Ryen Frazier adds 11th title to family haul

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

No matter what else Ryen Frazier does in these New Balance Nationals Outdoor championships, the family legacy -- or perhaps it's dynasty -- is secure.

Frazier won her third NBNO title late Friday on a muggy post-thunderstorm night in Greensboro, N.C. It wasn't much of a contest once she accelerated into the lead and she won it in 16:20.72. 

Frazier is entered in two more events -- Saturday's 2-mile and Sunday's mile (where she is the defending champion). 

If Frazier feels like she has enough left in the tank she might just go for all three. 

It's a triple that has proved undaunting in the Frazier household. Wesley Frazier routinely entered three distances races at New Balance Nationals -- indoor and out -- and produced staggering results. Wesley won eight New Balance titles and graduated as the meet's most decorated athlete. 

Now, the Frazier sisters have 11. They are part of the fabric of this event. 

"It's close by and it's one of the first national meets I ran at in high school," Wesley Frazier said. "I really enjoyed it my freshman year and it just became a tradition every year after that. I got really excited about it and was really focused on it, and always seemed to perform well."

The Fraziers, who have been coached by their father, Tim, live up the road in Raleigh about 90 minutes away. That's been an advantage. They sleep in their own beds, are acclimated to the climate, and feel a sense of opportunity to perform well in their backyard. They also attended a small private school with a rec-level track team that was never a good fit for their talents. So rather than compete every week of the season, the Fraziers operated independently and were able to maximize training and carefully pick races.

And because they are so comfortable running in Greensboro, and accumulated so much success, they made an effort to compete -- and win -- at the indoor championships as well. 

Wesley's triple win outdoors as a senior -- 15:55.95 in the 5K, 10:07.35 in the 2-mile and 4:39.66 in the mile -- stands as one of the landmark achievements of anyone in the history of the meet. 

All the while, Ryen was watching and learning and waiting for her chance. 

Ryen entered the B heat of the 5,000 meters as an eighth grader just to get her first taste of the NBN championship experience. 

"Some people think it's bad (for me) to be in Wesley's shadow," Ryen said. "But it's not a bad thing. It's a blessing to have Wesley to follow and have as a role model."

Soon, the Fraziers will be teammates once again. After a couple of difficult years at Duke, Wesley is transferring to North Carolina State, the same school that Ryen committed to last fall. 

Wesley said she knew all along that her younger sister could become one of the top runners in the country -- just like she did.

"It was exciting (to watch her) because I haven't seen her run live in a while," Wesley said. "I'm really proud of her. I knew she was capable of it. It was just about getting into it, the timing and everything, to get into (big races)."

Ryen purposely didn't run herself into the ground Friday night. She'll do the 2-mile today, see how that goes, and then decide about the mile. 

But this is New Balance Nationals. And these are the Fraziers. So as this weekend's meet picks up intensity and energy, expect Ryen to be right in the middle of it. 

This is what they do.