Brannigan, Burda book entry to Millrose

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

 
NEW YORK -- Mike Brannigan and Bella Burda have emerged from vastly different cross country seasons in New York but both nailed down Millrose Games qualifiers in the mile on Saturday in the Hispanic Games.

Brannigan, from Northport, stayed conservative before roaring past James Burke of Port Jefferson to win in 4:17.04.

The junior has shown flashes of immense talent in recent months. He won the Nike Cross Nationals New York regional and was second at the New York state cross country meet.

Brannigan ran a five-second PR in the mile and was confident that his kick would get the job done. An autistic teen, he is also one of the most inspiring stories of the year in high school running. And he's never shy to declare his goals and he aims for the stars.

"I want to break 4:10 in the mile and the two-mile, break nine minutes," Brannigan said. "I want to accomplish those goals."

Matthew Chisholm of Farmington, who was moving strong late, was second in 4:17.49 and early leader Burke was third in 4:19.28. Burke already has a Millrose qualifier after winning the Bishop Loughlin Games in December.

Burda, a junior from Arlington, beat a strong field to win the girls race in 4:58.46 and earned a much-needed shot of confidence in addition to her second berth to Millrose.

By her standards, Burda's cross country season was something of a bust. She was 25th at the New York state meet, 10th at the Federation meet and eighth at NXN New York.

She discovered by way of a blood test that her ferritin levels were low and she has begun to recover with the help of an iron supplement.

"For most of cross country season I was really frustrated," Burda said. "I didn't know why I was running so slow and feeling awful after races."

Based on a 5:04.09 mile in Rhode Island on Dec. 28, and Saturday's result, Burda believes her energy is coming back.

"I knew I was going to try to win (today), but I wasn't quite sure what I'd be able to do," she said.

Laura Leff of West Genesee was second in 4:59.22, Paige Duca of Sacred Heart (Long Island) was third in 5:03.08 and Megan Reilly of Warwick Valley, the two-time state champion and at Foot Locker finalist, was fourth in 5:03.86.