Mia Brahe-Pedersen putting her name alongside all-time greats with record-setting runs in 100, 200 meters: ‘Sometimes, I don’t even believe it’
By René Ferrán | Photo by Leon Neuschwander
When Mia Brahe-Pedersen thinks about the names of the all-time greats that her recent performances place her alongside, it still blows her mind.
Marion Jones.
Allyson Felix.
Briana Williams.
Chandra Cheeseborough.
All have won Olympic gold, and this season, Brahe-Pedersen has posted times that compare favorably with what they did as high schoolers.
“Sometimes, I don’t even believe it that I have put myself up there with these accomplished ladies,” Brahe-Pedersen said Sunday evening, a day after she smashed the state records in the 100 and 200 meters at the Summit Invitational in Bend. “But my close friends, my family and coaches have tried to put it in my head that I deserve this. And I’m coming around to it.”
Earlier this season, Brahe-Pedersen broke Cheeseborough’s national record for 100 yards at the Oregon Relays, when meet organizers placed cameras to record her time at that distance as she successfully defended her title in the 100 meters.
On Saturday, she took another nine-hundredths of a second off her state record in the 100, winning in 11.08 seconds — just one-hundredth off her personal best in all conditions and No. 3 all-time among high schoolers, behind Williams (10.94 in 2019 for Northeast of Oakland Park, Fla.) and Candace Hill (10.98 in 2015 for Rockdale of Conyers, Ga.).
Brahe-Pedersen’s time is the fastest at a high school meet (Williams and Hill ran their times at summer events), passing Jones’ 11.14 for Thousand Oaks, Calif., in 1992.
Even so, Brahe-Pedersen said “my start was not great, and I still ran my fastest wind-legal time. My coaches said if I had just gotten the same start I’ve had in practices, I could have run in the 10.9s. So, I have every intention of doing that this season.”
Later in the afternoon, she blazed to victory in the 200 in 22.61, finally breaking the tie at 22.95 seconds that she forged last season with 1968 Olympian Margaret Johnson-Bailes for the state record.
That time moved Brahe-Pedersen to No. 8 on the all-time national list and is the second-fastest time at a high school meet, behind Felix’s 22.52 for Los Angeles Baptist in 2003.
“I’m so happy with what went down this weekend,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “I honestly couldn’t seem to win (with the weather) before, but yesterday was perfect. The wind was perfect. I’m so happy to get a really fast time wind-legal.”
Brahe-Pedersen and her personal coach, John Parks (who took over as the Lakers head coach this spring), expected “significant improvement” entering the season after she overcame a bruised heel to win a second Nike Indoor Nationals title in the 200.
“Honestly, it hasn’t been too many improvements in technique in races, but it’s showing in practice,” she said. “It’s the little tweaks that are making the difference.”
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