Lake Oswego High School’s Mia Brahe-Pedersen lined up against some tough company in the first qualifying heat of the women’s 100 meters Thursday in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field.
Olympic medalist Jenna Prandini was on her right. Next to Prandini was Sha’Carri Richardson, who owns a blistering wind-aided time of 10.57 seconds this year.
“It definitely felt like I was running with the sharks,” said Brahe-Pedersen, who just wrapped up her junior season at Lake Oswego.
She was anything but overmatched.
Brahe-Pedersen used a strong finish to clock a third-place time of 11.05 in her heat to advance automatically to Friday’s semifinals.
Richardson won the heat in 10.71. Brittany Brown was second in 10.96. Brahe-Pedersen placed ahead of Nike professional Kayla White and Prandini, fourth and fifth respectively.
White and Prandini also advanced to the semis as time qualifiers. It was the fastest of the four prelims.
It shaped up that way from the time lane assignments were announced. Brahe-Pedersen got the news on a boat on the Fourth of July waiting for fireworks.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to be sick,’” she said, laughing.
Nike clearly believed Brahe-Pedersen could hold her own. The Beaverton sports apparel behemoth signed her to a Name, Image and Likeness deal even though she has a year of high school remaining.
Still, the safe option would be have been to enter the USATF U20 Championships, which are also taking place this week at Hayward.
Brahe-Pedersen would have come into that meet as a favorite in the 100. Her 200 time of 22.43 is No. 2 all-time on the U.S. high school list behind only perennial Olympian Allyson Felix. Last summer, Brahe-Pedersen competed in the U20 Championships, finishing second in both sprint events.
But Brahe-Pedersen wasn’t looking for the easy way out. She wanted a challenge. She will face the big guns in the 200 later in this meet as well.
“I think it was a good decision,” she said.
She fought the nerves on Wednesday night by finding a deserted track to do a light workout as the sun set.
“It was really beautiful,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “So, before my race I envisioned myself there and I was calm.”
After Thursday’s prelim, Richarson offered Brahe-Pedersen some encouraging words, complimenting her talent and telling her not to worry about the outside world.
“She was super sweet,” Brahe-Pedersen said.
Now, it’s onto the semis.
“I’m just going to do my thing,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “I’m not going to change anything. Well, maybe I’ll be more aggressive. But I’m not going to change my mind set at all.
“Obviously, it worked for me.”
— Ken Goe for The Oregonian/OregonLive, reporting from Eugene
[email protected] | Twitter: @KenGoe
