8:20.09. With the victory, he became the first high school athlete to win the mile and the 3,000, the only individual running events held at the relays.

Centrowitz's mile time eclipsed the previous record of 4:08.7, set in 1972 by Bethesda-Chevy Chase's Gordon Oliver.

"With 400 to go, I knew I had to do something," said Centrowitz, who will run for Oregon in the fall. "I knew I wanted the conditions to be as rough as possible. With it being rainy and Duck weather, you can't ask for anything better than that."

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