Sports

New Look Flannery: Track Star Has Finally Arrived

After an up and down high school career, steeplechase specialist Dayton Flannery enters his final campaign at Bronxville High School with newfound confidence -- and All-American accolades.

Hands clenched, eyes fixated on the clock, Bronxville’s Dayton Flannery did the only thing he could do: pace back and forth, and wait.

This was the scene in Greensboro, NC last month, where Flannery, a junior at the time, competed in the 2000-meter steeplechase at the New Balance Track & Field Nationals held at North Carolina A&T University. Flannery ran in – and won – the first of two heats of the event in a personal best time of 6:03.76, setting himself up well for a potential top-6 finish and All-American accolades.

Before that dream could be realized, however – a dream a long, long time in the making – the second heat of runners still had to run, and at least on paper, it was the faster of the two.

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“I knew I had run a fast time,” Dayton said in a recent interview. “I knew I had a shot at snagging an All-American spot. At the same time, who knows what could happen? People told me I looked super nervous, pacing back and forth. I was basically praying that those guys wouldn’t beat my time.”

About six minutes later the dozen or so runners from the second heat crossed the finish line. Only one of them – Eddie Owens of Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn – had beaten his time.

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“We watched [Dayton] on the infield clenching his hands and watching the race tick by second by second,” said Ed Stickles, Flannery’s coach at Bronxville High School. “He didn’t react until they flashed up the final times on the scoreboard. Then he jumped up and down and came running over to the stands and gave us a big hug. We were really happy for him.”

Flannery’s story is one many runners – and many athletes for that matter – can relate to. Starting at a young age he showed considerable promise, running 2:03 for 800-meters and under 4:40 for the mile in his first year at Bronxville High School, both very impressive marks for a freshman. The following year, however, Flannery hit what he called a bit of a “plateau.” Failing to have that one breakout performance, Flannery entered his junior campaign with a personal best of 6:30 in the steeplechase, a respectable time but admittedly “nothing special.” Unfortunately the disappointments continued into the indoor season, as despite training as hard as he ever had before, Flannery’s times were not improving much. Perhaps worse of all, he was beginning to doubt himself.

“At the beginning of outdoors, I just kind of thought that maybe I wouldn’t get any better,” he said. “I was training really hard but my times weren’t getting much better. I’ve heard it from about a thousand people – you’ll only get so good.”

Finally, in early April, after a series of solid but not spectacular performances, Flannery hit his first big race, winning the steeplechase at the Dragon Relays in Cornwall in a time of 6 minutes and 13 seconds. Although the outdoor season was still young, Flannery’s clocking was the second fastest time in the country at the time. More importantly, it qualified him for the New Balance Nationals in North Carolina.

“All I thought was ‘I’m going there,’” said Flannery. “And that’s all that really mattered to me at the time. Maybe I thought I could run under 6:10, and All-American would have been awesome, but I really wasn’t sure how I’d do at Nationals.”

Fast-forward to June, and after more mixed results – including a somewhat disappointing 22nd place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the New York State Championships – Flannery is toeing the starting line at North Carolina A&T University, lined up next to some of the best runners in the country, including a number who have already raced and beaten him this year. Moments before the gun went off, Flannery remembers looking around at the runners around him and thinking only one thing.

“I need to win this race,” he said.

A few minutes and an All-American second-place performance later, and Flannery had impressed more than just himself.

“Within five minutes of his finish there were college coaches coming over to give information to us,” said Coach Ed Stickles.

It is hard to exactly qualify the impact one outstanding performance can have on an athlete who has had his fair share of disappointments and moments of discouragement. In Flannery’s case, however, it isn’t too hard, and to say that it has made him look at himself and his talents in a completely different way, might be putting it a bit lightly.

“I ran that 6:03 and afterwards I thought ‘Maybe I was wrong,’” Flannery said. “Because I definitely have a shot at all the personal records I’ve wanted since I started running. It’s given me a huge confidence boost. I run a lot on emotion, so when I get nervous and see other guys in my race that have run fast times in the past, it really gets in my head. I think this coming season might be a little different.”


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